在田纳西州试图执行对克里斯塔·派克的死刑但失败后，人们开始重新审视这种死刑执行方式（即使用致命注射的方式）。派克在两次注射致命药物后仍然存活下来。
Lethal injections are under scrutiny after Christa Pike survived two rounds of drugs during Tennessee's failed attempt to execute her. Why it matters:
这一事件的重要性：根据死刑信息中心（Death Penalty Information Center）的数据，自1976年以来，美国执行的1,683起死刑中，约有89%都是通过致命注射方式执行的。因此，这一事件具有重要的象征意义，它引发了人们对死刑执行方式及其合法性的广泛讨论。
Lethal injection has been the dominant U.S. execution method for decades, accounting for roughly 89% of the 1,683 executions carried out since 1976, per the Death Penalty Information Center Driving the news: Pike convicted of killing a classmate three decades ago, survived two rounds of lethal injection drugs Wednesday in what would have been the state's first execution of a woman in 200 years.
事件背景：派克因三十年前杀害同学而被判有罪。周三，她本应成为该州200年来首位被执行死刑的女性，但她成功挺过了两次致命药物的注射。
• In response, Gov. Bill Lee halted executions and ordered a "comprehensive, third-party review" of the failed attempt.
作为回应，州长比尔·李（Bill Lee）暂停了所有死刑执行，并下令对这次失败的执行过程进行“全面的第三方审查”。
• Pike's execution attempt followed hours of legal whiplash in which courts first stayed the execution before reversing course.
据美联社（AP）报道，派克的律师在新闻发布会上表示，截至周四下午，派克仍然活着，并且在接受“救命治疗”。她律师称，周三晚上的注射过程实际上属于“酷刑”。
• Pike is still alive as of Thursday afternoon, her attorney said at a news conference, according to the AP. She is receiving "lifesaving care" after a failed attempt Wednesday night that her attorney said amounted to "torture." The big picture:
背景信息：虽然各州的死刑执行规程有所不同，但致命注射的基本流程大体相同。
Execution protocols vary by state, but lethal injections generally follow the same basic process. Data:
注： 新罕布什尔州已经废除了死刑，但仍有一名囚犯被关押在死囚牢房中。
Note: New Hampshire abolished the death penalty but retains one prisoner on death row; Map: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Why states adopted lethal injection
死刑执行方式的发展历程：致命注射这一方式是在上世纪70年代最高法院重新允许死刑之后开始被广泛采用的。1977年，俄克拉荷马州成为第一个批准使用致命注射的州；德克萨斯州则在五年后首次实施了这一死刑方式。在致命注射出现之前，各州常用的死刑执行方法包括电刑、毒气注射、绞刑和枪决。立法者认为注射方式较为“人道”且成本较低。
Flashback: Lethal injections emerged after the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to return in the 1970s. • Oklahoma became the first state to authorize the practice in 1977. Texas carried out its first five years later. • Before lethal injections, states commonly used methods like electrocution, gas, hanging and firing squads. Lawmakers considered injections to be less violent and cheaper.
如今，所有实行死刑的州都采用致命注射作为主要的执行方式。最高法院也要求各州仅将死刑适用于最严重的谋杀案件。
Lethal injections are now used in all death penalty states. • The Supreme Court requires states to reserve the death penalty only for the most heinous murders.
——爱达荷州、密西西比州、俄克拉荷马州、南卡罗来纳州和犹他州——允许使用行刑队。• 爱达荷州已于7月将行刑队定为主要的死刑执行方式。如何实施注射死刑
Several states — Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah —allow firing squads • Idaho made firing squad its primary execution method in July. How lethal injections are administered There isn't one
没有统一的标准程序。各州使用的方案各不相同，但基本流程相似。
standard procedure. States use different protocols, but the basic process is similar.
- 在囚犯被束缚（通常是固定在担架上）的情况下，通过静脉注射输入致命剂量的药物。
• A fatal dose of drugs is delivered through an IV while the prisoner is restrained, often to a gurney.
