Tony Carruthers recently survived a lethal injection attempt – the latest man to endure a failed execution

The constitutional prohibition of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ has shaped legal discourse around failed executions, but courts have not stopped states from attempting to execute the same man again.

By: Austin Sarat, Amherst College, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: June 4, 2026

Words: 1,368

Last Updated: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

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By Austin Sarat, Amherst College

Tennessee set out to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026, but he lived to tell about it.

Carruthers, who was sentenced to death for a 1994 triple murder, survived his date with death when the execution team members could find only one suitable vein in which to secure an IV, but not, as USA Today reports, the “backup line, which is required under the state’s lethal …

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