Today's Tulsa World publishes the editorial, "State must get execution process right."
Gov. Mary Fallin ordered the investigation, which was released last week. It shows state prison officials didn’t have much of a plan for what to do when Lockett didn’t die immediately. They managed to block the view of media witnesses from what was going on in the execution chamber, but did little else to any effect.
The report seems to leave as many questions unanswered as it resolves.
Most important, there’s no certainty that the state has a workable method for executing prisoners within the boundaries of the U.S. Constitution.
"Let's get it right," is the Norman Transcript editorial.
Gov. Mary Fallin has called this past spring’s execution of Clayton Lockett “delayed.” Corrections Department Director Robert Patton called it “concerning.”
Whatever you call it, the 40-minute delay in Lockett’s execution has resulted in the kind of worldwide notoriety no state or country wants to receive.
And:
We respectfully hope that there is no rush to show that Oklahoma really does know how to execute its condemned prisoners. The world will again be watching, and a second such disaster would be a black eye the state doesn’t need.
The Freeman Courier in South Dakota publishes an "Editorial."
Four months ago, a Courier editorial called into question the practice of capital punishment. Problems with the execution of Clayton Lockett in McAlester, Okla., April 29 prompted the call to abolish the death penalty.
Earlier coverage of Oklahoma's botched execution of Clayton Lockett begins at the link.
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