Uncomfortably Numb (Lethal injection looks painless and peaceful. Appearances can be deceiving...)

River Front Times ^ | Malcolm Gay

[null and void]

I'm told dehydration and starvation is euphoric...

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

They say that the chemical, which has no anesthetic properties, could enshroud Johnston in a "chemical veil" -- leaving him unable to move, cry out or communicate in any way as he slowly suffocates, "consciously [suffering] an excruciating painful and protracted death."

Fine then. Just shoot him.

[Vaquero]

For this SOB? The more pain the better.

[MEGoody]

Big deal. Who cares if these murderers experience a little suffering during their execution. It's nothing like their victims experienced.

I think murderers should be killed the same way they killed their victims. That would be justice.

[Tulane]

that is a great point.

[Tulane]

Or cut his head off...or blow him up...wouldn't feel a thing.

[Go_Raiders]

I never understood why they don't just reduce the oxygen content in the chamber gradually until the murderous scum passes out, then maintain a zero oxygen environment for 30 minutes.

No pain, no fuss.

[vetvetdoug]

We had a euthanasia drug similar to what is used for lethal injection and it was taken off of the market because it was cruel and inhumane. Eventually we had to improvise using a barbiturate and a cardiac electrolyte. It puts the animals to sleep and then stops the heart. I often wondered why we (veterinarians) are more caring about the animals than the Medical Doctors are about the prisoners about to be put to sleep. However, considering the crimes committed by the perps, the method is fitting.

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

"In a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year, Johnston's attorneys argue that Missouri's method of lethal injection will inflict "cruel and unusual punishment," in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

"The worst-case scenario is that you wake after a sub-anesthetic dose of sodium pentothal. [You've already received] a paralyzing dose of Pavulon -- and experience the torment of suffocation and conscious paralysis -- and then the agony of the burning potassium chloride," says Mark Heath, an anesthesiologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "There are abundant examples of people who wake up in the middle of surgery feeling everything -- having the full experience of pain and terror, but [because of the Pavulon] are unable to communicate in any way that they're awake."

He murdered his wife. "The murder was particularly gruesome -- large patches of the victim's hair had been wrenched so violently that a portion of scalp had peeled from her skull, and nearly every rib was broken."

I say the small amount of discomfort being put to death by lethal injection is nothing compared to the pain endured by his wife before her death. THROW OUT THESE LAWSUITS!!

[Non-Sequitur]

"We're not saying you can't kill him," says Michael Gorla, Johnston's lead attorney. "We're just saying you can't kill him this way."

Fine. Let's bring back drawing and quartering.

[SteamShovel]

I'm told dehydration and starvation is euphoric...

That's what I was going to say! I'll just ad that it's most peaceful way to go.....

[One Proud Dad]

I agree. Or just a bullet to the back of the head. I am for a reintorduciton of hangings using a trap method. If they survive the first drop let them free.

[AppyPappy]

I hear using iced Liquid Plumber for the lethal injection is very painless.

[Chi-townChief]

Sounds like it may be time to fire up ol' Sparky instead and give Johnson the juice.

[jtminton]

Boo-frickin-hoo.

[Houmatt]

Who cares about what pain Timmy boy might experience? Will it compare to the pain Nancy enudred? Absolutely not.

I think this is despicable, bellyaching about a vicious, unrepentant monster.

Fry the sumbitch and be done with it.

[DarthVader]

I say hang him high and watch him dance.

[Sunshine Sister]

Well gee..........why don't we just starve them to death?