2 hrs ago
US Execution Methods Face Renewed Scrutiny After Botched Tennessee Execution
The United States allows several ways to carry out executions.
Lethal injection is used most often.
In 2025, some executions also used nitrogen inhalation and firing squads.
A botched execution in Tennessee renewed arguments about whether these methods are safe or humane.
Other executions have also gone badly in different states.
Some states have had trouble obtaining the drugs needed for lethal injections.
States sometimes pause executions after a failure and change their procedures.
Laura Porter, who opposes the death penalty, says no method is perfect.
She also says more information should be made public about how executions are carried out.
Lethal injection remains the most common US execution method, with 39 of 47 executions in 2025 using it.
Five executions in 2025 used nitrogen inhalation, while three South Carolina executions used firing squads.
Lethal injection is authorized in 28 states and at the federal level; other methods are permitted in fewer states.
Drug shortages and pharmaceutical companies’ opposition to capital punishment have contributed to execution suspensions in several states.
Past execution failures include problems with electrocution, lethal injection, firing squads and nitrogen inhalation.
- Who
- US state governments and, less frequently, the federal government carry out executions; Laura Porter represents organizations opposing the death penalty.
- What
- The United States is facing renewed debate over execution methods, including lethal injection, nitrogen inhalation and firing squads, after botched executions.
- Where
- Executions have taken place in US states including Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Ohio, Utah and Indiana.
- When
- The article discusses executions through 2025, including a Tennessee moratorium in 2022 and a botched execution in November 2022.
- Why
- The debate was renewed by execution failures, concerns about execution methods and drugs, and secrecy surrounding execution procedures.
Key facts
- Most common method
- Lethal injection
- 2025 executions
- 47 total: 39 by lethal injection, five by nitrogen inhalation and three by firing squad
- Lethal injection authorization
- 28 states and the federal government
- Nitrogen inhalation
- First used anywhere in the world in Alabama in 2024; its use was described by UN experts as akin to torture
- Firing squads
- Used three times in South Carolina in 2025, the first US use since 2010
- Execution suspensions
- South Carolina, Utah and Indiana resumed executions in 2024 after suspensions lasting more than a decade, partly because of difficulties obtaining drugs
- Tennessee response
- The state imposed a moratorium in 2022 and resumed lethal-injection executions in 2025 under a revised protocol
Quotes
Laura Porter
Director of a coalition of US organizations campaigning to abolish the death penalty
“Participating in execution is incredibly stressful and harmful to corrections officers”
deccanchronicle.com
“I don't believe that there is a perfect way to kill people”
deccanchronicle.com
Sources
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