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Oklahoma Attorney General requests more time in between executions

The gurney in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Inmates there say that multi-drug executions are a form of human experimentation.
AP
The gurney in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Oklahoma currently has one execution scheduled each month from February to August, but a request from the Attorney General might lengthen the time between each execution.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a motion with the Department of Corrections to request the next seven execution dates be pushed back by 60 days, changing the current schedule from one execution every month to one every two months.

Drummond says the current pace of executions is unsustainable for DOC personnel and more time between executions is needed to allow for the intense training and preparation required to carry out the state’s highest punishment.

If granted, the request would push back executions scheduled for Richard Eugene Glossip, Jemaine Monteil Cannon, Anthony Castillo Sanchez, Phillip Dean Hancock, James Chandler Ryder, Michael Dewayne Smith and Wade Greely Lay.

Drummond also says he spoke to the families of the victims of the seven death row inmates before filing the motion to explain his request.

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Hannah France joined KGOU as a reporter in 2021, shortly after earning a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. In 2023, Hannah was the first place recipient of the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists' Radio Outstanding Reporter Portfolio award. Hannah reports on a variety of topics including criminal justice, housing, and labor rights and is dedicated to educating and empowering Oklahomans through community storytelling.
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