Botched executions reveal the inherent brutality and incompetence of capital punishment
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/by/maria-deliberato. "Opinion | The Botched Execution of Tony Carruthers - The New York Times." June 1, 2026. www.nytimes.com
The Gist
The author watched a horrific 90-minute failed execution where doctors repeatedly stabbed her client trying to find veins, causing him to scream in pain. She argues this shows that executions are brutal violence disguised as medical procedures, and since they can't be done humanely, the death penalty should be ended.
Conclusion
The death penalty should be abolished because executions are inherently brutal acts of violence that cannot be made humane or competent, despite states' attempts to disguise them with clinical language and procedures
Premises
- The author witnessed a 90-minute botched execution where medical personnel repeatedly failed to establish IV access, causing prolonged agony to the condemned
- Tennessee has a documented history of procedural failures in executions between 2018-2022, showing systemic incompetence
- A significant number of executions nationwide have gone awry in the past decade, indicating this is not an isolated incident
- The overriding imperative during executions is completion rather than competence or professionalism
- States use clinical language and medical terminology to create emotional distance and disguise the reality that executions are deliberate acts of violence
- Tony Carruthers showed signs of being wrongfully convicted, including lack of physical evidence and recanted testimony from a jailhouse informant
Assumptions
- Causing prolonged physical suffering during executions is morally unacceptable
- The state has a duty to ensure humane treatment even when carrying out death sentences
- Medical procedures should only be performed by competent practitioners
- The risk of executing innocent people is unacceptably high
- If a punishment cannot be carried out humanely and competently, it should not be carried out at all