Sunday, December 6, 2009

New execution involves sleeping until you die

An Ohio inmate sentenced to execution could be the first in the country to be put to death using a single injection. Regularly, execution comprises of three fast acting injections that literally stop the heart of the unfortunate. The catch of this single injection is that it is very, very slow, putting the condemned into a sleep that is so deep that the person stops breathing entirely. Debate over the traditional three injection process sparked a controversy of whether or not the seven minute execution was painful. However, this new process will take around fifteen minutes, experts say. Experts also argue that the new process will be virtually pain free, as the drug used in the injection is just a heightened anesthetic. If this new process is used, it could encourage other states to switch the traditional method with this new method.

If it were me getting executed, I think I would want it to be painless. Even though it might take longer, time passes by quickly when you're sleeping. Of course, that might also be because I have an intense fear of needles- the thought of three at a time just gives me the willies. I also think it is more ethical to not have inmates suffer while they die. I have always disapproved of the death penalty, but I think that the newer method may be more ethically acceptable.

12 comments:

Jacob Schroeter said...

I think this new execution process might change the entire way the Death Penalty is looked at. I think the 1 injection is a lot less, shall I say... Violent? With the 3 injections I feel like the Prisoner is watching himself die, as well as slowly feeling himself die. Personally, i'm not sure on my stand on the death penalty. Although I can say I like the 1 injection process much more. Dieing in your sleep is a lot less violent then the alternative..in my opinion.

Sam Kennedy said...

While I agree with Jacob that this new method is preferable, I still consider the death penalty to be morally unacceptable. It does no one any good.

We are the only civilized western nation with the Death Penalty, and I see no reason why we shouldn't follow suit with our more forward thinking colleagues.

We shouldn't punish for punishment's sake, but to remove those who commit crimes from society so that they do not continue to harm it. It should be about helping society, not hurting the criminal.

Melissa said...

I feel you Sam! It kind of confuses me how murdering someone is somehow teaching them a lesson. I feel like that's the ultimate goal when we punish criminals; hoping they will learn and change their ways. The death penalty obviously doesn't make room for this. I also feel like studying these injections is such a waste of time and money. I agree with you Sam. We should learn from our neighbors and strive for a little bit of humanity.

Katherine Wayne said...

I know little about the death penalty besides that capital crime leads to capital punishment. Being reasonably neutral on the matter, I would say that this is the most humane way to execute someone.

While we are the only civilized western nation that has the death penalty, we are in the majority (60% or so) of the world's nations that enforces death penalty (China, India ect.)

Tim dyer said...

So basically you suffocate (while your sleeping of course so its much more humane)?

Victor H. said...

Well, it depends...do they still strap you down to that table thing? Because that part seems rather inhumane to me...but then again, you did get the death penalty...

ArianaR said...

This new execution process kind of reminds me of animal euthanasia (or better known for putting an animal "to sleep"). Although the two processes are not entirely the same (euthanisia is usually a two step process), I find it interesting that criminals are now being "put to sleep". It's much more humane, I think.

YueLiang said...

Personally, I'd rather keep myself emotionally detached from subjective controversies such as the death penalty, but I do feel that this new method is more humane for the prisoner being punished. If the prisoner truly deserved the death penalty, then they may as well meet their end in the most humane way as possible.

-Annie Yang

ellery wong said...

I walk the middle road on this subject. like when we were little, our punishment was meant for us to learn from it. logically, this should be the same for criminals as well. you get put into jail if you commit crimes. however, i do understand that some people just never learn and there are prisons that are running out of room, and to keep a prison running requires a constant suppy of electricity, food, water, and and increase in inmates would require an increase of guards. all these cost money. with the death penalty, we can cut down the amount of people that are held within the prison.

also, i think that if we were the victims of a major crime, we would like to see that criminal be put to death (if the crime is serious enough). because we are looking at this in a third person view, our persepective on things are less accurate.

Yvonne Lee said...

I'm glad that they have created this injection that is useful and effective. It is unnecessary to keep the inmates in prison because some of them will spend their lifetime in prison. The injection allows us to reduce the expensive cost of paying for the inmates' food, clothing, and etc. Also, some of these criminals deserve the death penalty because of their hurtful and unwise decisions.

Amreet said...

I disagree with this article and agree with Missy and Sam. The worst type of punsishment is sitting in a jail cell for the rest of your life. That is way worse than dying painlessly. You don't learn anything if you die. You just die and that's that. However, if your are made to live with your crime for, oh I dunno, 40 years, then you suffer and realize. I don't remember the exact number mentioned in the gov text book, but so much money is being spent of the lethal injection than it ought to be. Why not spend that money to stimulate the economy or better yet, why not use the money that puts people to death for the genocide in Darfur and help those people from such inhumane atrocities.

~Amreet Aujla

Alexandra Kor said...

I feel that this is a more humane way to be put to death, but I don't think it's as harsh. I am someone who is for the death penalty. I think the lethal injection is rather lenient already. Almost all of these prisoners being executed committed atrocious crimes and I feel that they don't deserve to be treated like human beings. It's a dark thought, but that's what my take is on the death penalty.