Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 3, 2006 20:03:23 GMT -5
For those opposed to the death penalty, a humane execution might be a contradiction of terms.
For those who don't care if a condemned man suffers in his last moments, it might be a pointless concern.
The nation has walked a fine line between those views for more than a century in seeking ways the founding fathers intended to permit to snuff capital criminals.
States used hangmen's nooses, gases, electricity and, finally, injections. But new challenges have raised questions about the legality of lethal injections, and about the future of capital punishment in the 38 states where it's legal.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that inmates could challenge lethal injections as being unconstitutional. Now a wave of suits has halted the death penalty in some states, including Missouri.
At the crux of the issue, critics say some inmates have been
insufficiently numbed and may have suffered excruciating pain that was not evident to witnesses.
In Missouri, those claims were helped by the disclosure last week that the state's executions for the past decade have been largely in the hands of a dyslexic surgeon who confessed he sometimes makes mistakes with figures.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. halted Missouri executions, saying he had grave concerns that the inmates were being subjected to "unacceptable risk" of unconstitutional suffering.
Gaitan amended his earlier ruling in the case of inmate Michael Taylor, of Kansas City. He gave corrections officials until July 15 to come up with a new protocol.
Also last week, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., postponed an
execution, saying if the inmate became conscious during the execution he would suffer pain "that will never be rectified."
The 2 rulings had Missouri's corrections director, Larry Crawford,
wondering whether the state could ever perform another execution in compliance with Gaitan's order.
In Illinois, a moratorium on executions remains in place. Former Gov. George Ryan halted all executions in 2000 after 13 people condemned to death were found to have been wrongfully convicted. Illinois uses lethal injections for its executions.
Moreover, days before leaving office in January 2003, Ryan granted clemency to all of the 167 death row inmates in Illinois because of the flawed process that led to these sentences.
Most of the states that have capital punishment rely on lethal injection, using a series of 3 injections that has lately come under intense scrutiny.
First a general anesthetic is administered to knock out the inmate. Then comes a drug that paralyzes. Finally the inmate is injected with a drug that triggers a heart attack.
The final drug would be excruciatingly painful if the inmate was not given enough anesthetic, but the inmate could be unable to show that he or she was in pain, because of the other drugs' effects, according to testimony in Taylor's case.
Other options
Experts note that states could use injections that are less likely to cause pain.
Dr. Mark Heath, an anesthesiologist from Columbia University in New York, testified in Taylor's case - and in several other similar cases nationwide - that it would be more humane to execute humans the same way animals are euthanized: with an overdose of a barbiturate.
The condemned inmate would simply go to sleep and not wake up.
Heath testified that Missouri was the only state using lethal injection that did not have written protocols that could prevent "ad hoc changes or vagaries or misunderstandings or absent-mindedness or other problems that can occur when a complex endeavor is undertaken by a group of people."
Crawford pointed out that simply giving an overdose of barbiturate could prolong executions and make deaths linger over an hour.
That might cause less pain, he said, but might not pass any more
constitutional muster. Crawford said he believed Missouri's system of 3 injections was better.
A painless death "would be a wonderful goal but we come into this world in pain and we all suffer some discomfort, and in this case it's as painless as we can make it," he said.
"Not gruesome"
States have tried to make executions quick, painless and "not gruesome," said Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor and expert in executions.
"But those goals don't mesh very well," she said.
Chief among Gaitan's concerns was that Missouri's lethal-injection program was largely controlled by a dyslexic doctor, called John Doe I in court records.
Missouri had no apparent protocol for executing prisoners other than Doe's whim, he wrote in a 16-page decision. Among Gaitan's requirements was that a certified anesthesiologist prepare the lethal-injection drugs. John Doe I is not an anesthesiologist.
The American Medical Association has urged its members to steer clear of involvement in executions. Crawford said he did not know if state officials would be able to find an anesthesiologist, although he said he was trying.
Crawford declined to provide Doe's real name, saying he was concerned that identifying the doctor would pose a threat to Doe's safety.
Crawford said he never had any reason to question Doe. "This is being portrayed as being a performance issue," he said. "There is no indication there has been any performance deficiency."
Other states have executed prisoners without a doctor, he noted. He said he did not know about Doe's dyslexia until the surgeon's recent testimony.
Crawford said he was aware at all times that Doe was risking his
reputation and his medical career by working on executions and that he felt "very, very fortunate to have a medical professional willing to assist in what he believes is an ethical level of involvement."
He said it was possible that the state would not be able to find an anesthesiologist who would be willing to participate in an execution.
"That would effectively stop executions," he said.
Denno said she thought it was more likely that states would find ways to change their procedures to skirt constitutional questions.
Corrections officials "know people who would be willing to conduct these executions," she said. "It might be a little difficult but they'll get one."
The question, she said, is "What are the quality of these people?"
