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Andrew Cohen

Column: A view to a kill – Why lawyers and judges should witness executions

Legal analyst Andrew Cohen argues in The Atlantic that legal argument on lethal injections cannot continue without those involved in the debate seeing exactly what happens in the death chamber.

A gurney used for lethal injection executions in Hunstville, Texas - an observation window and an intravenous needle is visible on the left wall.
A gurney used for lethal injection executions in Hunstville, Texas - an observation window and an intravenous needle is visible on the left wall.
Image: Ed Kolenovsky/AP/Press Association Images
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INCREASING CONCERNS IN the US over botched lethal injections have led to debate on more transparency on what happens in the country’s prison death chambers.

CBS legal editor Andrew Cohen has argued on TheAtlantic.com that lawyers and judges should routinely be given videotapes of executions to help them decide if lethal injections are a “cruel and unusual punishment”. He writes:

Making execution videotapes for lawyers and judges to evaluate is a no-brainer. It should be happening all over the country and with greater frequency. Prison officials and prosecutors should no longer be allowed to keep secret from the courts vital evidence in the fight over lethal injections.

Read Andrew Cohen’s full piece in The Atlantic>

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