[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 12


USA:

Humane Executions?


It hath often been said, that it is not death, but dying which is
terrible.Henry Fielding, Amelia

The question everyone is asking is whether anything is happening in the
United States of America other than a two year long marathon to decide who
will be the next president of the United States, news of each milestone
being covered as though it were the determining factor in establishing the
winner. As we draw closer to the time when there will be an event that
actually determines that fact, news of all else is virtually eclipsed by
news of what was, was not, is, is not, will be, may be, or wont be insofar
as it affects those seeking the presidency. I am happy to report that
there is other news even though it is not altogether new news. It concerns
the death penalty. And it is a subject with which 2 countries that
treasure human rights above all else-the United States and China-are
dealing.

In the United States the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on January 5
addressing the important question, simply stated, of whether being
executed by a e drug lethal injection is more likely to hurt than
being put to death by a one drug injection because of the protocol
accompanying the injection. If it does, it may be unconstitutional and if
it doesn't, it isn't.

The people who are best able to answer that question are those who have
received the injections and they are unable to give an opinion. Next best,
however, are lawyers and Supreme Court Justices and it is the lawyers who
presented the arguments as to why the 3-drug injection is apt or not apt
to hurt, and the Justices who will decide whom to believe.

As the Supreme Court case demonstrates, many people in the United States
are concerned about the pain inflicted on those being executed
notwithstanding Justice Antonin Scalia's sensitive observation during oral
argument that there's no constitutional requirement that executions employ
the "least painful method possible." Some medical evidence suggests that a
single barbiturate is easier to administer and less likely to cause pain
than the 3-drug approach now commonly used. The one drug method is used by
the humane society in Kentucky and other states when euthanizing animals
and is reportedly painless yet effective. According to Adam Liptak of the
New York Times, however, one of the objections to switching to the single
drug method employed on animals is that it is employed on animals. Death
penalty proponents think that human beings are better than animals and
should not be put to death the same way animals are put to death. It
devalues the entire procedure.

While the Supreme Court contemplates the question, China has announced it,
too, is trying, to use Chief Justice Roberts' words from the oral
argument, to have a procedure that produces a "humane death."
Traditionally China has executed those who have earned the right to be put
to death by one shot to the back of the head. Mindful of the sensitivities
of the survivors, those being shot have been asked to open their mouths
when the shot is fired so that the bullet can pass through the head and
out the mouth without disfiguring the victim.

Early in the New Year, Jiang Xingchang, vice-president of the Supreme
Peoples Court announced that lethal injection was more humane than the
shot to the back of the head and would eventually replace the latter
method of execution. It is already being employed in some places in China
although the formula is the same three-drug formula that the Supreme Court
is considering. Thanks to a relatively new invention, however, death by
lethal injection has been made much more pleasant as well as efficient, in
China.

According to a report in USA Today, in 2004 authorities began acquiring a
new death van designed by Kang Zhongwen in which executions by lethal
injection take place. Mr. Kang says that their introduction shows that
China "promotes human rights." The vans enable executions to take place in
the communities where the condemned lived thus making it more convenient
for family members who want to attend, a truly thoughtful touch. Mr. Kang
was quoted in USA Today as saying of the van: "I'm most proud of the bed.
It's very humane, like an ambulance." He then shows how the bed in the van
slides out so the victim can lie down and when secure, be powered into the
van. All in all, it seems like a highly civilized approach to state
sponsored death. Whether China will be influenced by the U.S. Supreme
Courts opinion of 3 drugs vs. 1 drug only time will tell.

Now you readers who have wasted 2 minutes reading the foregoing can go
back to the internet to see if the polls that are frequently wrong but
slavishly reported and commented on, show any change in the standings of
the candidates.

(source: Christopher Brauchli; Common Dreams)