Botched Death Row Execution Baffles Experts, Stuns Community
(UnitedReader.com) – The execution of a death row inmate in Arizona is reigniting ongoing debates about the ethical nature of executing criminals. Clarence Dixon, who was initially convicted of murdering a college student back in 1978, died after receiving a lethal injection of phenobarbital at Arizona State Prison on May 11. While the process did successfully complete, experts are now saying it took far too long to end Dixon’s life.
In total, it took the medical team a total of 25 minutes to locate a vein and successfully run an IV line into the convict’s body.
Arizona prison workers took 25 MINUTES to get an IV into death row inmate during execution https://t.co/DwvqnXtlq6
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) May 13, 2022
The team first attempted to place an IV in Dixon’s arms. After multiple failures, they made an incision near his groin that allowed them to access a vein and used that area instead.
Dixon’s execution procedure, while lengthy, did go significantly more smoothly than the execution of Joseph Wood in 2014. The medical team in that case delivered a cocktail of sedatives that left Wood snorting and struggling to breathe for almost two hours, prompting officials to place a moratorium on death penalty procedures. It remained in place until 2022.
But experts say that while Dixon’s execution may have been smoother overall, it still took far too much time. Fordham Law School professor Deborah Denno told the Daily Mail the entire process should take no more than 7 to 10 minutes from initiation to completion. She called the timeframe a sign of incompetence and inexperience.
Many advocates for capital punishment find the idea of worrying about the length of execution procedures excessive and overly indulgent. Anti-execution advocates vehemently disagree, saying the death penalty shouldn’t even exist in the first place. What do you think?
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