{"id":151892,"date":"2025-09-16T12:04:44","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T17:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=151892"},"modified":"2025-09-16T12:13:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T17:13:26","slug":"hard-to-look-away-death-penalty-expert-brings-research-to-law-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/hard-to-look-away-death-penalty-expert-brings-research-to-law-school\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Hard to Look Away’: Death Penalty Expert Brings Research to Law School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author Corinna Barrett Lain reveals findings from seven years of research on lethal injection<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Marisa C. Atkinson<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lethal injection is the primary method of execution in 28 of the 29 states that use them as punishment. Legal scholar Corinna Barrett Lain<\/strong> plans to unveil the secrets of lethal injection during a September 22 discussion at the University of Mississippi School of Law<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Legal scholar Corinna Barrett Lain<\/strong> teaches at the University of Richmond School of Law<\/strong>. She plans to share the unknown truths of lethal injection discovered during research for her book Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection<\/em><\/strong> (NYU Press, 2025).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This free, public event is set for Monday, September 22, at 12:30 pm in the law school’s Weems Auditorium<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former prosecutor, Lain wrote two legal history papers about capital punishment before this book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Once you start looking at the death penalty\u2014really looking at it\u2014it’s hard to look away,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is not a book where I make an argument and try to convince people that I’m right. This is a book where I relentlessly document what states are doing and then leave it to the reader to decide if that’s OK with them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lain plans to share a few of the more surprising finds from her research, along with the significance of those findings. She will also share a personal note about how studying executions for seven years changed her as she witnessed examples of redemption on death row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Berry<\/strong>,\u00a0Ole Miss law<\/a>\u00a0professor and associate dean of research, will serve as moderator. He also wrote a review of Lain’s book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a fundamental misunderstanding as to how states execute people, particularly when the method is lethal injection, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With a 10-year high in executions \u2013 30 and counting \u2013 I hope attendees gain a better understanding of what their states are doing on their behalf when they punish criminal offenders with the death penalty and execute them,” Berry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audience members can purchase a copy of Lain’s book at the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lain wants people to leave thinking and asking questions concerning lethal injection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What is the real work that lethal injection is doing?” she asked. “And what is the place of secrecy in the state’s most powerful moment in our democracy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These are the sorts of questions that I hope attendees will be asking themselves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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