Tennessee: Top officials sacked over 'errors' in executing death penalties

Tennessee (US): Tennessee has removed two top officials after an investigation found lethal injections used in executing death penalties were not properly checked for contamination. Debra Inglis, the department’s chief attorney, and Kelly Young, the inspector general, have both been fired, as per reports. The probe was initiated after several incidents of botched executions were reported from several US jurisdictions. Earlier another research from the Death Penalty Information Center had claimed that more than one-third of US executions planned in 2022 will either be botched or very difficult. According to the non-profit organization’s research, executions were clearly problematic due to ineptitude, a failure to follow protocol, or flaws in the protocols themselves. The organisation has no position on the usage of the death penalty. Since May, executions have been put on hold in Tennessee while officials contemplate making alterations to the lethal injection procedure. After postponing the execution of prisoner Oscar Smith an hour before it was set to take place, Republican Governor Bill Lee halted the executions. He claimed a “oversight” in the execution-by-lethal injection preparations. Governor Lee stated earlier this month that the state’s Supreme Court would probably delay scheduling any further executions until the state had finalised revisions to its protocol. He asked for the independent investigation, which turned up several significant inaccuracies and was published in December. It was demonstrated that none of the seven deadly injections used since 2018 had undergone contamination testing. On Friday, Democratic Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs ordered a review of the procedures for the death penalty. It will examine Arizona’s staff training programmes and execution practises. Kris Mayes, the attorney general for the state, has halted all executions until the study is finished. Following the botched 2014 lethal injection of convicted murderer Joseph Wood, whose execution took nearly two hours after officials gave him 15 dosages of chemicals, Arizona resumed executions last year after an eight-year hiatus. When announcing the inquiry on Friday, Ms. Hobbs stated that recent executions have been the subject of controversy. We simply want to ensure that the procedures are sound so that we avoid having botched executions like we’ve lately witnessed. 27 states in the US still allow the death penalty, including three that have requested a moratorium on executions: California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. There hasn’t yet been a response from the Tennessee Department of Correction. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.