Third state this week halts executions

[Sapphire Blue]

Md. executions halted
Baltimore Sun December 20, 2006

(excerpt)

In a narrowly tailored decision with potentially sweeping consequences, Maryland's highest court ordered a halt yesterday to executions in the state, ruling that procedures for putting prisoners to death were never submitted for the public review required by law.

Under the Court of Appeals ruling, state prison officials face the prospect of having to submit the execution protocols to the scrutiny of a joint legislative committee and schedule a public hearing on the issue. Alternatively, the court ruled, the legislature could exempt the execution procedures from that review process - something that one state senator characterized as "very unlikely."

"One way or another, the legislature is going to need to look at the issue again," said Carl W. Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond whose specialty includes federal administrative procedure law, and who has followed the debate surrounding lethal injection procedures in states across the country.

"They're going to want to have hearings, and that could potentially open up the whole death penalty issue for debate," he said. "Then, I guess, most anything could be fair game."

Executions were halted in Florida and California this week amid concerns that lethal injection, as carried out, violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Continued @ http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/news.jsp?key=3100

The other states...

12/15/2006
In ruling, judge calls California's lethal-injection procedure 'intolerable' A federal judge in San Jose said that California's lethal injection procedure represents "an undue and unnecessary risk" of a violation of the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

12/15/2006
Gov. Bush creates commission to study lethal injection. Today, Gov. Jeb Bush issued Executive Order 06-260, creating the Commission on Administration of Lethal Injection. The Commission is charged with reviewing the method in which the lethal injection protocols are administered by the Department of Corrections.

12/14/2006
Lawyers, death penalty opponents outraged by 34-minute execution. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Defense attorneys and death penalty opponents were outraged Thursday over an execution in which the condemned man took more than half an hour to die, needed a rare second dose of lethal chemicals, and appeared to grimace in his final moments.

http://www.ncadp.org/

And if you haven't read this before...

So Long as They Die
Lethal Injections in the United States

Summary

We didn’t discuss pain and suffering.
—William Henry Lloyd, Tennessee Department of Corrections lethal injection protocol committee member1

Compared to electrocution, lethal gas, or hanging, death by lethal injection appears painless and humane, perhaps because it mimics a medical procedure. More palatable to the general public, lethal injection has become the most prevalent form of execution in the United States. Thirty-seven of the thirty-eight death penalty states and the federal government have adopted it; for nineteen states, it is the only legal method of execution.

In the standard method of lethal injection used in the United States, the prisoner lies strapped to a gurney, a catheter with an intravenous line attached is inserted into his vein, and three drugs are injected into the line by executioners hidden behind a wall. The first drug is an anesthetic (sodium thiopental), followed by a paralytic agent (pancuronium bromide), and, finally, a drug that causes the heart to stop beating (potassium chloride).

Although supporters of lethal injection believe the prisoner dies painlessly, there is mounting evidence that prisoners may have experienced excruciating pain during their executions. This should not be surprising given that corrections agencies have not taken the steps necessary to ensure a painless execution. They use a sequence of drugs and a method of administration that were created with minimal expertise and little deliberation three decades ago, and that were then adopted unquestioningly by state officials with no medical or scientific background. Little has changed since then. As a result, prisoners in the United States are executed by means that the American Veterinary Medical Association regards as too cruel to use on dogs and cats.

(snip)

Each of the three drugs, in the massive dosages called for in the protocols, is sufficient by itself to cause the death of the prisoner. Within a minute after it enters the prisoner’s veins, potassium chloride will cause cardiac arrest. Without proper anesthesia, however, the drug acts as a fire moving through the veins. Potassium chloride is so painful that the American Veterinary Medical Association prohibits its use for euthanasia unless a veterinarian establishes that the animal being killed has been placed by an anesthetic agent at a deep level of unconsciousness (a “surgical plane of anesthesia” marked by non-responsiveness to noxious stimuli).

Pancuronium bromide is a neuromuscular blocking agent that paralyzes voluntary muscles, including the lungs and diaphragm. It would eventually cause asphyxiation of the prisoner. The drug, however, does not affect consciousness or the experience of pain. If the prisoner is not sufficiently anesthetized before being injected with pancuronium bromide, he will feel himself suffocating but be unable to draw a breath—a torturous experience, as anyone knows who has been trapped underwater for even a few seconds. The pancuronium bromide will conceal any agony an insufficiently anesthetized prisoner experiences because of the potassium chloride. Indeed, the only apparent purpose of the pancuronium bromide is to keep the prisoner still, saving the witnesses and execution team from observing convulsions or other body movements that might occur from the potassium chloride, and saving corrections officials from having to deal with the public relations and legal consequences of a visibly inhumane execution. At least thirty states have banned the use of neuromuscular blocking agents like pancuronium bromide in animal euthanasia because of the danger of undetected, and hence unrelieved, suffering.

