Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

One point to consider is that if poorly administered, the death penalty can lead to gruesome and painful deaths. There has been a lack of medical participation as fewer doctors want to be involved in executing. As a result, this creates issues in the administration of the drugs because if the doctors refuse to injection the prisoner then inexperienced technicians will take their place. These inexperienced technicians can cause the victim to be in excruciating pain if they were to inject the drugs incorrectly. For example, instead of a vein, they could accidently place the needle into a muscle or clog the needle, in which the prisoner would experience pain (Death Penalty Information Center 10). To add to this, many prisoners already have damaged

The death penalty includes a variety of different execution methods as they developed overtime such as: lethal injection, electrocution, gas chambers, firing squad, and hanging. These other methods receive a lot of criticism because people see them as cruel and unusual punishment. To take a case in point, Utah was unable to obtain the drugs necessary for lethal injection and the “firing squad was reauthorized. . .as a viable method” (Death Penalty Information Center 11). If any of the shooters were to miss the heart, the prisoner would painfully bleed to death, leading to the claim that the death penalty is unconstitutional. With painful and long executions in mind, a particular case in Ohio lead to a lawsuit. As declared by the New York Times, Dennis B. McGuire was executed on January 16th, 2014, and his execution “lasted 26 minutes, the longest since Ohio resumed the death penalty in 1999.” The lawsuit said he experienced “repeated cycles of snorting, gurgling, and arching his back, appearing to writhe in pain” (“Family Sues” 1). To put it bluntly, these painful situations demonstrate one of the complications of implementing the death penalty. With so many risks and factors to consider, the penalty is not worth the

In Delgado v. State, the Supreme Court was concerned if the judge used the correct standards for the jury override and if in this case the death penalty was disproportionate. With overbearing evidence that Mr. Delgado was under the “influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance,” it demonstrates the importance of educating courts on mental health concerns as many are unaware of the symptoms and consequences of them (Johnson and Kelly 276). A large percentage of prisoners among inmates have a mental illness. Although it is not within reason for them to be pardoned of their crimes, mental illnesses require consideration when deciding a sentence. Moreover, incompetency and confusion in the proceedings lead to unfair sentences. In Cole vs Roper, a highly “complex legal determination was adjudicated without thorough examination of available evidence or consideration of the necessity of additional evidence and review” (Newhouse, et al 522). His court case did not evaluate all of the necessary information and provided an unfair sentence. Perhaps this reveals how fragile and easily corrupted the court system is. Along with faulty proceedings, mentally incompetent inmates are suffering with the lack of help they are given. Almost cruelly, the Pennsylvania Supreme court overruled the Supreme Court's ruling that mentally incompetent inmates may