Lethal Injection
Imagine spending twenty three hours each day locked in a cage with only a window several inches in width, then one day being led to another room and being strapped to a bed. The curtains in a window open to people staring. A man comes into the room and inserts a needle in one arm. Something is injected, and a drowsy half-sleep comes, followed by two more injections. A burning ensues all over, and soon everything is gone. This is the fate of those condemned to death by lethal injection. The use of lethal injection is no better than any other method because of the suffering it causes, its cost, and the value of human life. Capital punishment has been around for thousands of years with the same basic idea: an eye for an eye. Many different methods have been used; stoning, severing heads, hanging and electrocutionwere once all common. In the United States today, lethal injection is the most-used method. According to World Book Encyclopedia, lethal injection uses three drugs. A fast-acting barbiturate sedates the prisoner, and the drugTubocurarineparalyzeshim. Finally, potassium chloride is used to stop his heart. This is a controversial issue for many reasons. Proponents of lethal injection have many arguments in its favor. They mostly come back to one broad category: humanity. They say it is a more humane method of execution than any others, because it causes little to no pain. It is also argued to be less expensive than confining someone for life. Many people say that the condemned deserve to feel a degree of pain for their crime. While these are all good arguments, there are also very sound arguments against lethal injection. The argument that there is little pain is invalid. There is no way to be completely sure, because nobody who has had the experience has lived to tell the tale. There havebeen numerous cases of botched executions in which the condemned suffered a great deal. According to an article on usatoday.com, a study in 2007 showed
Cited: “Costs of the Death Penalty.”Death Penalty Information Center.10 April 2012. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty>. Hennessy-Fiske, Molly. “Death Penalty: Cost of Execution Drugs – and Executions – Rises.” LA Times. 24 Feb 2012. 10 April 2012. <http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/24/nation/la-na-nn-execution-drugs-20120224>. “Lethal Injection.”World Book Encyclopedia. 2003. “Prisoners’ Time Spent on Death Row Doubles.” USA Today. 23 July 2008. 10 April 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-07-23-Death-row-time N.htm>. “Study: Lethal Injection Drugs Sometimes Fail.” USA Today. 23 April 2007. 10 April 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-23-lethal-injection-studyN.htm>. “Update on the Cost and Quality of Defense Representation: Findings.” United States Courts. September 2010. 24 April 2012. <http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/AppointmentOfCounsel/Viewer.aspx?doc=/uscourts/FederalCourts/AppointmentOfCounsel/FDPC2010.pdf&page=37>.