A glaring racial disparity is evident in the 73 botched procedures involving lethal injections since 1976, report by Reprieve finds

Black incarcerated people have been subjected to prolonged and painful botched executions in the US at more than twice the rate of white death row inmates, a new study has found.

While glaring racial disparities have long been visible in US capital punishment, the report from the international human rights group Reprieve finds that the inequities exist even inside the death chamber. It reveals a shocking racial disparity in the rate of botched executions in which lethal injections went awry, both nationwide and in individual death penalty states.

Reprieve analyzed all lethal injection executions between 1976, when the US death penalty was restarted after a brief pause, and 2023. It chronicled 73 confirmed botched procedures – a shocking figure in itself given the suffering that prolonged and flawed executions can cause despite the promise of a “humane” death made by advocates of lethal injections.

When looked at through a racial lens, 8% of executions of Black people were botched (37 times out of 465 executions), compared with 4% for white people (28 out of 780).

  • justhach
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    512 months ago

    Its actually insane how hard the US clings to the death penalty.

    • flicker
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      102 months ago

      I remember being a teeny tiny little girl, being raised extremely Catholic, and debating with my father because I was sure he was wrong and that if God sends suicides straight to Hell, He probably hates the death penalty.

      • @captainlezbian
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        42 months ago

        I remember catholic school teachers arguing with my chud classmates about this. The Catholic Church officially condemns all use of the death penalty unless one cannot prevent the convicted from killing others in any other way

  • @[email protected]
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    fedilink
    52 months ago

    I wonder if all the morally depraved people who are willing to execute their fellow humans might also be racist pieces of shit?

  • Flying Squid
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    -112 months ago

    Twice the rate and yet constitutionally only three fifths of a person.

    • Pennomi
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      102 months ago

      Oh please, constitutionally that was fixed ages ago. I’m not denying the obvious inequities across our entire legal and law enforcement system, but the constitution ain’t it.

      • Optional
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        42 months ago

        Well, except for the part where it makes slavery legal.

        • @[email protected]
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          22 months ago

          That also is not a source of racial inequality. If you’re poor and white and go to prison in the south, you’ll be put to work. The only inequality there is a symptom of the broader injustices in our society.

          • Optional
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            12 months ago

            Wow, okay, consider it defended.

            We enslave everyone equally. Er, that is, we institutionalized it, equally.

            In application, of course, not a chance. See: justice system.

            • @[email protected]
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              -12 months ago

              Dude was talking about the 3/5ths compromise being fixed and you come in here with a “well ackshully slavery is still around” when that’s not what was being discussed. So of course they figured your comment connected by race and pointed out that said connection wasnt good.

              They’re not defending anything, they were responding best they could to an unrelated comment in the thread.

      • @[email protected]
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        -52 months ago

        Pretty sure FlyingSquid is trying to start shit here. Distract from the main point by trying to mix it with obviously false horseshit.