Live from San Quentin

[badseed1980]

I've been following (not closely, but still paying attention to) the Michael Morales death sentence fiasco going on in California. Basically, the guy was sentenced to death back in 1983 for the rape and murder of a teenage girl. He's scum. No question. And he confessed, so I have no reason to believe he could possibly be innocent.

Anyway, he was going to get his lethal injection--over 20 years after the sentencing--last week. California, like the majority of the US, uses a three-drug combo to kill condemned criminals: one drug to sedate the person, one to paralyze them, and one to stop their heart. Problem is, if the dosage of the first drug isn't high enough to totally put them under and KEEP them under, the other two drugs are excruciatingly painful, and some people have pointed out that this amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Therefore, it was decided that there had to be anesthesiologsists present to step in and administer more of the sedative if necessary.

The anesthesiologists refused at the last minute to take part. They said it would be medically unethical.

Then a judge said, "Ok, well, just kill him with one massive dose of the barbituate sedative." Problem was, to do that, they needed to find a licensed medical professional to perform the injection.

They couldn't find one who would do it.

This is getting interesting. The question raised is this: is it possible to ensure that a condemned prisoner's death is painless, without using methods that must of necessity be performed by a doctor? And will doctors be ok with the idea of performing procedures specifically to end the life of condemned criminals? Will other states have this issue now that the trail's been blazed? I wonder. I wonder what will happen to the future of capital punishment if what's happening in California affects other states. I wonder how the debate among the public will go.

Most of you probably know I'm not in favor of the death penalty. I've heard all the arguments for it, and a lot of them do make a lot of sense, but not enough sense to change the way I feel. I'm stubborn on this one. But yeah, I'm interested to see how this will work out.

Comments

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

where we are going to find a nasty can of worms is when people link this to the controversy over whether or not pharmacists who have religious objections to contraception can refuse to give them out.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Yeah. That's very true.

[deadwinter.livejournal.com]

And I would just LOVE to see said can open. Because the linkage is valid.

[cutieyum.livejournal.com]

The problem is stickier due to the psychological studies of those people who volunteer (for the paid job) of being an executioner. The executioners exibit many of the physiological, psychological and social profiles of those people who are executed. We paid maladjusted people to perform state-sanctioned murder. It doesn't surprise me that the doctors refuse. Doctors see their ethical obligation towards life and the quality of life very differently than the jurists.

If I find the links to that interesting book and interview with the author, I'll post it. The doctor who peformed the study has been involved in state executions for over 2 decades interviewing and examining all people involved in the process.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Interesting fact. Not surprising, though.

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

i would think they could administer a huge (large enough to kill *anyone*) overdose of a sedative or painkiller...but i imagine there's something to that that i don't know about that falls under cruel or unusual.
*shrug*

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I was talking about here:

Then a judge said, "Ok, well, just kill him with one massive dose of the barbituate sedative." Problem was, to do that, they needed to find a licensed medical professional to perform the injection.

They couldn't find one who would do it.

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

yeah, but there's no real explanation as to why it would be ok to administer what they're administering now and not just a massive overdose of something that'll make you feel really good before you black out.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

You mean, why wouldn't they just use that as their first choice of methods anyway? Not sure. And from what I gather, it's not a licensed medical professional who administers the three-drug cocktail. The article said that the doctor who's present at executions is just there to monitor the condemned's vitals and declare him or her dead when it's over. The executioner, I guess, doesn't have to be a doctor or anything.

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's what i meant. cause i gather the same as you...that the executioner is *not* a doctor. i mean, they must have figured out the 3 drugs *somehow*...seems unlikely they couldn't figure out some kind of barbiturate overdose.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

wikipedia has some okay info on lethal injection:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_injection

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

there isn't anything that shows Pavulon to be painful.
Amnesty International specifically objects to its use because, as such an effective muscle relaxant, with no analgesic or sedative effects, it can mask suffering.

KCl is, however, definitely painful: it's a heart attack in a needle.

I'm still not so sure on where I stand on the whole thing.