The Death Penalty And The Ideals Of Our Society

While execution methods have changed throughout the years each means of elimination has proved to be some form of violence. Some examples include a firing squad in which the criminal was shot to death, electric chair in which the criminal is shocked to death, public hanging where the criminal’s neck is snapped or choked to death, and most commonly used now, lethal injection, which administers a three drug system supposedly similar to putting down an old dog. It has been thought that lethal injection would surpass the eighth amendment because many thought the drugs were unable to harm those who would be effected. However, in Oklahoma there was Layton Lockett’s botched execution, in which he woke up and suffered in immense pain until he finally died. This occurred because of multiple reasons, the first being the use of a new drug and the second, was that the drug had being administered by someone with no medical training. Shortly after this occurred there were 21 individuals who filed civil rights cases arguing that lethal injections were a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, because the execution was only seen as an accident, lethal injection was not considered cruel because it could not prove that the action caused serious illness or needless suffering. The death penalty is inconsistent and unreliable both physically and within processes. Executions

The State of Texas was the first to perform a lethal injection execution and it is ranked first in executions as far back as 1976. Approximately, there have been over two hundred and eighty death penalties and a hundred and sixteen executions from 1982. Lethal injection involves injecting one or a variety of drugs into the person for the main cause of immediate death to him or her ("Texas | Death Penalty Information Center"). Characteristically, three drugs have been used. Sodium thiopental is an anesthesia which causes sleep, injecting with pancuronium bromide for paralysis of the muscles and to cause respiratory failure and the potassium chloride stops the heart from pumping. An intravenous salty drip is started in the arm of the prisoner

Lethal injections have been around for many years with the same basic idea and procedure. Lethal injection uses three drugs, a fast acting barbiturate that sedates the inmate and the drug Tubocurarine that paralyzes the inmate, and finally potassium chloride is used to stop his heart. These methods have been a controversial issue for many reasons. People that supports lethal injection believes that it is more humane method of execution than any other because it cause little or no pain. It also argued that it is less expensive than detaining or placing someone in jail for life. As far as lethal injection been unconstitutional because the procedure causes unusual pain and suffering, some people believe that someone who has kill countless people deserve to physical

Unfortunately and likely from the lack of medical experiences when performing executions, there have been several documented botched executions since the Gregg v. Georgia decision which re-constitutionalized the death penalty. There have been 47 total botched executions including 35 by lethal injection and 1 attempted execution by lethal injection. Although the Supreme Court in Baze v. Rees state that isolated mishaps alone do not violate the Eighth Amendment, it is hard to see how the botched executions do not violate the Eighth amendment of the individual in question. For example in several instances, the executioners were unable to find an adequate vein which often required constant probing and stabbing. As a testament to the lack of medical

After the Governor and Attorney General provide the okay, the inmate is escorted to the death chamber where they are strapped to the gurney in roughly 30 seconds. Often the inmate will thank the tie down team, which has been said to leave the executioner with a “weird feeling.” Some inmates are calm, while others cry or appear to be physically anxious. For those who are anxious it has been said that their legs will often

wastes the time of courts and attorneys. From the point that the person is sentenced to death row, the convicted may need to wait about 12 years until execution. Furthermore, the actual execution has many complications as well. A hanging may seem simple, but a miscalculation of the drop may lead to the person suffering a slow suffocation or the head being torn off the body. Another method, electrocution, is also not reliable. In one case, John Evans was electrocuted three times before he died, with his flesh burning and flames consuming his leg. Some may argue that this is the reason gas chambers were created. However, the chambers also cause slow and painful death as shown by Don Harding’s execution which took ten minutes. Today’s most used

The controversy issue is due to the medical moral dilemma (Maerz, 2009). Lethal injection requires the administration of professional doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists. The U.S. constitution require the execution to be humane, the American Board of Anesthesiology prohibits anesthesiologists to participate (George, 2011). Medical professionals do not want to participate in the execution due to critics. Abolitionists think that it is against the medical professionals to administer lethal injection or to have any involvement as it is viewed as going against the Hippocratic oath, American Medial Association, and the American Board of Anesthesiology (Maerz, 2009). The distress faced by the medical team has led a few professionals to have any involvement with the death penalty. If professionals do not administer the drug then unqualified individuals will have to carry out the execution. The issue with allowing non-medical individuals participate is the little education obtained and little experience resulting in poor quality in the execution (George, 2011). Medical professionals know the amount of substance the inmate is to be injected with and where on the vein (Maerz, 2009). Anesthesiologists make sure the inmate is anesthetized before proceeding to the following step. States have tried to keep the identity of medical professionals involved confidential to

