Originally Posted by B'Aqu-anir

It seems lethal injection can be as much a "learn while you earn" process as anything. It is administered by prison employees and contract labor, who may or may not have any real medical training beyond giving injections. The process will vary fom prison to prison based on budget priorities, availability of trained personnel, and by the state's often-vague legislation on administering the death penalty. Is it painful? I guess it depends on who you talk to.



As someone once told me, "Sometimes the experiment fails miserably (individual human nature), and the only safe solution is to destroy the experiment before it kills again".



This is where the application of the death penalty becomes a bit difficult to apply. IMO, someone found not guilty by reason of insanity in a case where the death penalty would otherwise apply, should be incarcerated for life, regardless of their "official" mental status.



Our prisons or becoming overcrowded, at least in apart, due to the inordinate number of people who have been jailed for long perios of time (5 to 10 years) for crimes involving the use, sale and distribution of the extremely "dangerous" drug, marijuana, and other otherwise minor drug crimes. That, of course is a subject for its own thread.

IMO the question of whether we should use the death penalty isn't so much if it should be used, but how to apply it equitably. There are definitely cases in which the murder should be executed.