Continued @ http://hrw.org/reports/2006/us0406/1.htm#_Toc133042043

AIUSA Death Penalty Abolition Program: http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/index.do

Campaign to End the Death Penalty: http://nodeathpenalty.org/content/index.php

Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation: http://www.mvfr.org /

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty: http://www.ncadp.org /

You Can't Pardon a Corpse: http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/deadmantalking /

[Erika]

1. We need to stop this insanity

If the death penalty was an effective deterrant, there would be no murders committed.

[Crandor]

4. That's a fallacious argument

Since there are murders in states without the DP too, you could just as easily say prisons aren't an effective deterrent either. So should we just let murderers go free then?

I'm against the DP for most cases, but let's not pretend that something has to be 100% successful to be effective - it just undermines the argument.

[Erika]

6. Sorry, killing by the state hasn't been effective

Nor has imprisonment. You think we ought to try other avenues. You think?

[Crandor]

8. Okay, so what would you prefer? (to imprisonment, I mean)

We could certainly get rid of the death penalty, but we do need to have prisons. If nothing else, they at least keep the criminals off the streets.

[longship]

9. I'm calling straw man argument on you.

One of the main arguments used by death penalty supporters is that it is a deterrent. If that were true, states with the death penalty would have lower capital crime rates. As that is clearly not true--look at the numbers--this claim is falsified.

So now, a death penalty opponent whips this on you and you respond with a ridiculous straw man that imprisonment is not a deterrent either.

Pshaw! Every state imprisons criminals. Only a few put them to death.

I am against the death penalty.... PERIOD!!

Because it is not a deterrent. It is cruel. DP proponents can not provide one single solitary rational reason why it is needed.

[Crandor]

11. I didn't say it was a better deterrent than imprisonment

and like you said the numbers show it isn't. However, that was not what the post I was replying to said; it said "If the death penalty was an effective deterrent, there would be no murders committed." That's false. If it "only" cut murders by 90% then it still would be an effective deterrent. So what you are saying is that if the death penalty was an effective deterrent, there would be fewer murders committed. That is a true statement, and since there aren't fewer murders in DP states it does mean that the DP isn't an effective deterrent.

You're reading into my (admittedly nit-picky) post things I didn't actually say.

[longship]

12. Straw man.

Okay. I'll spell it out for you.

From Wikipedia:
"A straw man argument is a logical fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw-man argument" is to create a position that is easy to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent."

Here it is in your words:

Since there are murders in states without the DP too, you could just as easily say prisons aren't an effective deterrent either. So should we just let murderers go free then?

That, is a straw man.

Gawd, you accuse the person of a fallacious argument then whip out a straw man.

[Crandor]

14. I wasn't attributing that to anyone

my point was that the post made it sound like reducing murder to zero was a requirement for something to be an effective deterrent, but by that test nothing would be.

[longship]

16. Well, I'm not going to argue over it.

The attribution was implied.

And I guess the OP had some of his/her own straw man problems.

[MnFats]

17. capital punishment is NOT effective...states with it have HIGHER

murder rates than those that don't.
it's not a deterrent. It's revenge.
It's state sanctioned murder and now we come to find out it's state-sanctioned torture.
end it NOW.
we're in such good international company on this one....we've got Iran, China, North Korea and a handful others on our side.

[Sapphire Blue]

19. FACT: The Death Penalty Is Not a Deterrent

The Death Penalty Is Not a Deterrent
A September 2000 New York Times survey found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.

FBI data showed that 10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average.



The threat of execution at some future date is unlikely to enter the minds of those acting under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, those who are in the grip of fear or rage, those who are panicking while committing another crime (such as a robbery), or those who suffer from mental illness or mental retardation and do not fully understand the gravity of their crime.

Rather than show evidence of any deterrent effect, research studies reveal that the death penalty has a brutalizing effect:

Researchers did a comparison of murder rates and rates of sub-types of murder in Oklahoma between 1989 and 1991, and found a significant increase in murders (both felony and non-felony) after Oklahoma resumed executions after a 25-year moratorium.

