Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma recently said he believes the April 29 execution of Clayton Lockett, “was certainly not done appropriately.” Coburn, who is also a physician, added, “It’s an unfortunate thing but, again, anytime you’re doing anything with the body, things can go wrong.” He also spoke more broadly about his views on the death penalty, saying, “I don’t like it. I wish we put everybody that had such a history as this gentleman behind bars working and doing things that would help them.” With regard to the investigation the state is conducting on the botched execution, Coburn said, “Oklahoma will correct it. They’ll be transparent about what happened. They’ll fix what happened.” The senator did say he thought the death penalty had “deterrent capability.”
(C. Casteel, “Sen. Tom Coburn: I don’t like the death penalty but it’s a deterrent,” The Oklahoman, May 1, 2014). See New Voices and Lethal Injection.
