Lethal Injection The highest point of contention in the criminal justice system is lethal injection, with many people having views on whether it is cruel and unusual punishment or not. One point of contention is that some states use different controversial chemicals during the procedure. Another prominent issue is how the chemicals are introduced to the body. Some want it to be a direct injection and not through an IV. Typically there are three drugs used to execute an inmate on death row. The three drugs are an anesthetic or sedative, followed by pancuronium bromide to paralyze the inmate, and potassium chloride to stop the inmate's heart. One example of an anesthetic, and the one used in Indiana is Brevital Sodium. In the medical world pancuronium bromide is used to relax muscles for surgery and other operations. The last of the chemicals is potassium chloride, which is used to prevent or to …show more content…
The first was the case of Furman vs. Georgia. In this case William Henry Furman was found guilty of murder. During a home burglary a resident found him, and as he tried to flee he fell and the gun went off killing one of the residents. The supreme court combined the ruling of this case, Jackson v. Georgia and Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas. They found these cases to be against the constitution. They found this case to be racially bias and cruel and unusual. The second is Gregg v. Georgia. Troy Gregg was found guilty of armed robbery and murder and sentenced to death. He appealed his case and it made it to the supreme court. He appealed claiming that the death he was going to suffer was cruel and unusual punishment. This kept him alive for some time while it was reviewed. Ultimately the courts said that it was not and upheld the decision of the death penalty. This stopped the stay of execution that was across the nation. It actually quickened his execution and the execution of many