I think they really, really need to come up with a better way of doing it. I don't want to get into pro or anti- death penalty as that topic has been roundly discussed here, but if it will be going on (And for the time being, we have to admit that it will continue) why is it still being done the way it is?
Their have been several cases of failed/botched executions with the drugs they are attempting to use. Just yesterday, the first execution in oklahoma since a botched one in spring, their was another supposed case of a botched injection"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6483040.html
Relevant parts:
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When asked before the execution began if he had any final words, Warner responded: "Before I give my final statement, I'll tell you they poked me five times. It hurt. It feels like acid.""
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In an execution Thursday that lasted 18 minutes, Oklahoma inmate Charles Frederick Warner showed no physical signs of distress after the lethal drugs were administered, although he did say, "My body is on fire." He was declared dead at 7:28 p.m. CST."
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Warner's attorney, Madeline Cohen, who witnessed the execution, said in a statement there was no way to know if Warner suffered because the second drug, a paralytic, would have prevented him from moving."
""Petitioners have committed horrific crimes, and should be punished," Sotomayor wrote. "But the Eighth Amendment guarantees that no one should be subjected to an execution that causes searing, unnecessary pain before death.""
I agree with that last part. IF the death penalty is to be used, it should not be a method that is causing undue pain. An execution is not designed to hurt someone, it is to end that persons life. This is not whether you agree with the death penalty or not, but what method should be used. (And the death penalty is going to continue for the forseeable future, so finding a more humane way could matter quite a bit)
Personally, if I were going to be executed, I'd probably prefer a beheading (With proper, fast equipment) to something like this. If I had to go out by lethal injection, at least give me some funky painkillers along with the sedative so I'm out of my damn mind and don't know/care whats happening.