The
United States has lethal injection as a method of execution from 1982 onward.
Since then, it has been surrounded by controversies on botched up executions.
Would you like to see a murderer get administered a lethal
injection and suffer excruciating pain in wait for his death? In the US, lethal
injections are legally used for executions by 32 states.
When asked about a
botched up execution in Oklahoma in April
2014,
the US President Barak Obama said, “We
as a society need to ask ourselves some difficult and profound questions”. How
should one react to botched up executions, which are part of capital
punishment.Even though it shakes the conscience of many, lethal injection has
become the most prevalent method of execution. However, this method of
execution is in violation of the
Eight Amendment of the
US. Every State frames it own law on the method of execution with firing squad
and hanging, among three other methods and on the severity of crimes. Capital
murder and first degree murder carries the death penalty if a jury finds it
plausible in those states where the death penalty is applicable.
Take the case of Baze
vs. Reez; the defense in the case argued that the chemicals used for
execution had the risk of causing unnecessary pain - a cruel and unusual
punishment prohibited under the Eight Amendment. The Supreme Court of Kentucky
upheld the decision to execute Baze stating that it was humane, did not carry a
substantial amount of unnecessary pain and the Supreme Court does not require
completely painless executions. After their efforts in the State’s highest
court, the defense then appealed to the ultimate tribunal of the country, the
Supreme Court of the US which upheld the ruling by a vote of 7-2.
Commonly known as the
drug cocktail, lethal injection is a combination of drugs varying from one to
three in number. Single drug execution used to be carried out in Ohio till
2013, when the state switched back to using a combination of three , since
its manufacturer stopped producing it. The recent controversy on the fatal
injection, however, is the amount of time and pain an inmate must suffer. The
US is guilty of experimenting with novel drugs in carrying out executions. In
2009, Kenneth Biros was the first person to be executed with a single drug,
‘sodium thiopental’. Since 1982, various drugs have been used for the process.
The question then arises: For criminals, should there be a
debate on this issue? After all, convicted criminals are human beings with
rights. People have come a long way since the days of the breaking wheel and the
guillotine. The right of prisoners is gradually attracting public attention
with the media representing the issue more seriously. As on date, except for
Belarus, Europe and parts of Central Asia have banned capital
punishment and signed a UN charter in the year 2007 to this effect. The US and
several countries, including India, haven’t. It seems Europe is more respectful
of human rights.
The
Drug Mystery
The US
government has refused to reveal the drug source for the killer Pentobarbital.
Pentobarbital was earlier supplied by Lundbeck, a Danish company. However, the company
has since banned the sale and supply of the drug to the US, for its use is
being solely on execution. Europe has also voiced objections over company’s
supply of these lethal drugs to the US for purpose of execution. Several
European companies have since banned the sale and supply of their drugs to the
US. Due to the shortage, Pentobarbital is now being supplied by local
compounding pharmacies in the US. Whether this drug is being still used or any
other, it is difficult to establish. On 10th September 2014, for
example, the state of Texas executed Willie Trottie for murder. His attorneys argued on the efficacy and expiry of the drug , however,
it was effectively countered by the state. As a result, the source of the drug
has not been revealed till date.
The state
of Pennsylvania has also come under strong criticism concerning
the issue on the source of drugs. By September 2014 several news agencies had
filed lawsuits against the Government demanding to know drug sources. A district judge sealed the source on the State’s
request. The execution of Hubert L. Michael, scheduled, on the 22nd
September 2014 has since been called off due to “shortage” of lethal drugs.
This will be Pennsylvania’s first execution since 1999.
‘Midazolam’, another drug used in two recent cases has
caused widespread anxiety among the public. In September this year, Earl Ringo
Jr, a native of Indiana was executed in
Missouri. The state
of Missouri lied about the drug cocktail used for his
execution. The state had promised not to
use ‘Midazolam’- a drug frequently associated with botched up executions- but
used it citing the reason that the drug was administered before the execution.
In the end, substantial risk of unnecessary pain is what it
bogs down to. As stated in the case of Baze vs. Reez, the government needs substantial
risk to prohibit the method of execution. They have had a significant number of
cases like the ones above, where clearly there was substantial risk but the US
government chose to ignore it simply because there was no measure of risk. In
the nuances of law, these cases can only be practical and not theoretical
examples, because there is no device yet to measure pain and risk.
So how does define substantial risk. In the case of lethal
injection, substantial risk is the number of chances an inmate could suffer while
experiencing pain unnecessarily. And that would be because of drugs which are either
experimenting with new, mysterious, various and compounded drugs or administering
a drug (Midazolam) and later using a lawful excuse as happened in the case of
Missouri.
Should the U.S ban capital punishment? Or seek solutions for
a lesser cruel procedure? I am thinking the latter. A solution which removes
the doubt of botched up executions from people’s mind and doesn’t showcase
capital punishment as inhumane. Solutions aren’t that hard to find in today’s
world.
(Carthik Venkat is a
first year student of International Affairs in Jindal Global University)
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