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Punishment by lethal injection usually consists of a combination of barbituric, paralytic, and toxic agents despite a lack of evidence regarding its effectiveness. Due to a shortage of sodium thiopental (general anesthetic and barbiturate) this has led to delays in the executions of prisoners in the criminal justice system. Not only does it delay executions it continues to reignite the debates regarding the morality of lethal injection.
This was particularly evident in the case of Jeffrey Landrigan a convicted murderer being held in an Arizona prison. Landrigan’s lawyers began to question the quality of the sodium thiopental that would be used in Landrigan’s execution. Landrigan was on death row after being convicted of the murder of Charles Dean Dyer, whom he murdered after escaping from an Oklahoma prison where he was incarcerated due to a previous murder conviction. The controversy arose after state prison officials refused to disclose the source of their sodium thiopental (aka sodium pentothal in the US). The case was brought to the Supreme Court and resulted in the delay of Landrigan’s execution where the challenge by his lawyers was narrowly rejected. Jeffrey Landrigan was executed on October 26, 2010 at 10:26pm.
The problem regarding the source of the sodium thiopental was due to the shortage in the US since the United States stopped producing the chemical (the US picked up producing sodium pentothal again in 2011). Hospira, Inc is the only manufacturer in the US of the chemical was suffering from a shortage of the raw materials needed to produce the toxin, and regulations in the EU restrict the trading of the chemical to the United States because of its use in lethal injection.
Many argue that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should regulate the chemicals and toxins used in the execution of prisoners, as it already does with the euthanization of animals. But, the FDA, wanting to stay out of the capital punishment controversy disagrees. This all becomes part of the on-going problems regarding the source and origins of chemicals used on human beings for lethal injection.
Links for more information:
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/landrigan1232.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/us/28execute.html?_r=0
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/27/supreme-court-sides-with-arizona-in-lethal-injection-drug-disput/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/capital-punishment-by-lethal-injection/
Images:
http://okobserver.net/2014/03/19/whatll-ya-gimme-for-lethal-injection-drugs/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/us/03lethal.html?pagewanted=all
This was particularly evident in the case of Jeffrey Landrigan a convicted murderer being held in an Arizona prison. Landrigan’s lawyers began to question the quality of the sodium thiopental that would be used in Landrigan’s execution. Landrigan was on death row after being convicted of the murder of Charles Dean Dyer, whom he murdered after escaping from an Oklahoma prison where he was incarcerated due to a previous murder conviction. The controversy arose after state prison officials refused to disclose the source of their sodium thiopental (aka sodium pentothal in the US). The case was brought to the Supreme Court and resulted in the delay of Landrigan’s execution where the challenge by his lawyers was narrowly rejected. Jeffrey Landrigan was executed on October 26, 2010 at 10:26pm.
The problem regarding the source of the sodium thiopental was due to the shortage in the US since the United States stopped producing the chemical (the US picked up producing sodium pentothal again in 2011). Hospira, Inc is the only manufacturer in the US of the chemical was suffering from a shortage of the raw materials needed to produce the toxin, and regulations in the EU restrict the trading of the chemical to the United States because of its use in lethal injection.
Many argue that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should regulate the chemicals and toxins used in the execution of prisoners, as it already does with the euthanization of animals. But, the FDA, wanting to stay out of the capital punishment controversy disagrees. This all becomes part of the on-going problems regarding the source and origins of chemicals used on human beings for lethal injection.
Links for more information:
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/landrigan1232.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/us/28execute.html?_r=0
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/27/supreme-court-sides-with-arizona-in-lethal-injection-drug-disput/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/capital-punishment-by-lethal-injection/
Images:
http://okobserver.net/2014/03/19/whatll-ya-gimme-for-lethal-injection-drugs/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/us/03lethal.html?pagewanted=all