Cruel and Unusual: The Reality of Lethal Injection Executions in America
- Mackenzie Sheldon
- May 1
- 4 min read
Updated: May 3
Mackenzie Sheldon | Opinion editor
Lethal injection is used as the main method of execution in a majority of death penalty states. Considering other methods of capital punishment, such as the firing squad, hanging, or gas chamber, an injection to kill seems fine. It’s a medical procedure. Fast and painless - nothing could go wrong.
Out of every method, lethal injection has the highest number of botched executions.
There are a total of seventy-five botched lethal injection executions as of right now. Thirty-four firing squad executions took place. Zero were botched.
Some supporters or non-supporters of the death penalty have this belief that lethal injection is fast and pain-free. If the death penalty has to happen, that's the way to do it. From the outside, it seems like the most humane method. I believed it too. After gaining further knowledge on the matter, there have been multiple instances of gruesome and traumatic responses to the injection. So, why is this?
What’s in the injection?
Three drugs make up the injection. The first drug is an anesthetic called sodium thiopental. According to RxList, a medical website that provides information on specific drugs, “…thiopental sodium… is a barbiturate used to help patients relax before receiving general anesthesia with an inhaled medication. The brand name drug Pentothal is no longer available in the U.S….” The second drug is a paralytic called pancuronium bromide, which induces skeletal muscle relaxation. And the third drug is potassium chloride, which stops the heart from beating.
The FDA does not have jurisdiction over drugs intended for executions carried out by a state or the federal government. The Department of Justice finalized that the FDA lacks authority to regulate drugs used in lethal injections because these drugs are intended for non-medical purposes. Some states have been caught importing these drugs from other countries, with some not being informed that the drugs are being used to execute a person. In a Podcast titled "More Perfect: Cruel and Unusual", they discuss that an execution is about to happen in Arizona, however, Maya Foa, the director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, finds that the injection drugs that will be used are from a pharmacy in England, and Arizona refuses to disclose which pharmacy. After listening to the episode, I had a better understanding of the kind of investigations going on to shine a light on states illegally importing these drugs.
According to a journal published by Patricia Zettler and Seema Shah on the National Library of Medicine, they explain “Allowing states and the federal government to source lethal injection substances from outside the regulated supply chain not only exposes individuals being executed to uncertain and unnecessary risks but also may enable a broader unregulated market for these drugs.”
The Debate
Eastern Connecticut State University offers students another way to get our voices heard through the radio studio on campus in the communication building. I had the opportunity to discuss this matter with Paul Sheldon, my dad, on air.
We didn’t focus on our overall death penelty views, we narrowed down on views of execution methods. However, I want to express that my guest and I understand both sides of the death penetly argument - we believe the decision entirely depends on the factors and circumstances of the case. The full conversation between my father and I is uploaded to Spotify and you can find it by searching Fake Names Radio: Episode 25.
I started off the conversation by stating my initial views on lethal injection and how I thought it was the most humane. I asked my guest if his views were similar, and the answer was yes. I proceeded by informing him of botched cases, where it can take an inmate up to 45 minutes to be declared deceased. After discussing lethal injection cases, he brought up a perspective I hadn’t thought about.
If we are already going to kill this person for the crimes they committed, why are we so invested in how it's done?
I feel that it is much more traumatic for the people performing a now botched lethal injection execution. The death penalty should be a quick process, but it's not. Here is a story clip taken from NPR's article by Bill Chappel titled “Arizona Execution Of Inmate Takes Nearly 2 Hours"
| ""The Arizona Department of Corrections began the execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood III at 1:52 p.m. At 1:57 p.m ADC reported that Mr. Wood was sedated, but at 2:02 he began to breathe. At 2:03 his mouth moved. Mr. Wood has continued to breathe since that time. He has been gasping and snorting for more than an hour. At 3:02 p.m. At that time, staff rechecked for sedation. He is still alive. This execution has violated Mr. Wood's Eighth Amendment right to be executed in the absence of cruel and unusual punishment.""
This is not the only story of botched lethal injections.
According to an article published on AZ Mirror by Michael Kiefer just a few months ago, “Lethal injection was once thought to be the least painful, most humane form of execution. Now, experts liken it to waterboarding, a form of torture considered too cruel to use in wartime.”
Quick and painless is a myth when it comes to lethal injection. The individual drugs used to create the injection are meant for medical procedures such as surgeries. They are meant to save. Death penalty methods should be as far away from this as possible. Obtaining these drugs is already a huge issue. If states need to secretly outsource, should we really continue this when there are other methods? With over seven percent of injections being botched, we are bound to hear more stories. It is cruel and unusual.
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