Capital Punishment Controversy: Banning The Death Penalty
The death penalty is currently legal in thirty one states, including Ohio. Conversely, nineteen states have banned the death penalty. What makes capital punishment so controversial? The problem lies within the Eighth Amendment. Capital punishment alone is not a direct violation of the Eighth Amendment; however, how the execution is carried out may create further issues that infringe upon the Eighth Amendment, therefore sparking controversy and confusion.
In 2015, there were 2,959 inmates on death row. However, there were only 28 legal executions performed that year, all by lethal injection. The debate surrounding capital punishment is whether or not it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment states, “excessive bail shall …show more content…
Rees (2008), Two Kentucky inmates challenged the state's four-drug lethal injection protocol. The lethal injection method calls for the administration of four drugs: Valium, which relaxes the convict, Sodium Pentathol, which knocks the convict unconscious, Pavulon, which stops his breathing, and potassium chloride, which essentially puts the convict into cardiac arrest and ultimately causes death. The Kentucky Supreme Court held that the death penalty system did not amount to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. This case resolved a controversial issue in light of recent evidence that a lethal injection's three-drug combination fails to alleviate pain and prevents the criminal from signaling such pain because of paralysis inducement. In a 7-2 decision with four concurrences and a dissent, the Court held that Kentucky's lethal injection scheme did not violate the Eighth Amendment. Noting that the inmates had conceded the "humane nature" of the procedure when performed correctly, the divided Court inmates had failed to prove that incorrect administration of the drugs would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Court also suggested that a state may violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment if it continues to use a method without sufficient justification in the face of superior alternative
In 2015, there were 2,959 inmates on death row. However, there were only 28 legal executions performed that year, all by lethal injection. The debate surrounding capital punishment is whether or not it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment states, “excessive bail shall …show more content…
Rees (2008), Two Kentucky inmates challenged the state's four-drug lethal injection protocol. The lethal injection method calls for the administration of four drugs: Valium, which relaxes the convict, Sodium Pentathol, which knocks the convict unconscious, Pavulon, which stops his breathing, and potassium chloride, which essentially puts the convict into cardiac arrest and ultimately causes death. The Kentucky Supreme Court held that the death penalty system did not amount to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. This case resolved a controversial issue in light of recent evidence that a lethal injection's three-drug combination fails to alleviate pain and prevents the criminal from signaling such pain because of paralysis inducement. In a 7-2 decision with four concurrences and a dissent, the Court held that Kentucky's lethal injection scheme did not violate the Eighth Amendment. Noting that the inmates had conceded the "humane nature" of the procedure when performed correctly, the divided Court inmates had failed to prove that incorrect administration of the drugs would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Court also suggested that a state may violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment if it continues to use a method without sufficient justification in the face of superior alternative