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Baze V. Firac Pros And Cons

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The United States Criminal Justice System continues to evolve through the uses of case law and precedence established by debate from opposing sides. The rulings by upper courts become the law of the land; however, these decisions rarely settle the debates from opposing views. This holds true in the U.S Supreme Court Case No. 07–5439, known as Baze v. Rees (Baze v. Rees, 2008). This essay is a response to the Supreme Court case and subsequent decision about the use of lethal injection, and how the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution defines cruel and unusual punishment. Furthermore, the specificities regarding levels of pain will be assessed, primarily due to the decision regarding Baze v. Rees. While there are continues …show more content…

Bowling petitioned every level of local, State, and eventually the Federal court in an effort to appeal a Capital Punishment decisions for crimes of murder committed in the 1990’s (LII Staff, 27 Dec. 2007). The Supreme Court decided to hear the case in 2007, docketed the proceedings as No. 07–5439, and arguments began on January 7, 2008 (Baze v. Rees, 2008). The premise of the case is not the merits of Capital Punishment, rather the means by which Capital Punishment is carried out (Baze v. Rees, 2008). The underlying argument for the case is that the process used by the state of Kentucky for lethal injection fails to comply with the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (LII Staff, 27 Dec. 2007). Further, the petition clamed "significant and unnecessary risk of pain" is associated with the established practice of lethal injection (Baze v. Rees, 2008). In total, four questions were asked of the Court primarily revolving around the interpretation of the Eighth Amendment. However, one of the questions regarding the due process of maintaining life after lethal injection chemicals are injected was not considered by the court, and therefore will not be included within this assessment (LII Staff, 27 Dec. …show more content…

Kentucky's lethal injection process is comprised of several steps and mirrors that of other States. Further, Valium is offered to individuals in an attempt to lessen anxiety associated with the execution (Baze v. Rees, 2008). Shortly after the Valium is given, trained medical personnel insert needles where a series of three chemicals described are administered (Baze v. Rees, 2008). Finally, cause of death is verified by a Physician and the Coroner (Baze v. Rees, 2008). The Court has determined that Kentucky, 35 other States, and the Federal Government have adopted policies that ensure the Eighth Amendment is not violated while performing lethal injection (Baze v. Rees, 2008). Finally, this shows that every attempt is made to make execution as painless as possible, often providing more to the inmates that is legally required or set forth by case

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