ARTICLES: Lethal Injections and the Overall Decline in the Death Penalty

A recent Newsweek article by Evan Thomas and Martha Brant compares the historical search for humane methods of execution with the current decline in the use of the death penalty in the U.S.:

The new reluctance to punish by killing is part of a historical trend. There was a time when death and torture were spectator sports, when crowds flocked to see prisoners drawn and quartered or beheaded. In some parts of the world, flogging and stoning are still public spectacles. But in the 19th century, supposedly “enlightened” states began looking for more-humane ways to serve final justice—to kill people without causing too much suffering to either the victims or their executioners. The authorities tried hanging, firing squads, electrocutions, gas chambers and, more recently, lethal injection. Each method was supposed to be an improvement over the last.

The article reflects on the recent challenge to lethal injection which is pending before the Supreme Court, posing the question of whether improving the procedures will only bring the standards for killing humans up to those for killing animals:

The Supreme Court has imposed a de facto moratorium on lethal injection while it waits to hear oral arguments this January in Baze v. Rees, a case that could determine whether, or under what conditions, lethal injection can be used as capital punishment. It may be that states will resort to giving prisoners a massive dose of barbiturates—the preferred method for putting down sick pets. In theory, at least, the high court will uphold a “better” form of lethal injection, setting off a wave of executions. But whether state officials and juries will want to dispose of humans like dogs remains to be seen. A single drug might take longer to work—prolonging the death throes.

The article focuses on the new district attorney of Dallas, Texas, Craig Watkins, who says that at times he supports the death penalty, “But when I come out of church on Sunday morning, I’m against it.” Watkins attributes the decline in Texas death sentences to a change in mentality amongst prosecutors. “We’ve had a lot of folks coming out who didn’t commit crimes and that gives people pause,” Watkins states. Dallas has had the highest number of DNA exonerations (14) of all counties in the United States. He says, “In the near future, we will see the death penalty rarely.”
(“Injection of Reflection,” Newsweek, November 10, 2007). See Articles and Lethal Injection.