A Concern about the cocktail…
Last week’s post focused on the State of Arkansas’s challenge to recruit around 50 citizens to monitor its upcoming 8 executions. Well, “Hold the phone! Houston, we have a problem.”
This week’s article reports on an injunction that was filed by 9 Arkansas death row inmates and signed by a Federal Judge. Basically this brings all the scheduled executions to a temporary halt.
The injunction was ordered as a result of one of the drugs used in the 3-drug cocktail for executions. The drug, midazolam, has been at the forefront of several judicial challenges. The argument is pretty interesting. Thoughts?
The drug in debate, midazolam, sounds like it could leave the person being executed in some nasty pain. I could see how this being the case may not rise question in many people because of their stance on the death penalty. As in thinking, if these people have done such bad crimes to have ended up on death row, then why not let them suffer one last time? This, has be conflicted on my own personal beliefs as well; depending on the crime and reasoning for being executed, it may not be so wrong to let someone struggle. I feel that for those prisoners who are not put on death row, years in the penitentiary could cause the same amount of harm, just drawn out in time to ultimately fulfill their sentence.
I think the judge is right about pausing these executions. If this drug does not properly work, it will lead to a painful death. There are seven lives that will be ended and needed to be taken seriously. These prisoners have been in pain purely serving their sentence. I definitely lead more towards one side but I can see both sides and am still undecided how I feel about the death penalty. If death penalty is going to be legal, do not make it painful. Those last few minutes/hours of getting injected with drugs are their last few moments of their life.
I can see how some agree that they should die in a painful way since they have caused so much harm for others, but on the other hand, what is executing prisoners really solving? The governor believes that by executing these prisoners it will help heal the families of the victims. But will it really? Sadly, it will still not bring their loved one back.
At the end of the day these criminals are still people. This makes me think, is there really a humane way to execute humans?
I have never been in agreement with the death penalty because I think that is inhumane for the government to kill someone. We are a land of freedom and the government should not be killing people. With that being said, I am happy to hear that the judge paused the executions to look more closely at the drug. If this drug leads to a painful execution- then it is inhumane. Execution is inhumane to begin with, so why make the inmates suffer more. They are already being killed and losing their life. Should we really make them suffer in those last few moments? I do not think that is really fair because they are still people who made mistakes.
I do think that the drug they have been using for the death penalties needs to be reevaluated. Especially because there have been a couple instances where the drug has not worked properly and left the inmates in pain while being killed. The timing may seem difficult to some people who think that the inmates need to be punished and immediately no matter whether they are in pain or not. I do believe that it is not fair for inmates to be in pain while being killed. Just like the article mentions they have the right to not be tortured while in prison or ever. If there is the slightest question of whether the drug is considered to be a type of torture I think it needs to be addressed.
I think the Judge’s decision was accurate and well-supported. If the drug will cause cruel and unusual punishment, it cannot and should not, constitutionally or morally, be used.
The death penalty is a tough issue with supporting arguments on either side. Therefore, I will not take a stance on this.
I will, however, say that I do feel for the inmates behind bars whose minds are being manipulated and confused with this “you’re going to die, and now you’re not going to die” problem. I could only imagine how that emotionally impacts those people. Yes, people. They are humans, with rights.
When I hear people say, “I feel bad for the inmates, they shouldn’t have to suffer” I can’t help but think, did their victims die painlessly? For example Clayton Lockett, who was executed in Oklahoma, kidnapped a young pregnant woman, raped her in every orifice, shot her twice, and buried her alive. She did not die painlessly. But, each state that has capital punishment should do their homework, and properly execute their inmates.
If Arkansas must put these men to death, why not use the other legal ways, such as electrocution? Arkansas already has an alternative way to execute death row inmates, and that is with the use of electrocution. So, what’s the problem?
My last statement is that the government is not killing these men, it’s the state. They are two different bodies of law.