Is Lethal Injection Cruel and Unusual Punishment?
Posted by Catherine Morgan on January 8, 2008
Is Lethal Injection Cruel and Unusual Punishment? – by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at Care2 Election Blog)
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the method of execution used in most states violates the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.”
From the Los Angeles Times…
Death penalty critics had hoped that the court would declare unconstitutional the use of a three-drug compound that has been the standard means of execution since the early 1980s. They say the use of a paralyzing drug could mask the fact that the condemned man may suffer searing pain when given a heart-stopping drug.
Let me begin by saying that I am not a proponent of the death penalty. However, I do believe that if you are going to have a “punishment” by death, the person being punished should NOT be granted a procedure that is not afforded to the most sick and dying of our own population.
From the Associated Press…
Justice Antonin Scalia said states have been careful to adopt procedures that do not seek to inflict pain and should not be barred from carrying out executions even if prison officials sometimes make mistakes in administering drugs. “There is no painless requirement” in the Constitution, Scalia said. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito also indicated their support for the states’ procedures.
This is what the death row inmates are asking for…
READ FULL POST AT Care2 Election Blog or The Political Voices of Women
