Podcast Cruel And Unusual Analysis
The podcast Cruel and Unusual covers the issue of the death penalty and whether or not it should be allowed in the U.S. It discusses the controversy within this issue, especially the lethal injection and the constitutionality of capital punishment in regards to the ban of cruel and unusual punishment in the 8th amendment. Some of the cases mentioned were Wilkerson v Utah where the Supreme Court initially ruled to allow a firing squad to be used in the death penalty and Baze v Rees (2008) in which the Supreme Court ruled that lethal injection was not cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore not unconstitutional. The impact that the issue of the death penalty and the court cases regarding it have on the country is that people are easily outraged
no matter how the court rules. If the court rules against the death penalty, as it did in Furman v Georgia (1972), the public gets angry and demands for it to be reinstated. If the court rules in favor of the death penalty, people fight against the ruling like when the court ruled that lethal injection was not unconstitutional.
What I found interesting in this podcast were the facts that at one point the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty but then decided to reverse this decision and that the original design of the lethal injection’s chemical combinations was intended to mask pain through the use of the paralyzing drug in case the anesthetic did not work. My opinion on the court’s decisions is that I don’t agree with their 2008 ruling because there are risks related to lethal injection if it does not work properly that can cause it to be defined as cruel and unusual punishment. In this issue I believe that the Supreme Court should be allowed to have some of a role in lawmaking because it gives the opportunity for laws to be passed somewhat more quickly and efficiently than when laws are made in Congress alone.
no matter how the court rules. If the court rules against the death penalty, as it did in Furman v Georgia (1972), the public gets angry and demands for it to be reinstated. If the court rules in favor of the death penalty, people fight against the ruling like when the court ruled that lethal injection was not unconstitutional.
What I found interesting in this podcast were the facts that at one point the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty but then decided to reverse this decision and that the original design of the lethal injection’s chemical combinations was intended to mask pain through the use of the paralyzing drug in case the anesthetic did not work. My opinion on the court’s decisions is that I don’t agree with their 2008 ruling because there are risks related to lethal injection if it does not work properly that can cause it to be defined as cruel and unusual punishment. In this issue I believe that the Supreme Court should be allowed to have some of a role in lawmaking because it gives the opportunity for laws to be passed somewhat more quickly and efficiently than when laws are made in Congress alone.