An audio recording of remarks made by an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals judge was recently released to the public.
In an open court, Judge Gary Lumpkin can be heard telling corrections staff to 'suck it up' and "man up" following a request to pace executions far enough apart to give them time to recover from an "unsustainable" pace of back-to-back deaths.
The apathetic comments come on the heels of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond's official request on Tuesday to extend the time between executions to 90 days to reduce the stress on corrections staff.
Drummond, a Republican, is also the same attorney general who made headlines during his 2018 political campaign when he featured photos of murdered University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in a segment that said "illegal aliens" are committing "the most heinous crimes."
According to Law and Crime, Drummond filed a motion in January 2023 regarding upcoming executions for Richard Eugene Glossip, Jemaine Monteil Cannon, Anthony Castillo Sanchez, Phillip Dean Hancock, James Chandler Ryder, Michael Dewayne Smith, and Wade Greely Lay, stating the Department of Corrections (DOC) successfully carried out eight executions while "exhibiting work ethic, professionalism, and concern for the victims' families throughout."
"As is to be expected, DOC leadership and personnel have continuously sought to learn and improve during this process," Drummond wrote.
Drummond's comments follow a series of highly problematic executions in Oklahoma.
After a six-year hiatus following a botched incident in 2015, Oklahoma resumed executions in July 2022. The Court of Criminal Appeals has set dates for six new inmates -- 25 of 43 currently sit on death row and have scheduled executions once per month through December 24.
The attorney general's motion requesting additional time between the executions did not highlight the multitude of problems within the state's recent executions but said that it had "become clear over time that the current pace of executions is unsustainable in the long run, as it is unduly burdening the DOC and its personnel."
Lumpkin was less than thrilled when he responded, "I'm sorry, but I come from the Marine Corps, and when we have tough duties, we just say, 'man up.' If you can't do the job, you step aside and let somebody do it that can."
"We set a reasonable amount of time to start this out, and y'all keep pushing it and pushing it and pushing it," Lumpkin berated Drummond at the hearing.
"Who's to say next month you won't come in and say I need 120 days? This stuff needs to stop, and people need to suck it up, realize they have a hard job to do, and get it done in a timely, proficient, professional way."
Lumpkin has yet to rule on Drummond's request for extended time between executions.
