A group of 21 Oklahoma inmates filed a federal lawsuit against state officials on Wednesday, arguing that their executions would violate the constitution and exceed the amount of human experimentation allowed on prisoners after a botched Oklahoma execution went horribly wrong earlier this year.  

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The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 20 men and one woman against the state's corrections director Robert Patton, Oklahoma State Penitentiary warden Anita Trammell, members of the board of corrections and unnamed people involved in lethal injection.

The 21 inmates stated that Oklahoma's lethal injection procedures are "unsound and unsafe" and amount to "biological experimentation on captive and unwilling human subjects."

The suit further claims that executions pose substantial risk to inmates and produce "severe pain, needless suffering, and a lingering death," as well as violates their Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

The lawsuit follows the botched execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett in April. State officials reportedly injected him with an untried dose of midazolam in an attempt to sedate him, but it took the inmate more than 10 minutes to actually fall unconscious.

Afterwards, Lockett began writhing and groaning, and even tried to lift his head and shoulders from the gurney as he tried to speak. It was then that officials drew the curtains to shield viewers from the gruesome scene.  

According to the official timeline of the execution, officials struggled to find a vein prior to inserting the IV in Lockett's groin area. Reportedly, the vein in his groin later collapsed, causing the drugs to leak out and resulting in the man's horrific death.

The complaint launched by the 21 inmates touches on the topic and points to a lack of medical expertise, inadequate training for those carrying out executions, lack of backup IV lines, and flaws with the lethal injection drug midazolam.

TagsClayton Lockett, failed, execution, inmates, Lawsuit, unsafe, practice