Forum on Lethal Injection in Delaware

[skyloom]

In Delaware, or nearby in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Maryland? Come to Widener University School of Law (Moot Courtroom, Law School) on April 26 at 7:00 P.M. to head a panel discussion on "The Eye of the Needle: Ethical Considerations in Medicine and the Law." Panelists will be Deborah W. Denno (Fordham Law School; author of Biology and Violence: From Birth to Adulthood; nationally recognized expert on execution by lethal injection) and Jonathan I Groner (Director of the Trauma Program at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio; author of Lethal Injection: A Closer Look).

Widener Law School is at 4601 Concord Pike (Route 202), just north of Wilmington. The event is free and open to the public, and co-sponsored by Delaware Citizens Opposed to the Death Penalty, ACLU-Delaware, and Delaware Pacem in Terris.

Right now, Delaware's executions are on hold pending a court decision on lethal injection, but two former death row inmates have been taken off death row because of legal problems with their trials. We have seventeen still on death row, though.

DCODP works mightily to open up the general public to at least think about what we are doing, but small state... small numbers of activists... none of us rich and famous. A really huge crowd would merit mention in the news and on TV. Please, if you are anywhere nearby, please come.

[pumpkinpie]

Hi Skyloom! Are you going? We should all meet there. Me, you, Maggie, and happyhaddock should all go, and then afterwards we could all go out for a drink and talk! How fun that would be! Honestly though, I'm a little far from Delaware and don't know that area at all. But if you go, let us know how it is, and what they have to say there. It sounds interesting.

[skyloom]

Yes, I plan to attend. I will definitely let you know all about it.
Mostly, I hope the DCODP people who made up the notices and etc. were sure to invite our esteemed members of the state legislature. A few years ago, Sister Helen Prejean came to Delaware and spoke beautifully, but she spoke to the choir. Nice, of course, but more folks who are in a position to actually make changes happen should hear what's said. Anyhow... I can always e-mail my representative, can't I?

[skyloom]

These are parts of the review of the forum that appeared in the local newspaper the News-Journal.


Lethal injection is used by 37 states, but it is on hold in 11 of those, including Delaware, because of legal challenges arguing that the method as currently practiced is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual.

If a doctor had been involved in the 2006 execution in Ohio, when an inmate lingered for 90 minutes because of the difficulty prison staff had with properly inserting a needle into his arm, the problems would have been avoided.

It is unethical for medical professionals to participate in executions because it violates their oath to care for patients. A number of professional medical organizations, including the American Medical Organization, recognize this and direct their members not to participate. At the same time, if medical professionals do not participate, then the executions can go horribly wrong, causing inmates unnecessary pain and suffering.

The loophole has been that not all doctors are members of the associations that condemn participating in lethal injections. And association guidelines also do not have the force of law, although in some states they are the basis of the rules to regulate and discipline doctors.

Despite specific and explicit bans, though, the panelists knew of no medical association that has ever sanctioned a doctor or nurse for assisting in an execution.

Lethal injection pretends to be a medical procedure to make it more palatable, using the imagery of healing to justify killing by having the same equipment, terminology and procedures as hospitals. Many execution chambers have so much medical equipment that they look like intensive care units.

Both panelists said that the only way out of the legal and ethical problem is to revert to firing squads as a method of execution. It is a medical fact that a firing squad is a comparably humane way to kill, and prison guards would not have a professional ethical prohibition against participating since the use of deadly force is part of their training. But firing squads as a method of execution have been unpopular with the public that finds it barbaric because of the bloodshed.

[skyloom]

My thoughts:

I wonder if the cruel and unusual punishment argument is the best choice. If the lawyers manage to convince states not to use it because of the definite possibility that untrained prison staff will be less than efficient, states actually may opt for firing squads.

Those individuals among the general public who are not especially concerned about the cruelty of any punishment meted out to someone who has committed murder are not going to be impressed with descriptions of the horrible pain suffered by the person who was executed. In fact, many of them are rather pleased knowing that the murderer suffered horribly.

If this cruel and unusual approach works in some states and makes executions stop, great! But I think the most powerful message we can send out is the fact that so many individuals have been proved to have been wrongfully convicted and have been subsequently exonerated.

Also, now that the NCADP has published its report on four cases of men who were innocent but executed, we have even better arguments to offer.

The public will sometimes claim that the wrongfully convicted and exonerated cases only go to prove that the system works and mistakes are corrected. Some hard-core pro-death folks may even say that four mistakes is pretty good given that over a thousand executions have taken place since 1973, but I think most fair individuals will say that four mistakes is four too many.

So... I hope the NCADP information gets out there. Letters to the editor, phone calls to radio talk show hosts, whatever anyone can think to do should be done, IMO. That link, again, is:
www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/ncadp/content.jsp?content_KEY=2489&t=Innocent%20And%20Executed%20Section.dwt

[Paka]

Although I agree it is not the best tactic to take, as all executions are inherently inhumane and fit the definition of cruel and unusual regardless of physical pain inflicted, I do believe it is important to get the issues with lethal injection out in the open as much as possible-- there is a huge misconception by the majority of the public that it is invariably a quick and painless death, when in reality it can be torture that is disguised as a sanitized medical procedure, especially when you have untrained individuals carrying it out. A percentage will not care no matter what, but every person that can be swayed helps to turn the tide against the death penalty.

The first chemical, the ultrashort-acting barbituate sodium pentothal, is given in a massive dose (or, it is supposed to be, but appears to not always be), but though it should act within a minute to render someone unconscious, it starts wearing off right away, and cannot be given continuously due to crystallization which can block the IV from interaction with the other chemicals. The second chemical, pancuronium bromide, serves no other purpose than to make the person look "at peace" and keeps them from expression if conscious when the third, potassium chloride is administered. Pancuronium bromide will make one aware of the feeling of slow suffication, and potassium chloride would feel like molten iron going through your veins. I forgot the state-- I think it was Georgia-- but if I remember correctly, toxicology reports from autopsies of the executed showed around half had a level of the barbituate low enough as to be consistent with consciousness. If a mistake is made, as seems to often enough be the case with executions, the result can be the condemned waking up but being unable to move while being tortured to death.

Killing someone painlessly is trickier than it sounds-- and all methods have some risk of error. The guillotine was originally developed as a more humane method of execution, and was thought to be instant, but some research suggests that the heads retained awareness for at least a few seconds afterwards, and that the swift action of the guillotine compared to the axe was more likely to result in longer consciousness after decapitation. Although there is no method of execution that would be free from psychological torture, could there be one free of the risk of physical pain during the actual process? A large overdose of barbituates without the other chemicals might come closest, but can take a lot longer than regular lethal injection, and wouldn't be as easy to watch from what I understand. But then, should KILLING be sanitized for the witnesses-- if the state is going to murder, should they be hypocrites (or more hypocritical than as is) as well?