[View the story "Crime & punishment" on Storify ]Crime & punishment Is it time to reevaluate methods used for capital punishment in America? Storified by AJAMStream · Fri, Feb 07 2014 14:00:44
The United States, along with countries including China, North Korea, Iran, and Yemen,
leads the world in number of executions per year. American executions have relied on European pharmaceutical companies for the three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections, which has been used in the majority of cases. Now, the US is being forced to reconsider methods of killing as EU companies stop selling the drugs to the US based on opposition to capital punishment.
Below, a global comparison of executions by country:
theguardian.com
An execution on January 16 with a new drug cocktail took 26 minutes and has provided fuel for those who say such executions violate the Eighth Amendment, which outlaws cruel and unusual punishment.
Lawyers for the inmate, Dennis McGuire, who reportedly writhed, snorted, and gasped during the process, have filed a lawsuit.
The suit says “executing a human being with a mixture of clinically untested drugs that cause the body to consciously writhe in pain for 25 minutes constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”ibtimes.com
Changes in drug cocktails have caused many death row inmates to
fight for information on the drugs that will be used to kill them. One person argued that delays are worth it:
@AJAMStream No. Is execution so important that it can't wait to be done properly?Sarah Elizabeth
New cocktails have been obtained by compounding pharmacies, which combine, mix, or alter drugs. Attorneys for death row inmates as well as opponents of the death penalty have raised concerns over the lack of oversight for such facilities.
On November 18, 2013, Congress passed the Drug Quality and Security Act. President Obama signed the bill into law on November 27th. The act allows large-scale compounding pharmacies to register as "outsourcing facilities," which will be subject to FDA regulations. Compounders that do not register may still mix prescriptions for individual patients or produce limited quantities ahead of prescriptions without federal oversight.deathpenaltyinfo.org
While support for the death penalty is the lowest it has been in the US for 40 years, it still has
60% approval . Below, one person describes how many Americans still see the punishment:
a solid majority of American citizens supports the death penalty, believing it to serve both as a deterrent and an appropriate societal response to particularly heinous crimes.articles.latimes.com
However, shifting attitudes on capital punishment has been reflected in the more vocal opposition to the death penalty by families of murder victims. Bob and Lola Autobee have requested to speak at the trial of their son's murderer to plead for mercy. Below is an excerpt from their statement:
Bob and his family have found healing in the forgiveness that they have extended to their son's killer. However, the prosecution strives to forever undo this healing by seeking to avenge one killing with another, over the family's pleas for mercy. For the Autobee family, a death sentence and the accompanying years of litigation, all supposedly done in their son's name, would rob them of peace. For, in the eyes of society, their son's name forever would be associated with cruelty and violence, rather than the human dignity and mercy he embodied in life.theatlantic.com
One person supported the idea of considering the family's wishes when determining a punishment:
@AJAMStream @julito77 @lisa_fletch wishes of a murder victims family should always be considered #deathpenalty #AJAMStreamTony V
Still, some argue the punishment serves as a deterrent to violent crime. However, a report that analyzed previous studies that attempted to link the death penalty to homicide rates came to the following conclusion:
research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide is not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates. Therefore, the committee recommends that these studies not be used to inform deliberations requiring judgments about the effect of the death penalty on homicide.content.usatoday.com
That conclusion is reflected in the opinions of leading criminologists:
amnestyusa.org
Many oppose the death penalty due to flaws in the system which have led
many innocent people to be wrongfully killed.
No death penalty until conviction can be proved by D.N.A. too many on death row found to be innocent after 20 years on death row and many innocent put to death.Henry Stafford Jr.
Below, a graph shows the number of death row inmates exonerated per year in the US due to DNA testing.
innocenceproject.org
One person concluded that the policy hasn't been effective:
@AJAMStream Capital punishment has proven to be a complete failure.poniesinashed
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