Capital Punishment
Mackenzie Klein
William Feltt
English 1001G-032
20 November 2011
The Real Murder: Capital Punishment In life there are always rules and right ways to accomplish tasks; some take the high road and others tend to take the low road. For the people that choose the low road, there is capital punishment. This consists of several forms of execution and is only used in high crime cases. Capital punishment has been used for centuries and ever since the existence of human beings there has always been severe forms of executions. Today however, there are mainly three types used including: lethal injection, hanging, and stoning. All forms of capital punishment are ineffective in their purposes and unjust in human morals.
Lethal injection is the most commonly used form of the death penalty today. This is a very extensive process that is carried out by the fatal mixture of three drugs. The person is restrained in a gurney and on signal from the warden a dose of sodium thiopental is given to them to cause unconsciousness. The next step is to inject pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxer, which will disable the lungs and diaphragm. Last, fatal cardiac arrest is induced by potassium chloride being injected (“Methods of Execution”). This process may sound like a full proof procedure; however, there are still many kinks that still need to be corrected in the lethal injections.
There are too many potential problems and negatives with lethal injections. Prisoners have been known to resist the intravenous line and may not respond regularly to the drugs. The execution team may not be able to find a vein and give the wrong drug mixture (“Lethal Injection”). Finding the proper vein can be very painful, lethal injections are supposed to be humane and cause no pain at all. This is a contradiction to the fact that the system is not painless for one hundred percent of its users. Some may argue that these people deserve the punishment, however, if we do posses human rights, then
William Feltt
English 1001G-032
20 November 2011
The Real Murder: Capital Punishment In life there are always rules and right ways to accomplish tasks; some take the high road and others tend to take the low road. For the people that choose the low road, there is capital punishment. This consists of several forms of execution and is only used in high crime cases. Capital punishment has been used for centuries and ever since the existence of human beings there has always been severe forms of executions. Today however, there are mainly three types used including: lethal injection, hanging, and stoning. All forms of capital punishment are ineffective in their purposes and unjust in human morals.
Lethal injection is the most commonly used form of the death penalty today. This is a very extensive process that is carried out by the fatal mixture of three drugs. The person is restrained in a gurney and on signal from the warden a dose of sodium thiopental is given to them to cause unconsciousness. The next step is to inject pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxer, which will disable the lungs and diaphragm. Last, fatal cardiac arrest is induced by potassium chloride being injected (“Methods of Execution”). This process may sound like a full proof procedure; however, there are still many kinks that still need to be corrected in the lethal injections.
There are too many potential problems and negatives with lethal injections. Prisoners have been known to resist the intravenous line and may not respond regularly to the drugs. The execution team may not be able to find a vein and give the wrong drug mixture (“Lethal Injection”). Finding the proper vein can be very painful, lethal injections are supposed to be humane and cause no pain at all. This is a contradiction to the fact that the system is not painless for one hundred percent of its users. Some may argue that these people deserve the punishment, however, if we do posses human rights, then
Cited: "CBC News In Depth: Capital Punishment." CBC.ca - Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. "Descriptions of Execution Methods." Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 20 Nov. 2011 "Lethal Injection." Amnesty International USA - Protect Human Rights. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. "Methods of Execution: Hanging." High School Curriculum on the Death Penalty. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. "Methods of Execution." Pro-death Penalty.com. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. "Update: Death Penalty." Facts On File: Issues and Controversies. N.p., n.d. Facts On File: Issues and Controversies. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. "Top 10 Pros and Cons: Should the death penalty be allowed?." ProCon.org. N.p., 13 Apr. 2009. ProCon.org. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. Ward, Mike. "Shortage Won 't Delay Texas Lethal Injections." (2010): 1-2. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. Worth, Robert F. "Crime (Sex) and Punishment (Stoning)." New York Times. 21 Aug. 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.