Entries tagged with “Mike Braun”

Mar 09, 2026

What to Know: Costs and the Death Penalty

DPI’s​“What to Know” series exam­ines cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment from mul­ti­ple angles, one top­ic at a time. Each install­ment pro­vides essen­tial facts and data on spe­cif­ic aspects of the death penal­ty. This install­ment looks at the costs asso­ci­at­ed with pur­suit of death sen­tences and exe­cu­tions. ***Why it mat­ters:*** The ques­tion at the heart of this issue is whether the assumed ben­e­fits of the death penal­ty are worth its costs and whether oth­er sys­tems might provide…

Oct 30, 2025

Low Death Sentencing, Lack of Deterrence, and High Costs Raise Questions Over Capital Punishment in Indiana

Indiana’s seem­ing­ly para­dox­i­cal resump­tion of exe­cu­tions, with three over the last year, is draw­ing scruti­ny from many cor­ners of the state. Governor Mike Braun, leg­is­la­tors from both polit­i­cal par­ties, pub­lic defend­ers and even pros­e­cu­tors have raised ques­tions about the costs of pros­e­cut­ing cap­i­tal cas­es and obtain­ing drugs for exe­cu­tions; the fail­ure of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to deter crime; and the increas­ing reluc­tance of Indiana juries to sentence…

Upcoming Executions

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Oct 09, 2025

Indiana’s Scheduled Third Execution After 15-year Pause Raises Cost and Secrecy Concerns

Indiana is set to exe­cute Roy Lee Ward on October 10, 2025, despite ongo­ing con­cerns about the cost of lethal injec­tion and the lack of trans­paren­cy sur­round­ing the state’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­cols in the wake of a sus­pect­ed botched exe­cu­tion ear­li­er this year. Mr. Ward will be the third indi­vid­ual exe­cut­ed after a 15-year pause in exe­cu­tions in Indiana. In July 2025, Governor Mike Braun said he would not renew the state’s sup­ply of lethal injec­tion drugs, noting the…

Jun 16, 2025

Governor Says Indiana Will Not Purchase More Lethal Injection Drugs, Invites Debate over Death Penalty

According to Governor Mike Braun (pic­tured), Indiana has deplet­ed the sup­ply of pen­to­bar­bi­tal it uses in its lethal injec­tion exe­cu­tions. Given that the last of the dos­es pur­chased in December 2024 expired and went unused, Gov. Braun does not intend to renew the state’s sup­ply. According to ear­li­er report­ing by the *Indiana Capital Chronicle*, the Indiana Department of Correction (IDC) spent $900,000 on pen­to­bar­bi­tal in late 2024 in prepa­ra­tion for the execution of…

Apr 08, 2025

Records Request Reveals Indiana Department of Corrections Spent $900,000 for Lethal Injection Drugs

According to pub­lic records released to the *Indiana Capital Chronicle*, the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) spent $900,000 on the drugs need­ed to car­ry out the lethal injec­tion exe­cu­tion of Joseph Corcoran in December 2024. The new­ly released record is so high­ly redact­ed that just one line of text appears:​“IDOC shall pay the Contractor the sum of nine hun­dred thou­sand dol­lars ($900,000).” The doc­u­ment does not show how much pen­to­bar­bi­tal was pur­chased, when it…