Alabama gives a go-ahead to capital punishment and plans the execution of a 64 year old man

On Thursday (July 20), Alabama authorized the resumption of capital punishment and scheduled the execution of 64-year-old James Barber, who was found guilty of brutally murdering 75-year-old Dorothy Epps during a robbery at her home in Harvest in 2001.

The execution, which marked the state’s first since February, occurred at the William Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore and involved the use of lethal injection after 6 p.m. local time on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

Last year, in response to a series of problematic executions, Governor Kay Ivey halted capital punishment in November and initiated a review of Alabama’s lethal injection process. The suspension was intended to address concerns surrounding execution procedures. Following the implementation of improvements such as involving medical professionals, acquiring new equipment, and conducting rehearsals for executions, Governor Ivey lifted the suspension and allowed executions to resume. The state also extended the time permitted for completing an execution before the death warrant expires.

James Barber made a last-minute appeal to the United States Court of Appeals, arguing that his execution should be stopped due to the substantial risk of serious harm and “torture” posed by current protocols. However, the court denied his appeal on Wednesday, paving the way for his execution.

Capital punishment in the United States has been a subject of legal and ethical debates, primarily due to botched executions and challenges in obtaining the necessary drugs for lethal injections. In recent years, the number of executions in the country has significantly decreased compared to a peak of 98 executions in 1999. Capital punishment was reinstated in the United States in 1976.

According to data from the Death Penalty Information Centre, 78 death row inmates have been executed in the United States over the past five years. This decline in the number of executions reflects the ongoing debates surrounding the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment.