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Its a simple answer. Lethal injection is really no different than having surgery. Just no wake up. It doesn't involve some sort of painful trauma be inflicted (broken neck, gunshot) so its more "humane". No different than the vet putting down an animal.
The major problems with lethal injection appear to be the inability to get anyone with any certification of doing it correctly--such people refuse to cooperate. There may also be an issue with availability of humane drugs that will effectively render the person deeply unconscious. So the process is pre-ordained to experience a lot of screw-ups.
I have no doubt that a certified anesthesiologist would be able to put a man to sleep painlessly...but it doesn't look like such people will cooperate.
The major problems with lethal injection appear to be the inability to get anyone with any certification of doing it correctly--such people refuse to cooperate. There may also be an issue with availability of humane drugs that will effectively render the person deeply unconscious. So the process is pre-ordained to experience a lot of screw-ups.
I have no doubt that a certified anesthesiologist would be able to put a man to sleep painlessly...but it doesn't look like such people will cooperate.
Ahhh...this I did not know. I rather...assumed...they would use someone certified in such drugs, they are strictly controlled, and (I thought) only released to med pros. So the state cant get cooperation from the medical field. Mmm...that Hippocratic oath, I suppose. "First do no harm". Its selectively violated every day. But...I see the....conundrum.
OK...well, the idea is " more humane". Since hanging ..makes folks squeamish , these days, the Chair is soooo pase', Chamber, same thing, and a firing squad involves guns. Perish the thought! Of course, the Soviet method, of one behind the ear over a color drain, effective, but barbaric. So some say.. Execution is a punishment, for a horrid crime (at least in the US) The reason s for ordering that punishment t vary. The anti death penalty crowd says there's ALAWAYS reasonable doubt, so capital punishment should be banned. If that were the case, nobody would EVER be convicted.
Of course framing and railroading do happen. Meh..... its a complicated situation. But, as to methods of execution, lethal injection is, and will remain, the pinnacle of the executioners art. They just don't have anyone willing to be the artist. So, stick with hanging.
Of course framing and railroading do happen. Meh..... its a complicated situation. But, as to methods of execution, lethal injection is, and will remain, the pinnacle of the executioners art. They just don't have anyone willing to be the artist. So, stick with hanging.
Even as a death penalty opponent, the only method that I can determine that applies the penalty with certainty and instant finality is the bullet through the back of head.
Hanging, is an grisly art form that even master executioners like U.S. Master Sergeant John C. Woods, who in his 15 year career as an executioner hung 347 condemned prisoners but despite his extensive experience when assigned to the Nuremberg tribunals many of the executions administered resulted in long painful strangulations of the condemned instead of the quick snap of the neck.
Amon Goeth, former commander of Plaszow, concentration camp had to be hung three times.
IMO I do not believe that we have to make sure the criminal being put to death does not suffer. Really? a heinous crime has been committed, possibly a painful death, family suffering and we're worried that this criminal will have pain and suffering!
A bullet costs less than a buck, a good hanging rope maybe ten, but the State can whip up a drug cocktail and bill the taxpayers several thousand. I don't know if this has a thing to do with the method of execution, but I have my suspicions.
The "problem" with that is that humans are conscious of what's happening and will hold their breaths until they pass out. That's considered inhumane because of the length of time they spend fighting death.
But there really isn't any method that's guaranteed painless and instantaneous and bloodless.
In the days of hanging there were often "helpers" of the executioner below the platform that would "yank" the person down when the trap door opened. This instantly broke his or her neck and thus a quick death. Otherwise hanging is *NOT* always a quick nor painless method of death. Some hangings were so botched it took two, three or more attempts to get the person "swinging" and even then death did not follow at once.
Guillotine - If the blade is sharp and machinery working properly it can render a quick and thus painless death. However there have been many notable cases when that didn't happen and thus one or more attempts were required. In fact use of the guillotine is no more different than beheading with an axe or sword. Technique and a clean/sharp blade are required to hack off a human head. First blows to Mary Queen of Scots did not dispatch the queen at once. She could be heard moaning "Sweet God" or "Oh God" as a second or more attempt was made to smote off her head.
Some limited research has been done to suggest the head/brain of a guillotined body remains active and thus possibly conscious of events for several moments afterwards. Both Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Marie Antoinette's mouths could be seen moving as if trying to speak when their severed heads were lifted. Charlotte Corday's face blushed when her severed head was slapped leading many to believe she or at least it was aware of goings on. Her executioner was thrown into jail for several months afterwards for his affront to a (now deceased) woman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday
Firing Squad - Only provides instant death if the heart or brain is directly hit usually. Otherwise just as with any other shooting persons can linger and slowly bleed to death.
The Electric Chair or Gas Chamber - Neither are quick nor painless. We know from (sadly) the gassing of Jews and others by the Nazis that death did not always occur at once. It is also known by studies done on the effectiveness of fumigation for extermination of rats.
So that would leave the administration of drugs as quick and painless which it can be if done properly. Doctors and nurses have long known about the administration of such medications and risk of death if only to avoid. That being said soon as hypodermic needles were invented persons were being "put down" either by criminal or compassionate intent. George V of Great Britain was basically "killed" by his doctor in such a way. The Secret Euthanasia Of King George V - KnowledgeNuts
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