Mon 7 Jan 2008
Is Lethal Injection a Cruel Form of Death?
Posted by Gregory Rineberg under Current Events
Today, the Supreme Court will hear several accounts of why the lethal injection system violates the U.S. 8th Amendment. The 8th Amendment states that no cruel or unusual punishment shall be used against those found guilty of crimes. This is the 1st time in over a century that the Supreme Court will rule on the morality and ethical implications of executions for criminals. There are a pair of Kentucky cases representing 2 death row inmates stating that the 3 drug cocktail used for lethal injection is grossly inhumane and cruel.
The 3 drug cocktail works like this: 1st the drug, sodium thiopental, is injected into the person rendering the person unconscious; then the 2nd drug, pancuronium bromide is injected, which paralyzes the inmates body and breathing muscles; finally the 3rd drug, potassium chloride is injected into the inmate, which causes cardiac arrest and death. Last year a Death Row inmate by the name of Angel Diaz was put to death using the 3 drug cocktail. His death took up to 34 minutes using the lethal injection method. It took 2 doses of the 3 drug cocktail to finally put him to death and he displayed chemical burns on his arm. Today, this case is being used as a precedent in the Supreme Court to show why lethal injection violates the 8th Amendment. Attorneys argue that if the 1st two drugs are not administered in the proper dosage then the 3rd drug would cause excruciating pain and the inmate would be rendered helpless, implying cruel and unusual punishment.
There has been a lot of controversy over the execution of criminals in this country for a long time. This country has definitely progressed or at least tried to progress into a more humane society, and with that, so has the execution process. Advancing from hangings and firing squad executions, this country has ‘bent over backwards’ to appease the masses and show that the legal system has a softer side. I don’t see why our government, let alone the highest law of the land, should be consumed with having sympathy for people that commit heinous acts of crime. Death Row inmates that kill at will, anyone, including their parents, women, children, and other innocent people deserve to die or at least feel the pain that they inflicted upon others.
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January 7th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Thanks for the link. It’s a pretty fascinating case, even though it doesn’t figure to generate any kind of landmark ruling. What’s really odd is the just how opaque the lethal injection process is — every state has its own way of setting up the protocol and some are quite adamant about not disclosing their procedures, or even their procedure-making procedures. There’s been almost no testing on the regimen; it’s just proceeded from rule of thumb … so when there’s a hiccup, you get these cringe-worthy situations where some guy being paid $200 to be the state executioner is desperately carving up a prisoner with a scalpel looking for somewhere to stick the needle.
But I don’t have an answer to your question.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
The problem lies in the fact that somewhere down the line and innocent person probably gets killed.
Perhaps there should be a separate ruling for cases seeking the death penalty. Perhaps guilt should then need to be proven beyond any shroud of doubt so as to justify ending someone’s life.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
The system is currently set up so that a jury of your peers has to be unanimous that you are guilty, and that you deserve the death penalty. How much more certain can we get?
Granted, there will be innocent people that will slip through. That’s a damn shame, but the death penalty system really is set up to try to spare people at all costs. To be executed you first:
* Lose the case.
* Get sentenced to death by a jury of your peers.
* Lose your automatic appeal, and all subsequent appeals.
* Fail to be pardoned by the governor.
* Haven’t figured out how to escape jail after sitting there for more than 5 years.
That’s a LOT of people who have decided that you should die.
At what level do we say “OK, our system is good enough and works 100% of the time”?
January 7th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Should the punishment be painful? Is it important that the punishment fit the crime?
January 7th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
If executions were done away with in our current legal system our prisons would most definitely be overcrowded beyond all belief. I think that the lethal injection is probably the most ‘humane’ way to execute somebody. I don’t think it necessarily fits the crime all the time, but I can think of a lot worse ways to go. In most instances these people have slaughtered innocent people, as in the case of Ralph Baze and they don’t deserve to be given a second chance to have a meaningful life. Sure they might be innocent, and I know that many people over the years have been exonerated of the Death Penalty through newer, better evidence. However, if the crime goes through the list that Jake provided us with then I see no reason why execution shouldn’t be imposed.
We could adopt Hammurabi’s code of “an eye for an eye” and just kill the guilty party along with inflicting equal pain on his family. But that would be anarchy and then the police would be sort of a judge, jury, and executioner.
January 10th, 2008 at 12:48 am
In my ideal world all prisoners sentenced for life would sit in solitary confinement till they died of old age.
But in this world of limited space I still don’t agree with the death penalty. Its based on the assumption that death is worse than life. What if death rocks. Huh? How bout that? What if its actually an awesome experience, and the global fear of death just makes us think this is the best punishment for criminals?
January 10th, 2008 at 10:20 am
If death does rock, and indeed it may. I do not think it will rock for bad people.