The debate surrounding capital punishment in the US hit global headlines after the state of Tennessee’s failed execution of condemned killer Christa Pike, who survived two attempts to inject her with lethal drugs on September 30.
Pike, whom witnesses heard gasping, crying, whimpering and breathing loudly through much of the botched procedure, was hospitalised afterwards and sent back to prison on October 10.
The death penalty received further scrutiny after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced plans to livestream the planned firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas on November 5, 2009.
President Donald Trump later ruled out a livestream of the execution after backlash from senior Republican figures and human rights campaigners, but Hasan is still scheduled to be executed by firing squad on December 3.
