JUDGE: KENTUCKY MUST CONSIDER SINGLE DRUG EXECUTIONS

JUDGE: KENTUCKY MUST CONSIDER SINGLE DRUG EXECUTIONS

Andrew Wolfson
USA Today

            Kentucky may be forced to change the way it executes inmates. Cases were brought up by 6 death-row inmates to Franklin Circuit Judhe, Phillip Shepher. The inmates have complained that executions using the three-drug combination may have cause unnecessary suffering. If true, this would violate the 8^th Amendment.

            The Eighth Amendemnt is short and simple, quoting “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted.”
            However, it is vague in that it fails to define “cruel and unusual punishment.” The term was originally used to prevent certain forms of torture, such as burning or hanging. It is defines as "punishment or degradation too severe for the crime committed." Since the executed cannot discuss whether the execution was painful or not, it becomes difficult to keep methods up to the standards of the Eighth Amendment. It is possible that inmates are making these claims in order to halt their own
executions.

"My clients don't want to be executed, first and foremost, but if they are, they are entitled to a procedure that would be in conformance with the Eighth Amendment and reduce the risk of pain and suffering," said David Barron, an assistant public advocate who represents Ralph Baze, Thomas C. Bowling, Robert Foley, Brian Keith Moore and Parramore Sanborn.

            Not wanting to take the risk, Kentucky has halted all executions and is beginning to implement the one-drug law. The state been given 90 days to decide whether to adopt a new regulation allowing executions to be carried out with one drug by the inmate's lawyers. Kentucky law also does not protect the mentally ill and retarded from executions, which conflicts with federal and constitutional law as well. This not only violates the Eighth Amemdent, but the Tenth Amendment too. The Tenth amendment states that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
            In short, the Tenth Amendment says that the States have no power over federal laws. Although this is the subject of much debate, most states protect the mentally handicapped from execution. Many believe that the federal government should have the final say on the execution law—if there should even be one. Capital punishment is losing popularity in the United States, as 40% of the world’s countries have abolished the punishment. It is a matter of much controversy in various countries and states, including the United Sates. However, 63% of Americans are currently in support of capital punishment. Since we cannot abolish the death penalty without a majority of popular support, the punishment may remain in tact for years.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-26/death-penalty-drugs/54549438/1