Our Supreme Court has, for now, stopped all executions by lethal injection due to a belief by some, that lethal injection represents cruel and unusual punishment, something our Constitution (8th Amendment)(1791) prohibits.
The wording of the 8th Amendment leaves a lot open to interpretation as well as to relativism; what was cruel in 1791 may be different from what we think is cruel in 2007.
A quick note before we go on; I used to be unequivocally for capital punishment until I found out that our prosecutors are not to be trusted and that they will and have sent people to their deaths on questionable evidence just to say they have won / closed a case. DNA evidence has proven many innocent and I would only vote for death if the evidence supported guilt 100%.
But what interests me is the finding of specifically “lethal injection” as cruel and unusual. The cases that are cited in this argument have to do with trouble finding a suitable vein for injection, possible localized burning sensation at site of injection and the possibility that the condemned actually “feels” pain.
The procedure for lethal injection is to start a intravenous (IV) “drip” of saline (salt water). Next inject a barbiturate like Sodium Thiopental that would make the condemned unconscious, followed by a muscle paralyzer like Tubocurarine (curare) and finally Potassium Chloride to stop the heart.
In theory, the person should only feel the insertion of the IV needle. In my hospital days I did a lot of “sticking” and know that it CAN hurt. Many prisoners are also drug addicts and their veins are pretty bad so for them it can be an ordeal.
My question here is why are we trying to spare the condemned from any pain when he or she has caused so much pain to others?
Is there a method that would not cause any pain? The arguments against lethal injection usually state that the prisoner “appeared to be in some type of discomfort”.
How about asking Jack Kevorkian? He seemed to have a pretty painless method. How about asking the Dutch that have legal euthanasia for their method.
Why are we so stupid?
The question of Capital Punishment itself is quite another matter and subject for a future blog.
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