Convicted rapist and murderer Clayton Lockett’s execution was botched to say the least. The death row inmate ended up struggling for 43 minutes against his straps before finally succumbing to a heart attack.

Authorities decided to take a closer look at the cocktail of drugs used for execution of inmates. What they found was startling. 

From The Medical Blog:

Now, a new report by The Constitution Project, has found that the cocktail of drugs that are used in executions are actually too painful to use on animals.

By law, veterinarians in at least one state in the US are barred from using the cocktail of drugs that have, so far, been used on several inmates.

Instead, the report suggests, a single drug administrated in a single dose would be more effective if it were an anesthetic or a barbiturate.

Read more at The Medical Blog

The report made other recommendations to ensure that the rights of defendants were protected such as:

  • Jurisdictions should require post-conviction review of credible claims of evidence.
  • Prosecutors should be required to notify the court and defendant if new evidence in support of a claim of innocence surfaces.
  • Defense attorneys should be required to perform at the level of an attorney reasonably skilled at the practice of capital representation
  • The clemency process should be accessible to all death-sentenced prisoners for independent review of their claims.

Thoughts on the recommendations?

Do you agree with the death penalty?

Sound off below!