Introduction
Laws are created to govern society in such a way as to ensure harmony through respect of individual rights and freedom. Justice becomes necessary in society as a tool of enforcing equality, equity and fairness in the day to day interaction of community members. Courts there fore are formed to assist in the administration of justice where by a breach of rights and freedoms have occurred. This is meant to be retributive and reform the individual and discourage other people from perpetrating similar breaches. There fore different crimes calls for different punishments with serious offences calling for stern measures to rectify these wrongs and act as a big example in view of discouraging a repeat of the same. People have argued with solid justifications that there are breaches to individual rights that may be so severe to merit the criminal be stripped of his right to life. However there are still those who feel that no one has the right to take a life no matter what grounds such justifications are based on.
Discussion
Should murder there fore be allowed by state? While some may disagree I am compelled to support it in cases where the crime was severe, violent and lethal. For instance in the rape of small children, premeditated murder, and violent crime by people who have no regard whatsoever about the lives of others. These people do not have the moral ground to choose a means of death as all they did in life is inflict pain to others and may have put others to death sing malicious means (Otto & Heilbrun,2002). However due to the development of ethics that calls for the consideration of others despite their crimes and evils. Countries have banned most of the other forms of capital punishment since they have been termed as unusual and cruel.
Some of these methods identified to be cruel include electrocution, burning of the criminal, impalement, guillotine, hanging and use of the rack. The ideologies behind origin of these methods were causing suffering to the individuals and there were outright cruel in their applications. These led there fore to the identification of the lethal injection method as a probable humane method if well applied. So is lethal injection an unusual and cruel method of capital punishment. Some states have ruled that any form of capital punishment is cruel and therefore have banned all forms of this type of punishment. However it has been argued that careful administration of the method protected the person from suffering pain and the way in which it was carried including the various humane considerations and precautions taken during the process.
The eighth amendment was enacted during a period of various methods of capital; punishment. It outlaws some methods of punishment totally and also denies the use of some punishments that are excessive in regard to the crime. The courts have there been made to use four methods of determining the cruelty and unusual nature of the punishment method. Firstly the nature or application of the punishment should not undermine nor violate human dignity. Secondly whether the punishment is arbitrary and severe. Moreover it should also be considered cruel if it’s entirely rejected by society at large. This therefore led to the high court banning the use of extreme methods like burning. Moreover, the Supreme Court also banned the capital punishing of minors and people who are mentally insane. The method of lethal injection is not unusual since it has been used for decades (James & Patricia, 2003).Even though some people continue to argue that it is cruel medical reports shows that pain can only occur if there is wrong administration of these drugs. The Supreme Court has not found this method to be cruel and unusual in its interpretation of the eighth amendment and there its application remains legal subject to individual state laws. However there are still members of the Supreme Court who feel that all forms of capital punishment are cruel.
So what exactly is lethal injection as a method of enforcing capital punishment? It means the action of injecting the subject with lethal dosage of drugs with the sole intention of killing that person. It increased in use in the 20th century as a way of replacing the other methods that were considered inhuman and has become the most applied method by the U S A.Drug is introduced the persons veins though two I V lines injected into the persons veins and although only one is needed the second one backs the first incase it fails.
Alcohol is used to stab the individual’s arms before insertion of the needles and whip together with the rest of the equipment are thoroughly sterilized.
Numerous questions have been raised questioning the logic of sterilization taking into consideration that the only objective is killing the person. The reasons of course are quite simple and include the possibility of the individual having his death sentence cancelled or postponed. In addition the medical staff since uses sterilized equipments since it is expected of them in their profession.
Drugs administered to the person are first supposed to make him unconscious and then cause death through complete death of respiratory system or artificially induced heart attack. The first drug to be administered is sodium thiopental which cause complete loss of consciousness followed by the introduction of pancuronium and potassium chloride to cause paralysis and cardiac failure respectively. The drug, thiopental is used to shield the individual from the immense pain that could result from the introduction of high volume of sodium chloride.
The process is usually handled by two individuals; first person to insert the needles and another to prepare the drugs ready for administration. These therefore leads to the drawing away of the curtains to allow witnesses to observe the process and the condemned person is given a chance to express any last view that he may possess. Drugs are then administered to the person and a medical practitioner examines the person to certify that he has died. It is important to stress that the paralysis inducing drugs does not kill rather it simply causes paralysis and if the individual has not received enough anesthesia and therefore the introduction of potassium chloride could cause extreme pain leading to an excruciating death (Welch, 2004). Further more it may fail to cause death if it is improperly injected into body tissue instead of blood veins.
Conclusion
However the process faces several legal hurdles and has seen numerous challenges in courts of law. This has led to many conflicting judgments with some state courts ruling that the use of this method is unconstitutional while some have supported the practice. This therefore leads to the question about what states should do about the practice. Some legislators have argued that without better alternatives then existing systems must continue to be use since to abandon them all would lad to blatant disregard for the rule of law. I therefore have to agree that since to date lethal injection is the only humane method, when properly administered, and should continue to be practiced by state governments. And although taking the life of another human being maybe unjustified it would be wrong to allow criminals to continue abusing the rights of hardworking citizens without having to pay in kind for their crimes.
Reference
American Psychological Association’s (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct document.
Dennis Welch (2004)Lethal Injections: Cruel and Unusual Punishment? Religiouis and social trends. 2008. Web.
James and Patricia ( 2003) A responsibility of Canadian Psychologists in carrying out suitability and Criminal accountability assessment. Vol 44(4), 369-381.
Otto & Heilbrun,(2002) the evidential practice of lethal injection on convicted criminals Aglimpse toward the prospect in light of history.