Repeated Execution Dates Called Psychological Torture

According to some experts, the process of repeat­ed­ly sub­mit­ting a per­son to immi­nent exe­cu­tion is a form of psy­cho­log­i­cal tor­ture that should be banned. 

The Center for Constitutional Rights has said that ​“the intense strain of repeat­ed­ly com­ing with­in hours or days of exe­cu­tion” is tor­ture. Citing the case of Troy Davis, who was exe­cut­ed in Georgia in 2011 after repeat­ed exe­cu­tion dates and stays, the Center remarked, ​“Is there any sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence between mock exe­cu­tions, long rec­og­nized as tor­ture by the inter­na­tion­al com­mu­ni­ty, and Mr. Davis’s last-minute brush with death …?”

Stuart Grassian, a psy­chi­a­trist and for­mer Harvard Medical School pro­fes­sor, said that the ter­ror of immi­nent exe­cu­tions is more dif­fi­cult for some­one like Warren Hill, who is men­tal­ly retard­ed and has had a series of exe­cu­tion dates, also in Georgia. Grassian said, ​“People with men­tal retar­da­tion strug­gle with the abil­i­ty to think abstract­ly. They have very pow­er­ful feel­ings but because they have few­er cog­ni­tive strengths they are less able to man­age those feel­ings than others are.” 

Hill came with­in hours of exe­cu­tion four times. At one time, he ate his last meal and said his good­byes before his exe­cu­tion was stayed, nine­ty min­utes before the sched­uled time. More recent­ly, Hill was already sedat­ed and strapped to the gur­ney when his exe­cu­tion was stopped with just min­utes to spare.

In 2013, there have already been 27 stays of execution.