The decision by the Missouri Supreme Court to allow propofol, the same powerful anesthetic that caused the death of Michael Jackson, to be used in executions — coming at a time when Texas, Ohio, Arkansas and other states are scrambling to come up with a new drug for their own lethal injections — is raising new questions about how the death penalty will be carried out.If all else fails, I hear hemp works.
Manufactured Problems, Death Row Edition
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4 comments:
Grim,
You are talking about efficiency in killing, as opposed to being compassionate and merciful in the act.
In my view. the amount of pain is irrelevant because you are killing somebody quickly, but the people who are anti-death-penalty absolutists aren't really interested in reducing pain.
And, if we were really interested in justice, some people would die in pain.
Valerie
First World executions?
I'm trying to figure out what's next - maybe we can somehow wipe their memories so they have no awareness that they've been sentenced to death or imprisoned? Mental cruelty being just as inhumane as the other kind....
I'm pretty sure that leads to inhumanity of another kind. "Hey, guys, where are we going? It's been a long time since you let me out of the cell. Then somebody brought me a special breakfast, and now we're going for a walk! I'm so excited! Who's this priest?"
But solitary confinement is also supposed to be horribly cruel, and decades on decades in prison is not only cruel but extremely expensive. (Although I have heard the claim that, given the legal costs of all the appeals in capital cases, it's actually cheaper to feed, house, clothe and treat them medically for their entire lives.)
You are absolutely correct, Grim. It costs eight to twenty-four million to prosecute a condemned murderer to room temperature.
Perhaps we need to work on the law?
I like the idea of hemp, but Nitrogen insufflation is utterly painless and humane.
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