Thursday, April 17, 2008
THE United States Supreme Court yesterday ruled that lethal injection was constitutional in a landmark ruling set to pave the way for executions to resume after a lull of more than six months.
The judges ruled by seven for and two against that the risk of suffering to those executed by lethal injection did not constitute "cruel and unusual punishment" which is barred under the US constitution.
"Petitioners have not carried their burden of showing that the risk of pain from maladministration of a concededly humane lethal injection protocol, and the failure to adopt untried and untested alternatives, constitute cruel and unusual punishment," the judges said in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Lethal injection is the most commonly used form of execution across the United States. Some 53 people were executed in the United States in 2006, after the numbers reached a peak of 98 in 1999.
Several death row inmates, led by a pair from Kentucky, had urged the Supreme Court to rule on whether lethal injection violated the constitution.
They had argued that the three-part injection method in which the first part sedates the inmate, the second paralyses the muscles and the third stops the heart, caused needless suffering in some cases. If the execution goes according to plan, the inmate quickly loses consciousness and dies in a few minutes.
But if the anaesthesia is not properly administered, the inmate can suffer immensely.
In a December 2006 execution, convicted murderer Angel Nieves Diaz had to be given two lethal doses after a needle missed his vein.AFP
The judges ruled by seven for and two against that the risk of suffering to those executed by lethal injection did not constitute "cruel and unusual punishment" which is barred under the US constitution.
"Petitioners have not carried their burden of showing that the risk of pain from maladministration of a concededly humane lethal injection protocol, and the failure to adopt untried and untested alternatives, constitute cruel and unusual punishment," the judges said in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Lethal injection is the most commonly used form of execution across the United States. Some 53 people were executed in the United States in 2006, after the numbers reached a peak of 98 in 1999.
Several death row inmates, led by a pair from Kentucky, had urged the Supreme Court to rule on whether lethal injection violated the constitution.
They had argued that the three-part injection method in which the first part sedates the inmate, the second paralyses the muscles and the third stops the heart, caused needless suffering in some cases. If the execution goes according to plan, the inmate quickly loses consciousness and dies in a few minutes.
But if the anaesthesia is not properly administered, the inmate can suffer immensely.
In a December 2006 execution, convicted murderer Angel Nieves Diaz had to be given two lethal doses after a needle missed his vein.AFP