Call for lethal injection boycott
Byrnzie
Posts: 21,037
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7027305.stm
Thursday, 4 October 2007, 08:52 GMT 09:52 UK
Call for lethal injection boycott
Amnesty International has urged doctors and nurses not to participate in executions by lethal injection as it breaches their ethical oath.
In a report the group says the cocktail of drugs used is not always quick and painless and can cause "excruciating pain and extreme mental suffering".
The execution method is common in the US and is on the rise in China.
However, the US Supreme Court last week agreed to hear a challenge that lethal injections violate the constitution.
In its new report, "Execution by lethal injection - a quarter century of state poisoning", it says governments should not put doctors and nurses in the position of carrying out an action contrary to their ethical oath.
Jim Welsh, the group's health and human rights co-ordinator, said: "Medical professionals are trained to work for patients' well-being, not to participate in executions ordered by the state."
The report also challenges the cocktail of three drugs commonly used in executions.
It says that Texas, the biggest US user of lethal injections, has banned the same drugs for dogs and cats on the grounds of the potential pain they may suffer.
US LETHAL INJECTION
Used in 37 of 38 death penalty states. Nebraska uses electric chair
Almost all use same three-drug combination:
Sodium thiopental (sodium pentothal): Induces unconsciousness
Pancuronium bromide (Pavulon): Causes muscle paralysis
Potassium chloride: Stops the heart
Source: Amnesty/Death Penalty Information Center
The group says the drug used to induce unconsciousness can wear off before the prisoner's heart stops, causing extreme physical and mental strain.
The patients are, however, in a "chemical straitjacket" and cannot convey their distress, it says.
Amnesty cites case studies of US prisoners suffering for about 30 minutes in "botched" executions.
It says there are no exact official figures on executions in China but that it is certain to carry out more than any other country.
Amnesty says lethal injections are on the rise in China, with mobile vans increasingly being used.
Prisoners are executed on a metal bed in a windowless chamber in the back, the group says.
The issue of lethal injection is a matter of huge debate in the US.
Last week the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by two convicted murderers in Kentucky who argue that the method violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment contained in the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution.
The court ruling may provide a broad guideline on the method of execution, which some states have suspended after claims it was cruel and ineffective.
Andrea Keilen, from a legal firm that represents about 150 death row inmates in Texas, said there was no way of knowing the competency of those carrying out the executions in the state.
"We don't have any idea about what's happening in Texas, because it's done in secret."
Thursday, 4 October 2007, 08:52 GMT 09:52 UK
Call for lethal injection boycott
Amnesty International has urged doctors and nurses not to participate in executions by lethal injection as it breaches their ethical oath.
In a report the group says the cocktail of drugs used is not always quick and painless and can cause "excruciating pain and extreme mental suffering".
The execution method is common in the US and is on the rise in China.
However, the US Supreme Court last week agreed to hear a challenge that lethal injections violate the constitution.
In its new report, "Execution by lethal injection - a quarter century of state poisoning", it says governments should not put doctors and nurses in the position of carrying out an action contrary to their ethical oath.
Jim Welsh, the group's health and human rights co-ordinator, said: "Medical professionals are trained to work for patients' well-being, not to participate in executions ordered by the state."
The report also challenges the cocktail of three drugs commonly used in executions.
It says that Texas, the biggest US user of lethal injections, has banned the same drugs for dogs and cats on the grounds of the potential pain they may suffer.
US LETHAL INJECTION
Used in 37 of 38 death penalty states. Nebraska uses electric chair
Almost all use same three-drug combination:
Sodium thiopental (sodium pentothal): Induces unconsciousness
Pancuronium bromide (Pavulon): Causes muscle paralysis
Potassium chloride: Stops the heart
Source: Amnesty/Death Penalty Information Center
The group says the drug used to induce unconsciousness can wear off before the prisoner's heart stops, causing extreme physical and mental strain.
The patients are, however, in a "chemical straitjacket" and cannot convey their distress, it says.
Amnesty cites case studies of US prisoners suffering for about 30 minutes in "botched" executions.
It says there are no exact official figures on executions in China but that it is certain to carry out more than any other country.
Amnesty says lethal injections are on the rise in China, with mobile vans increasingly being used.
Prisoners are executed on a metal bed in a windowless chamber in the back, the group says.
The issue of lethal injection is a matter of huge debate in the US.
