Capital punishment: Difference between revisions
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'''Capital punishment''' or the '''death penalty''' is the killing of a person as a penalty for a [[crime]]. [[Murray Rothbard]] proposed that a person specify in his will whether he would prefer that a person who murders him be executed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mises.org/daily/4468|title=The Libertarian Position on Capital Punishment|date=13 June 2010|author=Rothbard, Murray|publisher=Mises Daily}}</ref> | '''Capital punishment''' or the '''death penalty''' is the killing of a person as a penalty for a [[crime]]. [[Murray Rothbard]] proposed that a person specify in his will whether he would prefer that a person who murders him be executed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mises.org/daily/4468|title=The Libertarian Position on Capital Punishment|date=13 June 2010|author=Rothbard, Murray|publisher=Mises Daily}}</ref> Under the current system, prosecutors are given broad discretion to decide to seek a death sentence or not — regardless of the wishes of the victim or victim’s family members. Political, rather than moral or legal, considerations sometimes drive elected officials to pursue a death sentence. Even the [[juries]] are designed to support the death penalty. If a prosecutor seeks capital punishment, then a person who opposes the death penalty is generally not permitted to serve on that jury.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mises.org/daily/6571/The-Government-Cant-be-Trusted-With-the-Death-Penalty|title=Government Can’t be Trusted With the Death Penalty|author=Hyden, Mark|publisher=Mises Daily|date=29 October 2013}}</ref> | ||
==Methods== | ==Methods== | ||
Various [[interest group]]s have had difficulty agreeing on the most humane execution method to use. Hanging has been mostly replaced by lethal injection. A three-drug cocktail has been used by some states, involving an anesthetic (either pentobarbital or, formerly, sodium thiopental), pancuronium bromide (a paralytic agent), and potassium chloride (stops the heart and causes death). It has been proposed that instead a one-drug protocol be implemented that uses a massive dose of pentobarbital or propofol, as this eliminates the possibility that the barbiturate might not knock the person out completely and that he might suffer when the pain-inducing drugs in the cocktail are administered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-lethal-injection|title=State by State Lethal Injection|author=Death Penalty Information Center}}</ref> | Various [[interest group]]s have had difficulty agreeing on the most humane execution method to use. Hanging has been mostly replaced by lethal injection. A three-drug cocktail has been used by some states, involving an anesthetic (either pentobarbital or, formerly, sodium thiopental), pancuronium bromide (a paralytic agent), and potassium chloride (stops the heart and causes death). It has been proposed that instead a one-drug protocol be implemented that uses a massive dose of pentobarbital or propofol, as this eliminates the possibility that the barbiturate might not knock the person out completely and that he might suffer when the pain-inducing drugs in the cocktail are administered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-lethal-injection|title=State by State Lethal Injection|author=Death Penalty Information Center}}</ref> | ||
Pentobarbital is extremely cheap to manufacture, but [[Texas]] paid $25,000 for 39 doses of the drug.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/us/01ttdrug.html?_r=0|title=Controversy Follows New Execution Drug|date=31 March 2011|author=Grissom, Brandi|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> Some pentobarbital producers have expressed dismay when they found out that the drug was being used for executions and have attempted to put a stop to its being used for that purpose. Accordingly, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] has made the identity of its pentobarbital supplier a "confidential state secret" exempt from disclosure to the public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanbar.org/publications/project_press/2013/spring/challenges-to-lethal-injection-protocols-continue.html|title=Challenges to Lethal Injection Protocols Continue|publisher=American Bar Association|date=2013}}</ref> Some states have resorted to obtaining their supply from compounding pharmacies rather than large pharmaceutical companies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/23/missouri-execution-drug_n_4148580.html|title=Missouri Prisons Receive New Execution Drug, Pentobarbital|author=Salter, Jim|date=22 October 2013|publisher=Huffington Post}}</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Latest revision as of 05:43, 28 November 2013
Capital punishment or the death penalty is the killing of a person as a penalty for a crime. Murray Rothbard proposed that a person specify in his will whether he would prefer that a person who murders him be executed.[1] Under the current system, prosecutors are given broad discretion to decide to seek a death sentence or not — regardless of the wishes of the victim or victim’s family members. Political, rather than moral or legal, considerations sometimes drive elected officials to pursue a death sentence. Even the juries are designed to support the death penalty. If a prosecutor seeks capital punishment, then a person who opposes the death penalty is generally not permitted to serve on that jury.[2]
Methods
Various interest groups have had difficulty agreeing on the most humane execution method to use. Hanging has been mostly replaced by lethal injection. A three-drug cocktail has been used by some states, involving an anesthetic (either pentobarbital or, formerly, sodium thiopental), pancuronium bromide (a paralytic agent), and potassium chloride (stops the heart and causes death). It has been proposed that instead a one-drug protocol be implemented that uses a massive dose of pentobarbital or propofol, as this eliminates the possibility that the barbiturate might not knock the person out completely and that he might suffer when the pain-inducing drugs in the cocktail are administered.[3]
Pentobarbital is extremely cheap to manufacture, but Texas paid $25,000 for 39 doses of the drug.[4] Some pentobarbital producers have expressed dismay when they found out that the drug was being used for executions and have attempted to put a stop to its being used for that purpose. Accordingly, Georgia has made the identity of its pentobarbital supplier a "confidential state secret" exempt from disclosure to the public.[5] Some states have resorted to obtaining their supply from compounding pharmacies rather than large pharmaceutical companies.[6]
References
- ↑ Rothbard, Murray (13 June 2010). "The Libertarian Position on Capital Punishment". Mises Daily. http://mises.org/daily/4468.
- ↑ Hyden, Mark (29 October 2013). "Government Can’t be Trusted With the Death Penalty". Mises Daily. http://mises.org/daily/6571/The-Government-Cant-be-Trusted-With-the-Death-Penalty.
- ↑ Death Penalty Information Center. "State by State Lethal Injection". http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-lethal-injection.
- ↑ Grissom, Brandi (31 March 2011). "Controversy Follows New Execution Drug". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/us/01ttdrug.html?_r=0.
- ↑ "Challenges to Lethal Injection Protocols Continue". American Bar Association. 2013. http://www.americanbar.org/publications/project_press/2013/spring/challenges-to-lethal-injection-protocols-continue.html.
- ↑ Salter, Jim (22 October 2013). "Missouri Prisons Receive New Execution Drug, Pentobarbital". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/23/missouri-execution-drug_n_4148580.html.