File Photo: An arm restraint on the gurney in the the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Okla. Problematic executions in Oklahoma, Arizona. (AP Photo)
Washington, United States:
The US Supreme Court was set to hear arguments about lethal injections Wednesday, after states began using alternative drugs -- believed by some to cause pain and suffering -- to carry out the executions.
The case, which is being brought by three death-row inmates in Oklahoma, could have broader implications for capital punishment in America if the court decides to use it as a vehicle to make a larger statement on the issue.
Shortages of the drugs most commonly used in lethal injections prompted officials in 32 states where the death penalty is in force to come up with new lethal "cocktails" during some recent executions.
The Oklahoma inmates are challenging an untested triple combination of drugs -- known as a "three-drug protocol" -- that has been used in several botched executions.
Last April, Oklahoma death row inmate Clayton Lockett took an agonizing 43 minutes to die and could be seen writhing in pain during the prolonged execution.
On January 16, 2014, Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire took 26 minutes to die, and Arizona death row convict Joseph Wood took 117 minutes to die on July 23.
Lethal injection executions are expected to take 10 minutes, and in all three cases, the men could be seen gasping for air.
Executioners had used midazolam, a sedating drug that is sometimes used before surgery.
The court must now decide whether the drug fully sedates inmates to ensure they do not feel pain from the other drugs used to paralyze and kill them.
The shift to new substances came after companies -- many of them European -- began refusing to supply the old drugs if they were to be used in executions.
COURT THINKS 'THERE'S SOME PROBLEMS'
The court is considering the issue just seven years after a case known as "Baze vs. Rees," in which it ruled that lethal injection did not violate the Eighth Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual" punishment.
Deborah Denno, a professor at the Fordham University School of Law, noted that it was unusual for the court to consider a second lethal injection case in seven years.
"It doesn't help the death penalty that the court is looking at this case," she said. "The court thinks there's some problems there."
The plaintiffs in the case, death row inmates Richard Glossip, Benjamin Cole and John Grant, say the execution method carries an "intolerable risk of harm."
A fourth plaintiff, Charles Warner, was executed in Oklahoma in January, after the Supreme Court rejected his last-minute appeal for clemency.
On the execution table, he reported that it felt like "my body is on fire."
Oklahoma, however, will argue that a large dose of midazolam produces a deep unconsciousness that renders one unable to feel "even extremely painful stimuli."
Should the Supreme Court rule against Oklahoma, the state already has a backup for executions, having approved death by nitrogen gas.
Meanwhile the state of Tennessee recently brought the electric chair back from retirement as a backup method. Utah re-introduced the firing squad.
While some states suspended all lethal injections while awaiting the Supreme Court's decision, others, such as Texas, turned to an anonymous source to supply it with pentobarbital, the drug in shortage.
The case, which is being brought by three death-row inmates in Oklahoma, could have broader implications for capital punishment in America if the court decides to use it as a vehicle to make a larger statement on the issue.
Shortages of the drugs most commonly used in lethal injections prompted officials in 32 states where the death penalty is in force to come up with new lethal "cocktails" during some recent executions.
The Oklahoma inmates are challenging an untested triple combination of drugs -- known as a "three-drug protocol" -- that has been used in several botched executions.
Last April, Oklahoma death row inmate Clayton Lockett took an agonizing 43 minutes to die and could be seen writhing in pain during the prolonged execution.
On January 16, 2014, Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire took 26 minutes to die, and Arizona death row convict Joseph Wood took 117 minutes to die on July 23.
Lethal injection executions are expected to take 10 minutes, and in all three cases, the men could be seen gasping for air.
Executioners had used midazolam, a sedating drug that is sometimes used before surgery.
The court must now decide whether the drug fully sedates inmates to ensure they do not feel pain from the other drugs used to paralyze and kill them.
The shift to new substances came after companies -- many of them European -- began refusing to supply the old drugs if they were to be used in executions.
COURT THINKS 'THERE'S SOME PROBLEMS'
The court is considering the issue just seven years after a case known as "Baze vs. Rees," in which it ruled that lethal injection did not violate the Eighth Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual" punishment.
Deborah Denno, a professor at the Fordham University School of Law, noted that it was unusual for the court to consider a second lethal injection case in seven years.
"It doesn't help the death penalty that the court is looking at this case," she said. "The court thinks there's some problems there."
The plaintiffs in the case, death row inmates Richard Glossip, Benjamin Cole and John Grant, say the execution method carries an "intolerable risk of harm."
A fourth plaintiff, Charles Warner, was executed in Oklahoma in January, after the Supreme Court rejected his last-minute appeal for clemency.
On the execution table, he reported that it felt like "my body is on fire."
Oklahoma, however, will argue that a large dose of midazolam produces a deep unconsciousness that renders one unable to feel "even extremely painful stimuli."
Should the Supreme Court rule against Oklahoma, the state already has a backup for executions, having approved death by nitrogen gas.
Meanwhile the state of Tennessee recently brought the electric chair back from retirement as a backup method. Utah re-introduced the firing squad.
While some states suspended all lethal injections while awaiting the Supreme Court's decision, others, such as Texas, turned to an anonymous source to supply it with pentobarbital, the drug in shortage.
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