(source: St. Louis Post Dispatch)
For those who don't care if a condemned man suffers in his last moments, it might be a pointless concern.
The nation has walked a fine line between those views for more than a century in seeking ways the founding fathers intended to permit to snuff capital criminals.
States used hangmen's nooses, gases, electricity and, finally, injections. But new challenges have raised questions about the legality of lethal injections, and about the future of capital punishment in the 38 states where it's legal.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that inmates could challenge lethal injections as being unconstitutional. Now a wave of suits has halted the death penalty in some states, including Missouri.
At the crux of the issue, critics say some inmates have been
insufficiently numbed and may have suffered excruciating pain that was not evident to witnesses.
In Missouri, those claims were helped by the disclosure last week that the state's executions for the past decade have been largely in the hands of a dyslexic surgeon who confessed he sometimes makes mistakes with figures.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. halted Missouri executions, saying he had grave concerns that the inmates were being subjected to "unacceptable risk" of unconstitutional suffering.
Gaitan amended his earlier ruling in the case of inmate Michael Taylor, of Kansas City. He gave corrections officials until July 15 to come up with a new protocol.
Also last week, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., postponed an
execution, saying if the inmate became conscious during the execution he would suffer pain "that will never be rectified."
The 2 rulings had Missouri's corrections director, Larry Crawford,
wondering whether the state could ever perform another execution in compliance with Gaitan's order.
In Illinois, a moratorium on executions remains in place. Former Gov. George Ryan halted all executions in 2000 after 13 people condemned to death were found to have been wrongfully convicted. Illinois uses lethal injections for its executions.
Moreover, days before leaving office in January 2003, Ryan granted clemency to all of the 167 death row inmates in Illinois because of the flawed process that led to these sentences.
Most of the states that have capital punishment rely on lethal injection, using a series of 3 injections that has lately come under intense scrutiny.
First a general anesthetic is administered to knock out the inmate. Then comes a drug that paralyzes. Finally the inmate is injected with a drug that triggers a heart attack.
The final drug would be excruciatingly painful if the inmate was not given enough anesthetic, but the inmate could be unable to show that he or she was in pain, because of the other drugs' effects, according to testimony in Taylor's case.
Other options
Experts note that states could use injections that are less likely to cause pain.
Dr. Mark Heath, an anesthesiologist from Columbia University in New York, testified in Taylor's case - and in several other similar cases nationwide - that it would be more humane to execute humans the same way animals are euthanized: with an overdose of a barbiturate.
The condemned inmate would simply go to sleep and not wake up.
Heath testified that Missouri was the only state using lethal injection that did not have written protocols that could prevent "ad hoc changes or vagaries or misunderstandings or absent-mindedness or other problems that can occur when a complex endeavor is undertaken by a group of people."
Crawford pointed out that simply giving an overdose of barbiturate could prolong executions and make deaths linger over an hour.
That might cause less pain, he said, but might not pass any more
constitutional muster. Crawford said he believed Missouri's system of 3 injections was better.
A painless death "would be a wonderful goal but we come into this world in pain and we all suffer some discomfort, and in this case it's as painless as we can make it," he said.
"Not gruesome"
States have tried to make executions quick, painless and "not gruesome," said Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor and expert in executions.
"But those goals don't mesh very well," she said.
Chief among Gaitan's concerns was that Missouri's lethal-injection program was largely controlled by a dyslexic doctor, called John Doe I in court records.
Missouri had no apparent protocol for executing prisoners other than Doe's whim, he wrote in a 16-page decision. Among Gaitan's requirements was that a certified anesthesiologist prepare the lethal-injection drugs. John Doe I is not an anesthesiologist.
The American Medical Association has urged its members to steer clear of involvement in executions. Crawford said he did not know if state officials would be able to find an anesthesiologist, although he said he was trying.
Crawford declined to provide Doe's real name, saying he was concerned that identifying the doctor would pose a threat to Doe's safety.
Crawford said he never had any reason to question Doe. "This is being portrayed as being a performance issue," he said. "There is no indication there has been any performance deficiency."
Other states have executed prisoners without a doctor, he noted. He said he did not know about Doe's dyslexia until the surgeon's recent testimony.
Crawford said he was aware at all times that Doe was risking his
reputation and his medical career by working on executions and that he felt "very, very fortunate to have a medical professional willing to assist in what he believes is an ethical level of involvement."
He said it was possible that the state would not be able to find an anesthesiologist who would be willing to participate in an execution.
"That would effectively stop executions," he said.
Denno said she thought it was more likely that states would find ways to change their procedures to skirt constitutional questions.
Corrections officials "know people who would be willing to conduct these executions," she said. "It might be a little difficult but they'll get one."
The question, she said, is "What are the quality of these people?"
(source: St. Louis Post Dispatch)