This week on Everyday Injustice, host David Greenwald speaks with Corinna Lane, a former prosecutor and author of the compelling new book Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection. Lane's career took a dramatic turn from prosecution to death penalty advocacy, driven in part by personal experience with the juvenile justice system and a deep awareness of the power prosecutors wield. Her book—and this conversation—dives into one of the darkest, most hidden aspects of the American criminal legal system: the disturbing realities of execution by lethal injection.

Lane explains how the U.S. death penalty system, once perceived to be in decline, has seen a troubling resurgence—even as new death sentences remain low and public support continues to erode, especially among younger generations. As a legal historian, she draws on past political moments, such as the 1990s "tough on crime" era and the Clinton administration's death penalty posturing, to make sense of today's contradictions: states moving away from executions on paper while still pursuing death penalty prosecutions in practice. The United States, she reminds listeners, remains an international outlier among modern democracies when it comes to capital punishment.

In the interview, Lane unpacks the pharmaceutical crisis that upended lethal injection—how European governments and drug companies essentially boycotted U.S. executions by refusing to sell drugs used in state killings. This triggered a cascade of sourcing problems that exposed the deeply flawed, often torturous mechanics behind lethal injection. And when confronted with the common argument—why should we care if people sentenced to death suffer during execution?—Lane responds with a powerful moral and constitutional rebuttal: the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment not for the sake of the condemned, but to preserve the dignity of the society that punishes them.

Finally, the conversation turns to the humanity of those on death row. Lane recounts the story of Brian Dorsey, a Missouri man sentenced to death whose execution was opposed by over 70 prison staff—including two wardens—because of who he had become after nearly two decades of incarceration. Once a man who committed a terrible crime, Dorsey had transformed into a trusted barber in the prison's honor dorm, respected and even liked by the very people charged with guarding him. Lane's insight is clear: the death penalty does not merely punish people for who they were—it ignores who they have become. And that, she argues, is a grave injustice.


Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 289: Hidden Cruelties of Lethal Injection and the Death Penalty

David Thorne is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for allegedly hiring an acquaintance to kill the mother of his son, however, he never hired anyone nor did the acquaintance do the crime.  

Sometime between the evening hours on March 31, 1999 and 12:00 p.m. on April 1, 1999, Yvonne Layne, a mother of 5, was murdered in her home with one solid and steady slit to her throat.  

David Thorne was convicted of complicity to aggravated murder/murder for hire on January 25, 2000 by a 12 person jury.  

The police investigating the crime had tunnel vision throughout their investigation, narrowing in on David from the beginning.

The investigators were unable to get David to confess, so instead they went after his acquaintance, Joseph Wilkes, who was barely 18 years of age and a high school dropout.  

After a lengthy interrogation, during which they told Joseph that David was “next door ratting him out”, he confessed, utilizing the story that the police had fed to him to what the police were telling him happened.  

Joe took a plea deal and David went to trial.  Despite the lack of physical evidence of either Joe or David being at the scene and a poor police investigation, with very weak circumstantial evidence, an innocent man was convicted.

Everyday Justice Podcast Episode 19: David Thorne and a Murder For Hire That Wasn't

MIriam Krinsky is Executive Director of the group Fair and Just Prosecution, which is helping transform the criminal justice system by highlighting the roles and responsibilities of prosecutors.

A former prosecutor, we talk about how things have changed over the course of her career, the current progressive prosecution movement and what that means for this country.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 36 - Miriam Krinsky and the Progressive Prosecutor Movement

Jose Garza is another former public defender and federal public defender, currently  the co-executive director of the Austin-based nonprofit Workers Defense Project, and running for prosecutor in Travis County, Texas home of Austin.

Right before we recorded the podcast, he got a big endorsement from Elizabeth Warren.

“With José as district attorney, Travis County will gain another champion in the fight to transform our criminal justice system,” Warren said in a statement. “As an experienced public servant with a proven track record of standing up for working families, I know that José will be the fighter that Travis County communities deserve.”

Listen as we talk about criminal justice reform and the need for progressive prosecutors in Austin, Texas.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 37 - Jose Garza Runs For DA in Travis County, Texas

Julie Gunnigle is the latest in our progressive prosecutor series on Everyday Injustice.

She is running as a reformer in a district long held by Bill Montgomery.  In addition, Maricopa County is well known as the home of notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  

Among the issues Ms. Gunnigle spoke to on Everyday Injustice, liberalization of marijuana policies.  Arizona is the only state for whom even a trace amount of marijuana possession is charged as a misdemeanor and Bill Montgomery was notorious for filing charges in marijuana cases.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 40 - Julie Gunnigle Takes on Maricopa Prosecutor

In 2019, Tiffany Caban, a career public defender ran for DA in QUeens, NY and came within an eyelash of beating the establishment backed candidate.

Ms. Caban talks about what she is doing today and the ramifications of her race as well as the future of the progressive prosecution movement.

Everday Injustice Podcast Episode 50 - Tiffany Caban former Queens DA Candidate

Buta Biberai was elected last year as Commonwealth Attorney in Loudon County Virginia.  She ran as the progressive reformer and became the first new top prosecutor in 16 years. 

Criminal justice reform looks a bit different in suburban Virginia, what has traditionally been more red but has over time shifted.

We talk about the issues and challenges of reform in Virginia and it how it differs from other places that we have spoken about.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 52 - Virginia Prosecutor Buta Biberaj

Davis Vanguard Podcast will be covering criminal justice reform, mass incarceration, wrongful convictions, and more.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 289: Hidden Cruelties of Lethal Injection and the Death Penalty

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