In 2006, depositions in a California trial challenging the state’s lethal-injection protocol revealed that the death chamber was kept so dark in hopes of obscuring the identities of execution staff that they could barely see; one doctor described having to use a flashlight to fill out execution records. In Idaho in the early 2010s, state officials allegedly traveled with a suitcase full of cash to buy lethal-injection drugs from an out-of-state pharmacist delivered in a nighttime parking-lot liaison.
Many states permit some degree of media access to these killings, though that access can be subject to the whims of state corrections departments, and two states—Indiana and Wyoming—do not allow any members of the press to witness executions at all.
For decades, journalists across the country have witnessed executions to provide a record of what awaits those who face death at the hands of the state. For the past several years, I have been among their ranks, and I documented my experience in my recent cover story for The Atlantic. |
Though the total number of death sentences carried out in the United States has been in decline for decades, recent years have seen a spike in executions and a restoration of long-disfavored methods of execution. And, though public support for the death penalty is at record lows, the Trump administration appears to believe that executions appeal to people and issued an executive order to resume use of the federal death penalty.
I hope my reporting offers some insight into the realities of capital punishment. My own perspective has evolved over the years, informed both by my journalism and by the murder of my sister in law. This subject is extraordinarily complex. The Atlantic provides a space for stories like mine to unspool in ways that are surprising and, I hope, illuminating. If you would like to support this work, please consider becoming a subscriber and reading my story.
Elizabeth Bruenig
Staff Writer
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