Opinion: Untested execution procedures and secrecy are a bad combination

I have overseen 28 executions. The trauma experienced by everyone involved in the process continues to have an enduring impact. I am concerned about the experimental approach the state of Utah is taking to resume executions after its 14-year hiatus.

Utah is preparing to carry out its first execution in more than a decade using an untested lethal drug combination that will be administered in a process that is shrouded in secrecy. We need only to look at recent experiences in other states to see that this is a recipe for disaster. Untested execution protocols and secrecy have led to numerous botched and even failed executions that have been riddled with errors and unnecessary complications. These errors have caused enormous stress and needless trauma to victims’ families, corrections personnel and the person scheduled for execution.

The state’s drug combination — ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride — has never been used before in an execution and never been vetted by a court. Ketamine has never been used in an execution at all and has never been administered in the high doses that the State of Utah plans to use. In 2023, the state passed legislation to prevent the public and the media from learning critical details about the execution process. The language of Senate Bill 109 says the legislation specifically ”prohibits the disclosure of information and records related to an execution.” That secrecy is not only bad government, it is bad for corrections staff. Experimental protocols not fully vetted in public put undue pressure on the people asked to carry out those untested experiments. The surrounding secrecy denies us the chance to ensure dignity and clarity in our actions and to minimize the long-term impact they will have. It is unfair to put corrections staff in this position.

Moreover, corrections officials in at least six other states have experienced execution failures under their secret processes. In February of this year, Idaho attempted to carry out its first execution in more than a decade. The process was shielded from public view by secrecy laws similar to Utah’s and resulted in a failed execution . State officials tried and failed 10 times to establish intravenous execution lines in the individual’s legs and arms, and they ultimately had to call off the execution.

Similarly, Alabama has had execution failures. Since 2016, the state has had at least two botched executions and several failed executions that were called off during the execution procedure due to serious problems. One of these failed executions was so badly botched that the state ultimately agreed not to seek another execution date.

In Tennessee, it was revealed that the state was not following its own execution protocol, which was leading to grievous mistakes. Gov. Bill Lee made the wise and prudent decision to temporarily halt executions and appoint an independent investigator to look into the problems. He recognized that the lack of transparency over the process was problematic and would only result in even more dire consequences if left unchecked.

Gov. Lee is not the only Republican governor to have taken corrective action in recent years. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and former Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin both paused executions in their states after botched executions and other problems came to light. In Tennessee, issues regarding the storing and testing of lethal drugs were of particular concern. Secrecy prevented corrections staff from adopting best practices and, among other issues, led to the state using expired drugs in at least one execution.

Arizona executions are also paused as a former federal judge investigates a series of problematic executions. The state’s history of egregious errors includes executions using expired drugs, a torturous execution that lasted two hours and major problems with corrections staff identifying and accessing veins to administer the drugs. Because of secrecy, corrections staff could not learn from mistakes made in previous executions. The judge conducting the investigation has provided an interim report, noting that despite the staff’s best intentions, the culture of secrecy led to suboptimal execution practices. The lack of transparency with what happened at every step of the execution process prevented execution teams from learning and refining their approach.

A grand jury investigating Oklahoma’s execution failures was even more blunt. It found that corrections staff’s “paranoia” about secrecy “clouded the Department’s judgment and caused administrators to blatantly violate their own policies.”

It is unfair for a state to force corrections personnel to endure the trauma and shame associated with a horrendously botched execution when open discourse could have led to the adoption of preventive measures.

Utah should think twice before repeating the mistakes made by other states. Combining secrecy and untested lethal drug combinations is the surest way to ensure that problems will occur.

Justin Jones is a former director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.