Alabama subjected prisoner to ‘three hours of pain’ during execution – report

Lethal injection of Joe Nathan James Jr may have taken longer than any other recorded in US history, according to an analysis

Alabama's execution of Joe Nathan James Jr last month may have taken longer than any other lethal injection in recorded American history, and no death penalty ever administered in the US may have taken quite as long, according to an analysis by a human rights organization.

An examination by Reprieve US of James's execution estimates that it took Alabama officials between three and three and a half hours to carry out the lethal injection, a duration that the organization argues violates constitutional protections against inhumane punishments.