The state execution of inmate Alva Campbell has been delayed indefinitely after personnel on hand were unable to locate a vein for the lethal injection procedure. The event follows a history of botched and questionable execution attempts over the years in Ohio.

Through the attempted execution today, personnel stuck Campbell multiple times in multiple locations — to no avail. “At one point he removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes and appeared to cry,” Marty Schladen wrote in the Columbus Dispatch.

The ACLU of Ohio called today’s events “torture.”

“This marks the fifth botched execution for Ohio in recent years, and the second time the state could not complete an execution,” ACLU of Ohio Senior Policy Director Mike Brickner said today in a public statement. “This is not justice, and this is not humane. Campbell was poked and prodded for nearly two hours as prison officials and medical personnel attempted to find a useable vein. This type of state-sponsored torture is not acceptable and the state of Ohio must place a moratorium on executions immediately. Today the state made a spectacle of a man’s life, and the cruel and unusual practice of lethal injection must end.”

It’s up to Gov. John Kasich to reschedule the execution.

This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2017.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

One reply on “Ohio’s Execution of Alva Campbell Delayed After Medical Personnel Could Not Locate Vein”

  1. ” the state made a spectacle of a mans life, and the cruel and unusual practice of lethal injection must end. This mans life was a spectacle way before this. How is it the states fault that this criminal has bad veins Cruel and unusual punishment includes torture, deliberately degrading punishment, or punishment that is too severe for the crime committed. NONE of which occurred .

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