Carney: Oklahoma Execution ‘Fell Short’ of Any Humane Standards

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney weighed in on the botched Oklahoma execution at Wednesday’s press briefing, after debate raged overnight over the death penalty and how the execution of inmate Clayton Lockett went so horribly wrong.

Carney was asked about Obama’s views on the execution. He said that Obama doesn’t believe the death penalty has been shown to deter crime, but does believe “there are some crimes that are so heinous, the death penalty is merited.”

However, Carney also said that “we have a fundamental standard in this country that even when the death penalty is justified, it must be carried out humanely, and I think everyone would recognize that this case fell short of that standard.”

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has ordered an independent probe of the botched execution to figure out what went wrong.

Watch the video below, via C-SPAN 3:

[h/t WaPo]
[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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