Georgia to resume executions following COVID-19 pause

• Georgia resumes executions.
• This comes after a four-year hiatus.
• The last execution in the state took place in January 2020.

Georgia resumes executions after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to authorities, the death penalty in that state will be reinstated next week.

Lethal injections had been halted for four years.

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Georgia resumes executions

An execution scheduled for next week in Georgia will mark the state’s return to using the death penalty after over four years.

Willie James Pye, 59, faces execution on March 20 for his involvement in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Alicia Lynn Yarbrough, in November 1993.

This execution becomes a milestone following the hiatus was agreed upon during the COVID pandemic, according to The Associated Press.

The last time Georgia carried out an execution was in January 2020.

Why were Georgia executions suspended?

In April 2021, the state attorney general’s office agreed to suspend executions for certain death row prisoners and established conditions for their possible resumption.

The history of executions in Georgia dates back to 1983, when the state resumed capital punishment after the reinstatement of the death penalty by the U.S. Supreme Court.

From 2010 to 2020, Georgia executed 30 people, with the four-year hiatus being the longest to date, brought about by the pandemic and its consequent agreement.

Unlike some states, Georgia has not faced obstacles in obtaining the medication used in lethal injections.

How are the lethal injections obtained?

Correctional officials have stated that they obtain the sedative pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy whose identity is protected by state law.

The pause in executions in 2020 did not prevent judicial proceedings from advancing in the state of Georgia.

This ultimately allowed those on death row to remain eligible for execution as they exhausted their appeals.

The effort to resume executions began in early 2021, so authorities have been working to process the accused.

How was the execution process reinstated?

A COVID judicial task force committee instructed lawyers for death row prisoners.

The state attorney general’s office was also notified about how executions would resume.

The agreement to pause the death penalty in Georgia was reached in April 2021, The Associated Press stated.

The agreement stated that executions would not resume until six months after three specific conditions were met.

What were the conditions for resuming executions?

These conditions included the expiration of the state’s COVID-19 judicial emergency and the resumption of normal visitation in state prisons.

The agreement also stated that a COVID vaccine must be available to all members of the public, according to the AP.

In addition, minimum intervals were established for the spacing of executions once they resumed.

The execution of Willie James Pye marks Georgia’s return to using the death penalty and the ongoing consant struggle with Human Rights organizations.