Last week the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by two convicted murderers in Kentucky who argue that the method violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment contained in the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution.
The court ruling may provide a broad guideline on the method of execution, which some states have suspended after claims it was cruel and ineffective.
Andrea Keilen, from a legal firm that represents about 150 death row inmates in Texas, said there was no way of knowing the competency of those carrying out the executions in the state.
"We don't have any idea about what's happening in Texas, because it's done in secret."
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
revenge is never humane. we may pride ourselves on our big brains and being above the animals but sadly, we are not.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
and i second that emotion.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
and i say it's a wonderful idea. but how are we going to go about executing murderer who killed more than one person?
and i agree and never thought otherwise, before you respond on my previous post.
I'm sorry. If putting that nice human being in jail isn't revenge then what is it?
If the answer is justice. Then them getting the same as they dolled out is justice too.
Very, very, very, slowly.
i know facetiousness when i see it genie.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
who said they were nice? you misunderstand me.
sure if you murder someone in cold blood with malice aforethoght, then absolutely you should be removed from society for whatever amount of time. but state sanctioned murder? i do not see that as justice. tis revenge pure and simple. an eye for an eye i think they call it in the bible.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
When this "cocktail" is used in lethal injections, SP is given first to anesthetize the person. Then the remaing drugs that eventually stop the heart are given.
The only trauma the criminal experiences is that of knowing their life is about to end. Mental anguish yes, physical pain no.
this is a good way to commit suicide. i'm glad i'm not as young as i was before and i'm glad i'm not surgeon
Well it would be, however a person desiring suicide would most likely not have access to such drugs.
i think we've just opened a niche market, it' can be a great business opportunity...;)
food, shelter, medical, lawyer fees, etc.
i say hang them, then shoot them, then set them on fire.
Have you compared the costs of executing them vs. life in prision?
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
It actually costs more to have a prisoner on death row.
i can get a box of 9mm ammo from war-mart for $15
it's cheaper to whack them
Did your dad not hug you as a child or tell you he loves you? That would explain your reason for posting things to just draw attention to yourself.
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
How about the inmates that have been on death row and have been acquitted because of improvements in forensic sciences. It would suck to have put that bullet in their skull only to find out later that they indeed where innocent.
A shot to the back of the head would kill them much quicker - its just doesnt look so nice.
Secondly how is instant death less of a punishment than spending the rest of your life in prison and then death? I mean if there is no afterlife (especially if there is no afterlife type of punishment) then it really isn’t. I think if someone is convicted of 1st degree murder, they should be locked in a small cell for the rest of their life (with little or no human contact and little or no time outside of your cell) so that they can be alone with their thoughts (with no chance of parole). That to me would be a much worse punishment. Also none of this 25 to life crap with time off for good behavior if you commit premeditated murder, getting out of prison should not be an option.
i'm starved for attention...daddy was mean...i turned 21 in prison doing life without parole...
sheesh
1970rr has it..it ain't so pretty.
so they kill people nice like....they think it makes us feel better...who knows what the cost of injecting someone is? the way medical costs are, you can bet a bullet is way cheaper.
execution is more expensive. the cost in legal appeals alone is twice as much as jailing an inmate for a lifetime.
also, anyone else crack up that from the main page this thread subject reads "call for lethal injection." all i could think was "hell yeah, i've got a few i'd like to volunteer!"
unfortunately, we have something called a constitution that prevents executions from operating this way. so it's a pretty expensive practice. that's the chief reason i oppose the death penalty... morally i don't really care. but it's cheaper to give them life in prison and they're still not a threat to anyone.
Its Evolution baby!!!!!
the cost of the actual execution makes no difference. it is the extensive review and appeal process that costs so much money.
like ron white said about if we capture bin laden:
"it's not that im opposed to the death penalty, it's that osama bin laden is prepared to die. what he's not prepared to do is lick jelly out of thunderdick's butt crack."
i agree to a point - if they somehow paid for their prison cell, food, etc, i would be all for this.
but it's a federal prison system..the gov't is involved, so forget it.
hell, if they are on death row and get sick, they give them medical help to get better, to kill them!?!
hey, let that abcessed tooth run it's course.
if the judge hands down the death penalty, they should be killed within 1 yr...i was gonna say 30 days...or just take them out back and hang them
and who pays for that?