DEATH PENALTY: We have been euthanizing animals for a century. Why is a lethal injection so hard to get right?

Question

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The 16 minutes it took Christopher Newton to die once chemicals began flowing into his veins was the longest stretch that any of the state's inmates executed since 1999 has endured, an Associated Press review shows.

During that span Thursday — more than twice as long as usual, and 5 minutes longer than the state's previous longest on record — Newton's stomach heaved, his chin quivered and twitched, and his 6-foot, 265-pound body twice mildly convulsed within the restraints.

Answer 1

So i notice that noone answered the question you asked and i will be unique and actually do that.

The reason we can't get the lethal injection right to kill human beings when we do so well with animals is that there are laws in place, practices and procedures, and consequences for messing up the killing of animals. we cannot say the same of lethal injection for human beings. the dr who came up with the suggested drugs for lethal injection is here in NC. He has gone on the record as saying he was merely making a suggestion of how the procedure should go. states picked up his recommendation, but the medical community was never consulted as to whether there was medically relevant support for the initial suggestion.

to further complicate things, often, the American Medical Association has said it is inconsistent with medical ethics for a physician to participate in the killing of an otherwise healthy human being.

Today, there are places all over the country that are finally evaluating whether there should be a medically accurate procedure to killing someone by lethal injection. should there be a medical professional in the room to monitor? Should there be a time-check to ensure that the drugs are doing what they should to provide a humane death? should there be an actual procedure in place rather than a bunch of guesswork?

A lot of folks would say "who cares?" The point is that in the face of vengeance, the constitution requires that we avoid cruel and unusual punishment, and the knowing infliction of pain is cruel. it isn't a technicality...it is the letter if the law that governs who we are as a people. ignoring it makes us no better than those we say we are entitled to kill.

Answer 2

What you're lacking is that docs aren't to any extent further authorised to take section in executions and those that do take section aren't to any extent further besides educated as anesthesiolgsts. consequently, the drugs are frequently improperly administered. imagine having a clinical institution orderly (extremely of a well being care professional) administer anesthesia throughout the time of an operation. The deadly injection cocktail has been banned as a way to euthanize animals. till adequate of the drug to make the condemned subconscious is given, properly, the condemned man or woman can awaken and sense the excrutiating discomfort of the most suitable drug. yet by way of paralytic drug, the condemned can not flow or cry out so as that no man or woman else realizes this.

Answer 3

So, what's the problem? He's dead, isn't he?

Get rid of lethal injection, the gas chamber, the electric chair and bring back good old-fashioned public hangings on the state capitol front lawn. For one it's cheaper, and for two it shows that you don't mess around when it comes to the death penalty.

If hanging is good enough for the military courts, it is good enough for the civilian courts.

Edit: Renick, since you take things out of context, here's a bit of the Biblical law you misquoted:

Exodus 21:12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

The commandment you misquoted is properly translated "You shall not murder."

Edit: Blk Justice, there is nothing that says the death penalty has to be PAINLESS. The manner of state sponsored execution is simply whatever is deemed the most effective and impersonal way to end a person's life.

Cruel and unusual punishment would be stoning someone to death, the rack, waterboarding, etc. The denial of cable TV and/or conjugal visits, lack of exercise equipment in the jail yard for inmate use and admistering a lethal injection dose as approved by the state legislature for capital punishment is not cruel and unusual punishment!

Answer 4

The real question is why can't we guarantee that no innocent person will be sentenced to death and executed. So far, 124 innocent people have been sentenced to death.

Technical answer: DNA is available at less than 10% of all homicide scenes. It cannot prevent wrongful executions from occurring.

More basis answer: Human beings are not perfect. We make mistakes. The question is how whether we should tolerate the execution, in our names, of an innocent person.

Answer 5

Considering the thousands of years experience we have doing each other in, you would think we would have found an effective way to do that by now.... Apparently his weight was a factor in this particular situation though, not only trying to even find an appropriate vein in the first place, but also having to take into account extra weight.....

Answer 6

I honestly don't care how long it takes a criminal to die. I would prefer that we use a $1 bullet instead of thousands of dollars of expensive medical equipment and drugs, but that's just me.

Answer 7

I think we should make them live. Make 'em suffer in jail, rather then just take the easy way out and croak.

Answer 8

who cares, he's dead. If its up to me I would have prolonged it for a week or two. Why are you so concerned with the murderer, what about the victims? did they die so peacefully as you want a murderer to die?

Answer 9

There's a lack of volunteers for testing and they can't go"word of mouth"

Answer 10

He died, so what's the problem?