The state of Arkansas plans to execute eight men over the span of just 10 days, said Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The state has not executed anyone in 11 years, but will end that break starting April 17, when it begins to carry out all eight sentences by lethal injection, according to its current schedule. “This action is necessary to fulfill the requirement of the law,” Hutchinson told CNN on Thursday. “But it is also important to bring closure to the victims’ families who have lived with the court appeals and uncertainty for a very long time.” The sheer number of executions in such a small window of time is “unprecedented” in the United States, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Only 31 states currently carry out the death penalty.