Death penalty – Traumatized employees: – Executes “non-stop”

NEW YORK (Dagbladet): Although the use of the death penalty has been reduced in the United States as a whole, the five states that carried out executions last year have stepped up their implementation.

– The relentless zeal for “non-stop executions” by US death penalty states exposes prison staff to extreme levels of psychological and physical stress, according to traumatized prison staff, who are calling for help, writes The Guardian.

In some states, the pace of executions is now so intense that prison guards almost have to be on standby all the time, as they also carry out practice executions.

– Almost constantly

Oklahoma is one of the death staff states. In January, nine former prison employees and managers wrote letters to the minister of justice in the state, Gentner Drummond. In the letter, they warn in harsh terms that employees are traumatized as a result of the high pace and failed executions.

– Reports from Oklahoma’s prisons describe how practice executions are carried out almost constantly close to prison cells, offices and visiting rooms. Prison staff have communicated privately with mental health experts about the stress they experience as a result of nonstop executions, the letter said, according to Oklahomawatch.org.

The letter, which is also signed by former prison directors, calls for the timetable for executions to be revised.

– There should be at least several months between them to ensure the safety and well-being of the prison staff, they write in the letter.

They warn that employees are exposed to “lasting trauma” and “psychological strain” which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse, among other things.

– Becomes a routine

In Oklahoma, the Republican state authorities decided in 2022 a schedule to carry out 25 executions. Now both the minister of justice in the state and the head of the prison service are asking for the courts to slow down. They want the interval between executions to be extended from 60 to 90 days. So far without getting a hearing, writes The Guardian.

– It is not only those who work with injections. There are social workers, prison guards and those who work with the families of those who will soon be executed, says the former director of the prison service in Oklahoma, Justin Jones, to the newspaper.

He believes that the constant executions and exercises – where the entire execution process is reviewed – are extremely stressful.

– It affects your mental health when it becomes so routine, says Jones.

Haunted

He was prison director from 2005 to 2013 and himself witnessed 27 executions. Jones explains how he is still haunted by those experiences.

– I can remember their faces and a bit of their last words. But I have deliberately not remembered the names, says Jones.

He also believes that employees are more likely to make mistakes when they are exposed to extreme pressure.

Oklahoma has several times experienced executions gone wrong. In 2014, Clayton Lockett, who was to be executed, lay writhing in pain for 43 minutes before dying. Since then, Oklahoma has not executed anyone for six years.

– Really angry

However, an appeals court judge told staff to “pull themselves together” and “man up” when presented with the request to allow 90 days between executions, according to The Guardian.

– The employees are really angry that a judge would make such statements. He knows nothing about what it means to be a prison officer, says Bobby Cleveland, who heads their union, Oklahoma Corrections Professionals.

A total of 24 people were executed in the United States in 2023. Eight of them in Texas, four in Oklahoma, four in Missouri, six in Florida and two in Alabama.