Start Date: 11/20/2025 12:00 PM EST
End Date: 11/20/2025 1:30 PM EST
Venue Name: Zoom Webinar
Organization Name:
PA Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Contact:
Lethal Errors: Capital Defense Lessons from Execution Method Failures (Webinar)
Date & Time: November 20, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Via Zoom
Lethal injection was designed to present a sanitized version of capital punishment—but in reality, it has often resulted in excruciating, drawn-out, and arguably unconstitutional executions. In this compelling 90-minute webinar, Professor Corinna Barrett Lain—legal scholar and author of
Secrets of the Killing State—guides attendees through the history and modern reality of lethal injection, with a sharp focus on its failures and the litigation opportunities that those failures present.
Drawing from her extensive research and recent scholarship, Professor Lain will examine the practical and procedural breakdowns behind executions by lethal injection, unpack how secrecy masks systemic flaws, and explore how these failures intersect with Eighth Amendment and Due Process jurisprudence. Importantly, the session will offer strategic insights for criminal defense attorneys representing clients facing execution.
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how execution method challenges can inform constitutional claims and broader litigation strategy. This webinar is essential for capital case defense counsel seeking to ground their advocacy in the stark realities of how the state carries out the ultimate punishment.
Speaker: Professor Corinna Lain is the S. D. Roberts & Sandra Moore Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. Professor Lain's scholarship focuses on two areas--Supreme Court decision-making and the death penalty-- and she has published numerous articles and essays about lethal injection over the last decade. Professor Lain is a recipient of the University of Richmond's Distinguished Educator Award and is a veteran of the United States Army. Her first book, "Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection" released April 2025.