- 例如，亚利桑那州要求使用两根静脉导管，其中一根作为备用，以防第一条管线失效。
• Arizona, for example, requires two IV catheters, one as a backup in case the first line fails. Physicians often
医生通常不参与注射死刑，因为美国医学会的《医学伦理守则》规定医生不应参与死刑执行。
don't administer lethal injections because the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics says doctors should not participate in executions.
- 各州有时会转而依赖执行小组，小组成员可能包括监狱警卫、惩教人员以及其他受过药物注射培训的人员。注射死刑使用哪些药物
• States instead sometimes rely on execution teams that can include prison guards, corrections employees and other personnel trained to administer the drugs. What drugs are used in lethal injections
运作方式这些药物主要有两种给药途径。
How it works There are two main ways these drugs are administered.
- 单药途径——州政府使用镇静剂或巴比妥类药物（通常是戊巴比妥）导致死亡。
• One drug path — The state administers a sedative or barbiturate, commonly pentobarbital, to cause death.
- 三药途径——另一种方法是先给予镇静剂或麻醉剂，然后使用麻痹剂，最后使用一种药物使心脏停止跳动。
• Three drug path — Another method includes giving a sedative or anesthetic, then a paralytic before a final drug stops the heart. Yes, but:
是的，但是：戊巴比妥本身就存在争议，批评者质疑它是否真的能让人无痛死亡。
Pentobarbital itself is controversial with critics questioning whether it really causes a painless death.
- 拜登政府下属的司法部进行的一项审查指出，人们担心该药物可能会导致痛苦和折磨。
• A Justice Department review under the Biden administration cited concerns that the drug possibly caused pain and suffering.
- 特朗普总统时期的司法部重新授权了联邦政府使用戊巴比妥。注射死刑并不总是按计划进行
• President Trump's DOJ reauthorized the federal use of pentobarbital. Lethal injections don't always work as planned
派克的案例并非首例注射死刑失败的案例。死刑信息中心（DPIC）表示，在1890年至2010年间的1054起注射死刑中，有75起（约7%）执行失败——这是所有执行方式中失败率最高的。
Pike's case is not the first lethal injection gone wrong. The DPIC says 75 of 1,054 lethal injections (about 7%) were botched from 1890 to 2010 — the most of any method. What they're saying:
各方说法：一些死刑执行的目击者描述称，囚犯在执行过程中曾大口喘气并挣扎呼吸。
Witnesses to some executions have described prisoners gasping for air and struggling to breathe.
- 一些囚犯在最初的行刑尝试中幸存下来，但随后因并发症或其他医疗原因死亡，有时这些原因与行刑尝试有关。另一些囚犯则在日后被执行死刑。
• Some prisoners survive the initial attempt but later die from complications or other medical causes, sometimes linked to the execution attempt. Others are executed at a later date.
- 据美国国家公共电台（NPR）报道，尸检发现有证据表明囚犯遭受了肺水肿，即肺部积液，这会产生与溺水相同的感觉。典型案例：2022年，在死刑执行令到期前，由于官员未能成功插入静脉注射管，阿拉巴马州取消了对肯尼斯·史密斯（Kenneth Smith）的死刑执行。
• Autopsies have found evidence of prisoner suffering from pulmonary edema, which is a buildup of fluid in the lungs that can create the same sensation as drowning, per NPR. Case in point: In 2022, Alabama called off Kenneth Smith 's execution after officials couldn't insert an IV before his death warrant expired.
- 史密斯幸免于难，但后来于2024年被处以氮气窒息死刑，这是美国历史上的首次。
• Smith survived but was later executed in 2024 through nitrogen hypoxia, a first in American history.
- 2014年，俄克拉荷马州对克莱顿·洛克特（Clayton Lockett）的死刑执行过程出现严重问题，原因是官员未能正确建立静脉通道。他在近一小时后死亡。
• In 2014, the execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma went badly after officials failed to properly establish an IV. He died nearly an hour later.