In Alabama, the state no longer has hard deadlines to carry out death sentences. Instead, it will now have a “time frame” in which the sentences must be carried out.
This is based on a recent Supreme Court ruling that was related to a string of botched executions. Last November, the state had to cancel an execution because they were unable to insert the needle holding the lethal drug in time. Apparently, this delay with the needle is a recurring problem so the new law will give them more time to figure it out.
This is haunting because it does not fix the problem of executions gone wrong. It only makes the process more tortuous for everyone involved. In some cases, executions have gone on for hours and even days.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis mentioned changes he’d like to see to death sentences. He said he would like the state to be able to execute convicted criminals without a unanimous jury vote but instead require a “supermajority.” This was the law prior to 2016 but it was changed to require that a sentence of death must be unanimous.