In Louisiana in 1988, Wayne Robert Felde was sentenced to be put to death by means of electric chair. The procedure began proceeding as normal, but Mr.Felde did not die quickly. Due to a form of malfunction, the instrument did not proceed enough voltage to properly execute him. Rather, a sizeable chunk of skin on the side of his head proceeded to melt off, exposing the bone of the skull in the process (Bufacchi and Fairrie). This is a rather common occurrence, and one of the reasons that the death penalty is a violation of the eighth amendment. According to Fred Leutcher, the prisoners often choke, cough, and spasm as they die (Bufacci and Fairrie). In 1990, Jessie Taffero was put to death via the electric chair. The only problem, however, was that the first jolts of electricity caused his hair to catch on fire, simultaneously suffocating him inside of his hood and baking his head at the same time (Bufacci and Fairrie). The electric chair is not the only method with problems, however. “Sometimes there is a problem with the veins or the prisoner doesn’t cooperate, and then it is very difficult” (Bufacci and

For most proper execution of lethal drugs have been able to declare the inmate dead between six to 13 minutes after. Yet, sometimes not everything goes as planned. In the case of Clayton Lockett, an inmate from Oklahoma, his execution started late. Not only that, but after being given the first drug, a sedative to help them become unconscious, did not actually make him unconscious. But the physician who had checked him made a mistake and thought he was conscious and allowed the two other drugs to be given to Lockett. One drug to paralyze him and the other drug to make his heart stop. Lockett writhed in pain for a few minutes; then having the execution halted after a physician found that the vein had ruptured. He died 43 minutes after the execution had begun, of a massive heart attack. Also it

Never been used in an execution in the past, a drug known as, midazolam was administrated into Lockett’s body and was declared unconscious. The executioners proceeded and administrated pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride into the body and that’s when body movements and sound appeared from Lockett’s body. More than an hour passed and Lockett was declared dead of a heart attack. Clayton D. Lockett is one of the longest execution in American History. Yet, the cost of a general prisoner is $740,000 and a prisoner on death row cost $1.26 million (DPIC, 2016). The cruel and unusual punishment, unpredictability of the lethal drugs, the cost of terminating one’s life, and moral insincerity are reasons why capital punishment should be ruled unconstitutional.

Lethal injection is now almost the main method of execution in the US, with all but one of the 39 executions carried out during 2013 being by this method. Deadly injection changes from state to state.Normally, the prisoner is strapped to a gurney or a fixed execution table, rather than an operating room table by leather or webbing straps over the body and legs. All the chemicals used in the USA are standard medical drugs. Sodium thiopental is an ultra short acting barbiturate which was used widely as an anaesthetic and causes unconsciousness very quickly if injected into a vein."Capital punishment is supposed to serve the purposes of social defense and retribution. The argument that it deters or incapacitates dangerous offenders was not conclusively supported, and analysis of data herein failed to provide solid evidence for the death penalty as a mechanism of social defense."(Sorensen & Pilgrim,2006 , p.159)

Geoffrey Abbott, author of Execution: The Guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand Cuts, the Spanish Donkey, and 66 Other Ways of Putting Someone to Death, does a particularly well job explaining and detailing almost every method of execution in the different eras throughout history. He tells of how the people being executed felt and how the executioners felt. He also explains how each execution type was carried out. Executions back in the day were very gruesome, but details on the historical events cannot just be exempted out if you want to explain these hectic methods. Just a few categories covered were: the Axe- this was when a person was put on a wooden block with a space between the neck and then was decapitated. Also there was Bastinado-which was to be beaten with a stick on their feet until they die (by far the weirdest way to execute someone in my opinion.) Also there was the guillotine- when the prisoner was placed on a block and then a heavy blade from above come crashing down on the neck of the prisoner decapitating him (this method of execution was one of the coolest methods.) What is cooler way to go than a huge blade chopping off your head? It is by far one of the quickest and most painless. Another method was Torn Apart by Horses- this is when your arms and legs are tied to a horse and then each horse runs in a separate direction ripping your limbs off. What a way to go. I cannot fathom what it would have been like to be executed like that. Those are just some

On April 29, 2014, Clayton Lockett was strapped to a gurney in front of a selected audience and injected with a cocktail of midazolam, a paralytic, and potassium chloride (McBride and Murphy). Despite the combination of toxic drugs administered, two of which were specifically designated to sedate and paralyze him (PLoS), Lockett began writhing in pain ten minutes into his execution and suffered for thirty minutes before he was finally declared dead (McBride and Murphy). Lethal injection has been the preferred tool for execution here in the United States, where more than half of the states uphold the death penalty (“Lethal Injection”). It is intended to be quick and painless, hence ‘humane’, however in the case of Clayton Lockett that is evidently

Although the lethal injection is one of the quickest means of execution, it is still unconstitutional due to the fact that problems may occur. Lethal injections are the primary method of execution. Three drugs are usually used in the injection. It is used in all states that have the death penalty as a primary method of execution. When resources are not available, other methods, such as hanging, firing squads, and/or gas chambers, will be used. The drugs of  lethal injections are inserted into a usable vein. If a member of the execution team accidently inserts the needle into a muscle or if the needle becomes clogged, it can result in unbearable pain for the victim. Often times it can be difficult to find a usable vein and the prisoner is strapped

If a person is executed by hanging, asphyxiation often can cause prolonged deprivation of oxygen which damages many transplantable organs, the only capital jurisdictions who allows it are Delaware, Washington and New Hampshire (but all these states primary execution method is lethal injection).