Ohio death-row pris­on­er Alva Campbell (pic­tured) is 69, suf­fers from severe chron­ic obstruc­tive pul­monary dis­or­der, is unable to walk with­out a walk­er, relies on a colosto­my bag that hangs out­side his body, requires four breath­ing treat­ments each day, may have lung can­cer, and is report­ed­ly aller­gic to mida­zo­lam, the con­tro­ver­sial first drug in the state’s lethal-injec­tion process. Prison per­son­nel have been unable to find veins suit­able for insert­ing an intra­venous line into either of Campbell’s arms. Ohio intends to exe­cute him November 15. Campbell has chal­lenged the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of Ohio’s lethal-injec­tion pro­to­col, argu­ing that it car­ries uncon­sti­tu­tion­al risks for a per­son with his med­ical con­di­tions, and has asked to be exe­cut­ed by fir­ing squad. The Ohio fed­er­al courts denied Campbell’s chal­lenge ear­li­er in November, and he has peti­tioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his exe­cu­tion, argu­ing he is too ill for lethal injec­tion. Ohio is defend­ing its exe­cu­tion process, and offi­cials for the state’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction say that as a med­ical accom­mo­da­tion, the state will pro­vide Campbell with ​“a wedge-shaped pil­low” to prop him up ​“in a semi-recum­bent posi­tion” to help him breathe as he is being exe­cut­ed. Corrections spokesper­son JoEllen Smith said that Campbell’s ​“med­ical con­di­tion and his­to­ry are being assessed and con­sid­ered in order to iden­ti­fy any nec­es­sary accom­mo­da­tions or con­tin­gen­cies for his exe­cu­tion.” Campbell’s lawyer, assis­tant fed­er­al pub­lic defend­er David Stebbins, warns that Campbell’s death could become a ​“spec­ta­cle” if prison staff are unable to find a suit­able vein dur­ing his exe­cu­tion. ​“All of this in an attempt to exe­cute an old and frail man who is no longer a threat to any­one,” Stebbins said. ​“Killing Alva Campbell is sim­ply not nec­es­sary.” On November 9, Gov. John Kasich reject­ed Campbell’s plea to stop the exe­cu­tion and let him die of his ter­mi­nal ill­ness­es. [UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Campbell’s motion for a stay of exe­cu­tion. After four unsuc­cess­ful attempts to find a vein, Ohio called off the exe­cu­tion.]

Campbell is not the first severe­ly debil­i­tat­ed pris­on­er to face exe­cu­tion. On November 6, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review an exe­cu­tion chal­lenge brought on behalf of Vernon Madison, an Alabama death-row pris­on­er debil­i­tat­ed by strokes that have left him legal­ly blind, incon­ti­nent, unable to walk inde­pen­dent­ly, and with no mem­o­ry of the offense for which he was sen­tenced to death. In March 2015, Missouri exe­cut­ed Cecil Clayton, aged 74, who was miss­ing a sig­nif­i­cant por­tion of his brain as a result of an indus­tri­al acci­dent, had a post-injury IQ of 71, and suf­fered from demen­tia. On at least four occa­sions, states have pro­vid­ed life-sav­ing med­ical treat­ment to pris­on­ers who had attempt­ed sui­cide, so they could then be executed. 

(A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“Ohio trans­fers sick inmate to death house ahead of exe­cu­tion,” Associated Press, November 14, 2017; A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“Ohio death row inmate Alva Campbell will get wedge-shaped pil­low for exe­cu­tion,” Associated Press, November 9, 2017; A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“Ohio gov­er­nor won’t spare the life of seri­ous­ly ill inmate,” Associated Press, November 9, 2017; A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“Ill Ohio inmate sug­gests fir­ing squad as exe­cu­tion alter­na­tive,” Associated Press, November 4, 2017.)

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