Lethal Injection Case Study

certified phlebotomists (person trained to draw blood), emergency staff, anesthesiologists, and usually a warden. The procedures can also not work which can cause pain to the prisoner, for example, the drugs do not paralyze them and they feel everything. This can be a way to instill fear into potential murderers who think that dying is the “easy way out”. Of the 52 executions carried out between January 2009 and December 2009, 51 were by lethal injection while 1 in Virginia was carried out by electrocution (Snell, 2010). Lethal injection is thought of as the least severe method of execution (Butler, 2003).
Lethal gas. Lethal gas or the gas chamber is another method of execution. 1924 was the first initial use of lethal gas for an execution …show more content…
Death by firing squad is less frequent as a method of execution in states such as Idaho, Oklahoma, and Utah. Oklahoma and Utah use lethal injection as the primary method and in Utah it’s only for inmates who chose that method (Feldman, 2015). The inmate is strapped to a chair and the chair is placed in front of a wall lined with sandbags. There is a target attached to the front of the prisoner to show where their heart is. Multiple men usually five officers are twenty feet away and shoot at the same time (Vey, 2016). A single round is given to each officer except one. The firing squad is used in America in 1608 and since then has been used 144 times in the United States (Vey, 2016). In the 1800s the firing squad was very prevalent which influenced the art during that time (Reiss, 2007). In is very difficult to botch this execution but it is possible if the prisoner moves or jerks. They eventually die but it’s not instantly like it was …show more content…
In the mid-1800s, hanging was the most predominant method of execution in the United States (Feldman, 2015). The offender dies of asphyxiation while being strangled by the rope along with this comes a loss of blood to the brain and damage to the neck (Vey, 2016). There have been many variations of this method of execution. Instead of tree branches the executioner or the hangman would use crossbeams which required the offender to have to climb a ladder to later be tied with a noose around his or her neck and afterwards the ladder would be taken from up under them (Vey, 2016). The cause of death is still asphyxiation. In the 19th century in England and the United States the “long drop” method was adopted which would make the offender drop from a substantial distance. The cause of death was the “dislocating of the uppermost cervical vertebrae” which separated the spinal cord and the brain stem. This was thought of as being a quicker way to die. In the past the hangings were public but are now private. Lethal injection is the primary method in all states but in Delaware, New Hampshire, and Washington State hanging is a permitted method (Feldman, 2015). Potential offenders can often feel that some execution methods have a greater chance of severe pain which is why death penalty states let the convicted prisoner to choose their method of execution (Zimmerman, 2006). In Washington State and Delaware prisoners have the

Show More