Researchers Keith Harries and Derral Cheatwood studied differences in homicides in 293-paired counties. Pairings were based on: geographic location and demographic and economic variables; a shared contiguous border; differing use of capital punishment. The authors found higher violent crime rates in death penalty counties.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that the South repeatedly has the highest murder rate. In 1999, it was the only region with a murder rate above the national rate. The South accounts for 80% of executions. The Northeast, which accounts for less than 1% of all executions in the U.S., has the lowest murder rate.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/factsheets/deterrence.html

[goclark]

25. Thank you for this visual and TRUTH nt

[Clark2008]

32. That doesn't really explain it all either.

If you'll notice, murder rates are higher in poorer states. It really has nothing to do with whether the state has the death penalty, in my opinion. It has to do with poverty, lack of access to good education and plenty of access to weaponry.

Think about it.

[Der Blaue Engel]

20. I'll go you one further

Even if it were an effective deterrent, it would still be immoral and wrong. I'm ashamed that our country is one of the few in the civilized world who hold onto this barbaric custom, just as much as I'm ashamed at the fact that torture is now par for the course.

[Rosemary2205]

30. Is it intended to be a deterrent?

I always thought it was based on "eye for an eye" == retribution. Or "justice" or whatever we want to call it.

People who commit the types of horrible crimes that result in death penalty convictions I doubt would be deterred by anything.

[B Calm]

35. With our legal system, how in hell do you really know they are

truly guilty of the crime?

You should read John Grisham's latest nonfiction novel The Innocent Man.

[Maraya1969]

2. Thank you for this. It will be wonderful day if and when the death penalty

is abolished in the United States. It is macabre.

[Erika]

7. I've had small children tell me you don't kill because

someone else has. Kind of puts it in perspective.

[SeattleGirl]

3. Good.

I don't understand how killing another person makes up for the person/persons that one killed. And it's certainly no detriment.

And before you ask, yes, I say that even though a close friend AND a close relative were murdered. The thought of the death penalty never crossed my mind.

[Sapphire Blue]

5. Have you heard of...

Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation: http://www.mvfr.org /

If not, you might be interested in it.

"And before you ask..." No, I wouldn't ask. I am a DP opponent.

[SeattleGirl]

10. I have heard of that group. Thanks for the link, though.

(The "before you ask" was directed at those who are pro-death penalty....)

[pinto]

13. This is one of those hot button issues. Personally, I oppose the death penalty,

across the board, regardless whether it's a deterrent or not. I've many an admired friend with a differing view, but this one I'm pretty cut 'n dried on.

[calimary]

15. Kick!

Good research here.

[Solly Mack]

18. recommended

I oppose the DP and applaud any and all efforts at stopping it

[nofurylike]

21. .

o my, Sapphire Blue.

stopped by to post and rec, out of admiration and gratitude for all you do for Justice


goddess help us all....

:cry:

:cry: :cry: :cry:
:cry: :cry:



please keep on :hug: i will too.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Sapphire Blue]

26. Thank you so much, nofurylike, for being such a strong DP opponent!!!

:hug: Thank you for caring so much!

[nofurylike]

29. thank you so much!! Your devotion to Justice

continually inspires me, Sapphire Blue.

our struggle is, you very well know, unbearable

and imperative.

with you through it all, Hero
:hug:


Peace and Solidarity, always!!

[madmusic]

22. Vengeance is Mom's

http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2006/03/vengeance_moms.html">Meet Dianne Clements, the soccer mom who has done as much as anyone to ensure that Texas' killing chamber remains the nation's busiest.

[Sapphire Blue]

24. bush admires her... that says a lot for her 'Justice' for All lynch mob.

"Clements even got an admiring mention in George W. Bush’s autobiography, A Charge to Keep."

http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2006/03/vengeance_moms.html

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. This is Excellent news! Thank you Sapphire Blue! The DP is state sanctioned murder. nt

[porphyrian]

27. There is a small hope for humanity. - n/t

[Book Lover]

28. K&R

Never was right, never is right, never will be right.

[eyl]

31. OK, something I've never understood about lethal injection

Three drugs are used, one to anesthetize the condemned and the other two to kill him - and the latter two will do so painfully if the anesthetic doesn't work. What I don't understand is, why bother? An overdose of anesthesia itself will (AFAIK) kill painlessly - and it's not like it's especially difficult to do (keeping people from NOT dying from the drugs is a major concern during surgery involving general anesthesia).

[Crandor]

33. Yep, technically it's easy to kill someone painlessly

The problem would be politics. Nobody wants to be thought of as being pro-criminal.

[eyl]

34. How is killing someone painlessly

"pro-criminal"?

Especially since lethal injection is advertised as painless?

Unlike most of the posters in this thread, I'm not opposed to the DP in the most basic principle. However, I believe it should be used only in very specific circumstances. From my point, the only possible justification for the DP is on the basis of pragmitism; and making the condemned suffer doesn't serve that in any way.