Lethal Injection Is On Hold in 2 States

The Washington Post ^ | Saturday, December 16, 2006 | Peter Whoriskey and Sonya Geis

[MinorityRepublican]

MIAMI, Dec. 15 -- Executions by lethal injection were suspended in Florida and ordered revamped in California on Friday, as the chemical method once billed as a more humane way of killing the condemned came under mounting scrutiny over the pain it may cause.

Gov. Jeb Bush (R) ordered the suspension in Florida after a botched execution in which it took 34 minutes and a second injection to kill convicted murderer Angel Nieves Diaz. A state medical examiner said that needles used to carry the poison had passed through the prisoner's veins and delivered the three-chemical mix into the tissues of his arm.

In California, a federal judge ruled that the state must overhaul its lethal-injection procedures, calling its current protocol unconstitutional because it may inflict unacceptable levels of pain.

Judge Jeremy D. Fogel of the U.S. District Court for Northern California ordered the state to revise its procedures and consider eliminating the use of two drugs: pancuronium bromide, which causes paralysis, and potassium chloride, which causes cardiac arrest.

The judge did not order executions halted, though they have been effectively on hold since February while he conducted a review.

The "pervasive lack of professionalism" in the executions, Fogel wrote, "at the least is very disturbing."

More than 30 states, including Virginia and Maryland, use the same three-drug sequence for lethal injections. Groups opposed to the death penalty have had increasing success arguing that the pain the cocktail inflicts is unconstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment."

[ZULU]

"The "pervasive lack of professionalism" in the executions, Fogel wrote, "at the least is very disturbing."

Give me a good hemp rope and a nice scaffold and I copuld do it very professionally.

This COuntry is SICK, sick with a politically correct poison which is killing us.

These fiends deserve to die - the lethal injection method is too good for them. 30 minutes of suffering doesn't compensate for a lifetime of pain caused for ther relatives and frineds of the victim, or the pain he or she may have undergone at the hands of the killer.

[MinorityRepublican]

This COuntry is SICK, sick with a politically correct poison which is killing us.

A bullet to the head would be more just.

[mcmuffin]

Time to plug in ole' Sparky!

[Bulldawg Fan]

Did Jeb Bush and the California judge also put murder on hold in their states?

[Mac1]

I thought lethal injection replace electrocution and hanging because occasionally they went wrong also

[ZULU]

Yeah, true.

You can't exterminate murderers without a little pain - hopefully on thier part.

[goldstategop]

Just hang them. I don't give a damn that murderers suffer. None of the liberal bleeding heart murderer-loving crowd cares the families of loved ones suffer every day from their PERMANENT loss and the fact the murderers aren't punished for their crimes.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[DakotaRed]

I thought Jeb went jelly spined over Terri Schiavo. But, he once again loses spine to worry about murderers and others worthy of death.

Right in a Left World: Jeb Bush Caves to Bleeding Hearts on Executions

After the callous disregard these monsters sitting on death row have caused, and waiting 25 years while they played the system for everything they could, I personally don't give a hoot if they may experience a little discomfort as they are humanely allowed to go to sleep and die.

Seems I also remember that lethal injection became the preferred method of execution over cries of cruel and unusual punishment from the bleeding heart left who can only give a damn about criminals and shows total disregard for victims and their families.

[goldstategop]

Liberals love murderers and loathe crime victims. And the American people, idiots that they are - voted them into power. Why should they be surprised when the courts fail to bring about justice?

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Auntie Mame]

Why don't they just remove all food and water and let them starve and dehydrate until they die?

It's peaceful and painless, at least that's what they said when the victim was Terry Schiavo.

[goldstategop]

Good idea. Even better than hanging, we'd do murderers a supreme act of mercy by burying them alive in an unmarked grave.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Prodigal Son]

When you think about it, lethal injection is more for 'us' than it is for the condemned killer. Why not offer the killer an array of methods and let him choose. You could have:

• Dropped from a great height
• Heavy object dropped on you
• Gun to the head (perhaps even with the option of 'do-it-yourself')
• Hanging
• Head lopped off (with options of guillotine, samurai sword, rusty butcher knife)
• Gas Chamber
• Electicity passed through skull
• Heavy weight tied to feet and dropped into water deeper than person is tall
• Training aid for Infantry/Armor/Special Forces (basically a live target)
• Fight an endangered predator (Siberian Tiger for example- this would also increase the market value for live Siberian Tigers, thus ensuring their survival)
• An ultimate fighting championship against other condemned killers, each match is to the death, winner of entire tournament gets life in prison.
• Stoning
• Massive overdose of some drug or chemical
• let the relatives of victim(s) do away with him

The beauty here is the killer would choose his own death and nobody could really complain about that. If the killer wanted to provide a little entertainment for the public, he could. If he suffered unduly (for example if the Siberian Tiger decided to copulate with him first and then eat him alive starting with the toes and saving the rest for a later day) then it would be his own doing for choosing that method of execution.