Oklahoma’s once busy death chamber to stay quiet much longer
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma has had one of the busiest death chambers in the country for decades, executing more people per capita than any other state since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that death sentences could resume.
But after a botched lethal injection in 2014 and drug mix-ups in 2015 that led to one inmate being executed with the wrong drug and another just moments away from being strapped to a gurney before his lethal injection was halted, the state is facing a series of hurdles and long delays before it could resume capital punishment.
While other states have put moratoriums in place because of shortages of key drugs or growing opposition to the death penalty, Oklahoma’s problems stem from the inability of prison officials to carry out the executions as planned.
In neighbouring Arkansas, four men have been executed in recent days, part of an original plan to execute eight inmates over an 11-day period before the expiration date on that state’s supply of midazolam, a sedative already linked to problematic executions in Ohio and Arizona. The drug’s effectiveness has again been questioned following last week’s execution in Arkansas of Kenneth Williams, who lurched and convulsed 20 times during a lethal injection that began with midazolam.