Botched Ohio execution exposes the cruelty of lethal injection

Can there ever be a humane way to execute someone? The case of Romell Broom, described by Giles Whittell in the Independent, makes it even clearer that the answer is no.

Romell Broom was sentenced to death in Ohio some 25 years ago, and was due to be executed by lethal injection yesterday. After some initial delay, the prison authorities (somewhat ironically, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction) attempted to execute him at 2.00pm. The execution was aborted two hours later as they were unable to find suitable veins for the lethal cocktail of drugs.

Thanks to previous case-law, a further attempt to execute Romell is unlikely to be prohibited under the US constitution, and has already been rescheduled for next week.

The torment and anguish experienced by anyone on death row for 25 years is bad enough (although not uncommon - Reprieve’s client Kenny Gay has been on the row for around 24 years). Indeed, many commonwealth countries commute death sentences for those on death row for five years, recognising that execution after such a delay is inhuman and degrading. Combine delay on death row with delay and complications on the day of execution, and surely the torment and anguish experienced is off the scale.

The US Supreme Court recently held that Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol does not amount to cruel and unusual punishment. But many rightly continue to question how it can be humane to execute prisoners with a cocktail of drugs that many vets deem inappropriate for animal euthanasia.

Romell’s case further underlines the complications and anguish that arises even before prisoners receive the injection. More widely, it underlines the need for the US to abolish the death penalty altogether, and join the overwhelming majority of states within the international community that no longer execute.