In your opinion, is lethal injection a more humane method of execution than other methods? Support your answer with evidence from the chapter.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A sample answer follows. For many years, experts believed that lethal injection was a more humane execution method than the electric chair, the firing squad, or other execution methods. However, some critics now say that the paralyzing nature of the drugs makes it impossible to tell how much pain the inmate is in. Regulated, human-grade drugs for lethal injection have become difficult to find because producing those drugs brings criticism from some people and governments. Further, most doctors and nurses refuse to participate in lethal injections, so often nonmedical staff must carry them out, which makes it difficult to ensure that they are done correctly. For all these reasons, lethal injection is not a humane method of execution. But perhaps most important is the fact that to someone who opposes the death penalty, no execution method can be humane.