Entries tagged with “Clarence Dixon”

Secrecy

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Upcoming Executions

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Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Nov 22, 2024

New Resource: In Era of Secrecy, States Increasingly Restrict Media Access to Executions

On December 18, Joseph Corcoran is sched­uled to be the first per­son exe­cut­ed by Indiana offi­cials in 15 years. For the first time, the state will use a sin­gle drug, pen­to­bar­bi­tal, which comes from an unknown source and has been known to cause pris­on­ers ​“excru­ci­at­ing” pain dur­ing exe­cu­tions. But no media wit­ness­es will be present to relay what hap­pens to the pub­lic. Indiana is an out­lier in its pol­i­cy deci­sion to com­plete­ly exclude the press from wit­ness­ing exe­cu­tions in the state. But a…

Executions

Executions Overview

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Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Jan 17, 2023

Tennessee Gov. Says No Death Warrants Until Execution Protocol Problems Fixed

Tennessee will not resume exe­cu­tions until it fix­es sys­temic prob­lems with the admin­is­tra­tion of its exe­cu­tion pro­to­col, Governor Bill Lee has announced. ​“It’s a very impor­tant issue that has to be done cor­rect­ly,” Lee told reporters on January 5, 2023. ​“And we will take the time to fix the pro­to­col and to make cer­tain that we don’t move for­ward until everything’s in…

Facts & Research

History of the Death Penalty

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Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Dec 07, 2022

As Lethal Injection Turns Forty, States Botch a Record Number of Executions

On December 7, 1982, Texas strapped Charles Brooks to a gur­ney, insert­ed an intra­venous line into his arm, and inject­ed a lethal dose of sodi­um thiopen­tal into his veins, launch­ing the lethal-injec­tion era of American exe­cu­tions. In the pre­cise­ly forty years since, U.S. states and the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment have put 1377 pris­on­ers to death by some ver­sion of the method. Touted as swift and pain­less and a more humane way to die — just as exe­cu­tion pro­po­nents had said near­ly a cen­tu­ry before about…

Policy Issues

Secrecy

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Jun 02, 2022

Arizona Violated Court Order to Allow Media to Witness Execution, Lawyer for Newspapers Says

Arizona vio­lat­ed state law, state cor­rec­tions poli­cies, and a court order by deny­ing a reporter from the state’s largest dai­ly cir­cu­la­tion news­pa­per access to view the May 11 exe­cu­tion of Clarence Dixon and by block­ing wit­ness­es’ views of a por­tion of the exe­cu­tion process, a lawyer for the news­pa­per has…

Executions

Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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May 19, 2022

Expert Calls Arizona’s First Execution in Eight Years ​‘Botched’ After Witnesses Report Problems Inserting IV

In an exe­cu­tion an expert has char­ac­ter­ized as ​“botched,“ Arizona Department of Corrections per­son­nel failed for 25 min­utes to set an intra­venous line in Clarence Dixon​’s arms on May 11, 2022 before per­form­ing a bloody and appar­ent­ly unau­tho­rized ​“cut­down“ pro­ce­dure to insert the IV line into a vein in his groin. It was the first exe­cu­tion the state had car­ried out after a near­ly eight-year hia­tus fol­low­ing the botched two-hour exe­cu­tion of Joseph Wood on…

Executions

Upcoming Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Native Americans

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Apr 08, 2022

Arizona Sets Expedited Execution Date for Blind, Disabled Prisoner Previously Judged Legally Insane

The Arizona Supreme Court has set an exe­cu­tion date of May 11 for Clarence Dixon, a death-row pris­on­er who is blind and has such severe men­tal ill­ness that he was once judged legal­ly insane. Dixon is a mem­ber of the Navajo Nation, which has long opposed the death penal­ty as incon­sis­tent with its cul­ture and…

Executions

Upcoming Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Jul 12, 2021

Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Prosecution Attempt to Expedite Executions Based on Its Own Error on Shelf Life of Execution Drugs

The Arizona Supreme Court has reject­ed the efforts of Arizona pros­e­cu­tors to expe­dite the exe­cu­tions of two death-row pris­on­ers and fur­ther lim­it appeals judi­cial review of legal issues in their cas­es. The Arizona Attorney General’s office had sought to short­en judi­cial review in the cas­es of death-row pris­on­ers Frank Atwood and Clarence Dixon after learn­ing that the shelf life of the drugs it intend­ed to use in the exe­cu­tions would expire…

Executions

Upcoming Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Jul 12, 2021

Arizona Seeks to Expedite Executions, With Less Judicial Oversight, Because of Its Own Error on Shelf Life of Execution Drugs

The Arizona Attorney General’s office has asked the Arizona Supreme Court to cur­tail the time allot­ted to judi­cial review of legal issues in the cas­es of two death-row pris­on­ers pros­e­cu­tors want to exe­cute, say­ing that the drugs they intend to use in the exe­cu­tions remain potent half as long as it had previously…

Executions

Methods of Execution

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Jun 02, 2021

Arizona Prepares for Executions With Gas Used in Holocaust Death Camps

Arizona report­ed­ly has ​“refur­bished” its gas cham­ber and has spent more than $2,000 to acquire ingre­di­ents to exe­cute pris­on­ers with cyanide gas, the same gas used by the Nazis to mur­der more than one mil­lion men, women, and chil­dren dur­ing the…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Mental Illness

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Representation

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Apr 12, 2021

Arizona AG Asks Court to Set Execution Dates, Sparking Broad Backlash

Nearly sev­en years after the botched exe­cu­tion of Joseph Wood put the death penal­ty on hold in Arizona, state offi­cials are seek­ing to resume exe­cu­tions. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced on April 6, 2021 that he is ask­ing the Arizona Supreme Court to set a brief­ing sched­ule and issue exe­cu­tion war­rants for death-row pris­on­ers Clarence Dixon and Frank Atwood. At present, no state but Texas has any pending…