Botched Executions: A Regular Occurance

A new study finds that 3 percent of executions in the United States were “botched.” What the study doesn’t tell you is the ripple affects of harm these botched executions can take. Every execution requires a team of corrections officers who watch the inmate in his or her final days, who strap the inmate to the gurney, who insert and reinsert the needles, and who remove the inmate from the gurney following the execution. They are the ones who deal with grisly reality of botched executions. Some corrections officers, haunted by the experience of putting people to death, have committed suicide, turned to alcohol, or suffered mental and physical health problems. Botched executions, botched system.