Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno spoke with BBC News about the difficulty of obtaining lethal injection drugs as one of the primary reasons for the decline in the number of executions.
[Professor Denno] said executions have always had an “element of secrecy associated with them. But that secrecy became more pronounced” after drug shortages became widespread.
Some states even brought in laws to keep information about what drugs were being used a secret, like Georgia’s Lethal Injection Secrecy Act in 2013.
This raised concerns, she said. Although she does not oppose the death penalty, she is critical of the methods currently being used.
“They will say that they have secrecy as security issues to protect what goes on inside a prison. But there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t know what kinds of drugs are being used.”
Read “Death row: The secret hunt for lethal drugs used in US executions” on BBC News.