Lethal injection is a cruel and unusual form of punishment. Unfortunately, the United States still employs the death penalty. Capital punishment has been abolished in 40 countries since 1990. In 2004, America, China, Iran, and Vietnam accounted for ninety-seven percent of executions worldwide. There are several objections to the death penalty, one, the killing of innocents, two, the discovery that the death penalty is not, in fact, a crime deterrent, and the abolition of such punishment does not harmfully influence the crime rate, and three, that lethal injection is a cruel and unusual punishment. The death sentence is unconstitutional, and it does not belong in a modern, “civilized” society like ours.
The first concern is the needless extinguishments of innocent lives. Police misconduct, unreliable witnesses, physical evidence, or confessions, and poor defense can all contribute to the incarceration and subsequent execution of innocent people. Amnesty International reveals that 123 death row inmates have been set free in the U.S. since 1973, “after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death.” In 2004, there were six releases, and at least three in 2005. On average, the U.S. schedules the execution of sixty-eight people every year; if approximately fourteen percent of those sixty-eight individuals are released, then one must question how many innocents have been executed without sufficient evidence their guilt. As long as we continue to execute individuals as punishment for their crimes, we will always run the risk of killing innocent men and women. Are we willing-should we be willing- to accept that responsibility?
Although many claim that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent, this not true. The abolition of capital punishment has been shown to have no negative effects upon the crime rate. In fact, when Canada abolished their death penalty for murder, homicide rates in Canada went down forty-four percent in the twenty-seven years after the condemnation of the death penalty. The homicide rate fell from 3.09 per 100,000 population in 1975, the year before the ban, to 1.73 in 2003, the lowest rate in thirty years, according to Amnesty International. A study was conducted for the United Nations in 1988, and it was updated again in 2002. The study concluded, “The fact that the statistics continue to point in the same direction is persuasive evidence that countries need not fear sudden and serious changes in the curve of crime if they reduce their reliance upon the death penalty”. If the abolition of the death sentence can actually help reduce crime, then why has the United States not realized this and attempted to enforce a ban so as to curb our atrocious crime rate?
Lastly, evidence continues to surface leading to the conclusion that lethal injection can actually be a form of torture that is excruciatingly painful. Complications often arise that make the execution agonizingly slow and painful. If the drugs are not administered correctly, if a tube is kinked, or the straps too tight, or even if a vein large enough for the intravenous needle cannot be found, the execution can take longer than an hour and can end up being extremely brutal for the condemned. Inmates are assured that their executions will be swift and painless, are they being deceived? Tommie Smith’s 1996 Indiana lethal injection took a total of one hour and nine minutes. Small veins were the main cause of trouble. Sixteen minutes were spent sticking needles into Smith, attempting to find an adequate vein. A physician was called, a local anesthetic employed, and the doctor tried twice to apply the tube to Smith’s neck. After this failed, an angio-catheter was inserted into Smith’s foot. The drugs at last began to flow into Smith’s body forty-nine minutes after the first attempt to insert a needle. Twenty minutes later, Smith was pronounced dead.
Strange reactions to the drugs used in lethal injection have been observed. For example, the 1992 Oklahoma execution by lethal injection of Robyn Parks went terribly awry. After the drugs were administered, Parks’ jaw, neck, and abdomen muscles began to spasm for about forty-five seconds. Parks gasped and gagged violently before finally dying eleven minutes later. One reporter, who witnessed the execution, called it “ugly”, “scary”, and “disturbing”. Other executions match this description exactly; the same writhing, choking, and convulsions have been witnessed before. At last doctors have discovered the cause of this. The second of the three drugs used in lethal injection is pancuronium bromide. Pancuronium bromide is a chemical compound that works as a muscle relaxant. However, pancuronium bromide does not have sedative or analgesic effects, which means that it acts only as a paralytic agent, not to reduce pain of any kind.
Pancuronium bromide was banned by the American Veterinary Medical Association in animal euthanasia on the grounds that it was inhumane. Dogs, cats, and even reptiles that are being put to sleep are excused from this horror, and yet humans are subjected to the kind of pain even animals are spared. Pancuronium bromide is used in lethal injection to paralyze the body’s muscles while not affecting the brain or nerves, as well as to collapse the lungs. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) states that, “the chemical pancuronium bromide, a commonly used lethal injection drug, could leave a wide-awake inmate unable to speak or cry out as he slowly suffocates.” Protestation of this drug is nothing new; Amnesty International has avidly worked to ban the drug and bring awareness about its effects, saying that it “may mask the condemned prisoner’s suffering during the execution” and lead witnesses to believe that inmates feel nothing, and therefore lethal injection is less brutal than other forms of the death penalty.
Side effects of the drugs easily explain death row inmate’s reactions. Pancuronium bromide causes the patient to experience a raised heart rate, extreme salivation, and respiratory depression. The results of pancuronium bromide account for the choking and gasping; the inmate begins to salivate excessively, but since his muscles have been paralyzed, he cannot swallow, and begins to choke. The prisoner’s collapsing lungs cause him to gasp for air. As the third drug enters the condemned’s system, he can actually feel his heart stop before he dies. All throughout the execution, the dying man cannot make any facial expression to display his agony. The DCIP asked Dr. Mark Heath of Columbia University what death row prisoners would experience if the first short-term anesthesia drug was not utilized correctly and the two remaining drugs, including pancuronium bromide, were administered. Dr. Heath replied, “It would basically deliver the maximum amount of amount of pain the veins can deliver, which is a lot.”
All of these examples point to the fact that lethal injection is a means of torture. If we cannot find a painless way to enforce the death penalty, then we must not use it. The whole point of lethal injection is that it is supposedly fast, safe, and gentle. However, executions gone wrong continue to illustrate the cruelty of lethal injection. Capital punishment ought to be outlawed on the grounds that it is unconstitutional because it violates the eight amendment. Life in prison is punishment enough, plus, the inmate has a chance to better himself. In prison, an inmate has the opportunity to receive a good education, perhaps for the first time; prisoners have a chance to redeem themselves by helping others. Although nothing can ever change what these men and women may have done, inmates may receive counseling, and have a chance to regain some of their self-esteem. Many prisoners will gain the respect of fellow inmates and even guards because of their penitent actions. People do change, hearts are softened, and even the most hardened killer may have something to offer to society.
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