Thursday, November 11, 2010

MY PREFERRED METHOD IS A MORE JUST METHOD

There is no justice in putting a cold blooded murderer to death by putting him to sleep like a beloved pet dog.
 
No matter how we put a piece of shit to death, the opponents of capital punishment will always claim the method used constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. I would like to see a law passed that would exempt executions from the Constitution’s cruel and unusual punishment clause.
 
I prefer that someone condemned to die for a capital offense be put to death in the very same manner that he/she killed the victim. Now that would really constitute justice!
 
OKLAHOMA TO CONSIDER EXECUTING DEATH ROW INMATES WITH DRUGS VETS USE TO PUT DOWN ANIMALS
By Daniel Bates
 
Mail Online
November 10, 2010
 
The state of Oklahoma is planning to execute death row inmates with drugs intended for use on animals.
 
Lawmakers want to switch away from the only brand of anaesthetic that has been used in the US for lethal injections because there is not enough to go around.
 
The replacement is likely to attract controversy because it is currently used by vets to anesthetise animals for operations.
 
Other states are watching closely and may well follow suit, but such a move is likely to face a challenge from human rights groups to ensure that it is safe to use.

There could also be public outcry over using animal drugs for ending the life of a human being.
 
The move by Oklahoma was sparked after Hospira Inc, the only manufacturer of thiopental in the US, announced it had ceased production of the drug until 2011 due to shortage in one of thiopental's raw ingredients.
 
So severe is the resulting shortage that prison staff have been scrabbling around to find just the few grammes of the drug each time they carry out an execution.

On December 16, Oklahoma is due to execute death row inmate John David Duty, who murdered his cell mate in 2001. The state wants to resolve the issue by then.
 
In court papers, lawyers for the state said animal anaesthetic pentobarbital was ‘substantially’ similar to thiopental and would work ‘as an ideal anesthetic agent for humane euthanasia in animals’.
 
But lawyers for Mr Duty have have opposed it and claimed their client would be used a guinea pig for pentobarbital.
 
They added that it was ‘untested, potentially dangerous, and could well result in a torturous execution’.
 
The shortage of thiopental has led to some states postponing executions and calls to use foreign suppliers in Oklahoma, although these have met with resistance amid claims inmates could suffer agonising pain during the procedure if the drugs were not up to standard.
 
Megan McCracken, an attorney with the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of California Berkeley School of Law, said: ‘Whether or not an execution is humane turns entirely on whether thiopental deeply anesthetizes the inmate.
 
‘That is why the provenance of thiopental is so important.’

During an execution, the anaesthetic is administered before anything else and put the inmate unconscious before he is given the lethal dose of drugs.
 
Other states such as Arizona and Tennessee have sourced thiopental abroad and have used it with success, a route Oklahoma will not go down.
 
The case is due to take place at Oklahoma City Federal Court next week.

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