Capital punishment is legal in 32 states in the US, and the primary method of execution in each of them is lethal injection. But that hasn’t always been the case.
The New Republic created this animated map as some states are figuring out how to respond to a shortage of the drugs used in punitive lethal injections. Even among proponents of the death penalty, this brings up a host of ethical issues as some states have changed their protocols, others have suspended executions, and still others are considering a return to the electric chair.
The New Republic has an eye-opening interview with Dr. Deborah Denno, professor at Fordham University School of Law, about public misconceptions about lethal injection, why execution methods changed over the decades, and whether it is possible to make the death penalty more humane.
The Evolution of the Death Penalty in One Map [New Republic via I Love Charts]
