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Eight men are scheduled to be executed in Arkansas over the course of 11 days beginning the day after Easter. The reason for the large number of executions? The lethal anesthetic used in the executions expires at the end of April.
This is the greatest amount of people executed in this short of a period of time since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. It’s also the first time that the state is executing anyone since 2005. Opposers to the death penalty say that having so many executions in a short period of time could increase the likelihood of a mistakes that cause the convicted unnecessary pain. According to The Los Angeles Times, Arkansas’s governor Asa Hutchinson and the director of the Arkansas Department of Correction “have not expressed any concerns about possible mishaps during the executions.”
The execution dates were set back in February for the eight men- four white, four black,- for killing 11 people collectively. Their convictions occurred between 1989 and 1999. Two executions will take place daily on April 17, 20, 24 and 27.