Deborah Denno comments to the New Republic on the Oklahoma investigation into the botched execution of Clayton Lockett.
Right now, a secrecy clause in Oklahoma’s death penalty statutes protects the source and the nature of the drugs used in executions, making it nearly impossible for death row inmates’ lawyers to make a specific legal challenge against the procedure, or even to confirm that it will be conducted humanely.
“Had Oklahoma been transparent about what it was doing and where it was getting these drugs, I don’t think this botch would ever have happened,” death penalty expert and Fordham Law professor Deborah Denno told me.
Read the entire New Republic article.