Experts Urge 1-Drug Lethal Injection

A panel reviewing capital punishment in the U.S. is urging states to ditch the commonly used three-drug cocktail used in lethal injection. On Wednesday, the Constitution Project-organized panel released its report, “Irreversible Error" and denounced the multi-drug method for carrying the risk of causing unnecessary pain and suffering. Instead, the panel urged states to use a single dose of anesthetic or barbiturate to kill. The report also highlighted states’ differing adherence to the 2002 Supreme Court ruling that people who are intellectually disabled be exempt from the death penalty. Finally, the report recommended states analyze execution data for racial disparities in capital punishment, a concern recently raised by President Obama.