Merit-bound Alley

This is a continuation of yesterdays post on the class action suit brought against the DoC regarding lethal injection.

I will apologize in advance, as this will not be a pleasant post, as it deals with the mechanics of killing someone. Some of you may take some comfort in the fact that it is the mechanics of killing convicted murderers and such. To those people, I say, “Fuck you.”

The State of Delaware uses the three drug method of lethal injection. This is the most common method in the US, and is used by the majority of the 38 states that allow the death penalty. The three drugs are:

Soduim Thiopental (pentothal) - a fast-acting barbiturate that is used in surgery as an anaesthetic. The surgical dose of pentothal is 3-5mg/kg of weight of the patient. A lethal injection dose is equal to 5 grams, 14 times the surgical dose. The larger dose is expected to cause unconsciousness in about 10 seconds and last up to 69 hours.

Pancuronium Bromide (pavulon) - induces paralysis. The lethal injection dose is 100mg, which in 15-30 seconds paralyzes all muscle function, including the lungs, causing asphyxiation.

Potassium Chloride - a dose of 100mEq for lethal injection affects the ability of the heart muscle to fire by depolarizing the muscle cells. The heart eventually stops in diastole.

So, there’s the tools of the grim trade. How do they do it, you ask? The condemned inmate is strapped to a gurney. Once secured, the executioner team places an IV into each arm, the second of which is a backup in case the first malfunctions. Once the IVs are in, a saline drip begins from a separate anteroom where the executioner is. Once this is going, the curtain covering the window from the witness box is pulled back. A quick note on witness to a Delaware Execution, courtesy of the DoC:

The Law presently requires the Department to have no more than 10 official witnesses present during an execution. To ensure that we have the required number, several other individuals are selected and asked to serve as alternate witnesses in the event an official witness does not show or is unable to serve. All witnesses must report to a designated location at least one hour in advance of the scheduled execution for briefing purposes. The designated location is confidential. Those who may be selected to serve as witnesses include arresting officers, and Federal Officers included in the case, Police Chiefs in the state or a designee, a representative from the Victims Rights Bureau and Criminal Justice professionals. The witnesses are separated from the person being executed by a glass window.

Other witnesses that may be invited are the media. The Department of Correction has guidelines that determine who serves as media witnesses and the logistics of allowing for media coverage of an execution. What is factored into the decision is: (1) the allotted space in the witness room and (2) what will allow for adequate coverage without overburdening security during this critical period.

At this time, the condemned has the opportunity to issue his or her final words. Then, at the word of the warden, assuming no stay of execution has been called in, the executioner starts administering the drugs in the order resented above, with a short flush of saline in between to clean the lines. About two minutes after the last drug is administered, a medical technician declares the inmate dead.

So, what could possibly be cruel and unusual about that?

Information for this post was was gathered from:

• Wikipedia
• How Stuff Works
• Delaware Department of Corrections

Liberalgeek over at DL linked to an interesting article about a lawsuit levied against the DoC citing that the method of lethal injection used to murder, I mean punish, Delawares worst is cruel and unusual. Of course, true to DNJ form, the article has next to no detail about the specifics of the plaintiffs case. For the first time ever, I’m curious about the form of lethal injection that we use to murd… punish (why do I keep doing that?) our prisoners.

I hope to have the time to take a deeper look into this and find some specifics on why this particular form of killing, rather than killing in general, is so cruel.

In the meantime, death row inmates, enjoy the fact that Delaware can’t punish… ah, fuck it… murder you quite yet.

Carl Danberg will be our new Commissioner of the DE Department of Corrections. I didn’t see this coming, either. I think Mr. Danberg will do a decent job of cleaning up the myriad of issues with out prisons, but I’m not expecting to see any huge areas of innovation. Congrats, Mr. Danburg, glad to hear you won’t be unemployed.

Delaware Watch is scandalized by the kind words that Stan Taylor is getting due to his retirement. I think Dana needs to see things from a different perspective.

The man’s retiring. Doesn’t that warrant a normally up-front and respectable guy like Wayne Smith to look the other way about some rather small incidents and statistics?

18 deaths a year, highest rate of AIDS deaths in the country, the Man With Two Heads; none of this seems to be a reason to make a guy feel bad when he’s retiring. So, he didn’t know that more than one inmate died every month since 2005 or that prisoners were regularly not tested for diseases such as AIDS when they are admitted. Is it his job to know every tiny detail of what goes on in the prisons he runs? Be reasonable!

Imagine the fortitude it takes to see news about your prison’s alleged “negligence” while trying to shrug off overworked guards, the rape of a counselor, and concerned family members, then dealing with a federal investigation while trying to high-tail it out of there. I mean, retire. The guy is a rock!

I mean, most people when faced with a situation like this would would go out of their minds trying to find ways to fix the situation before it got so bad that the press gets involved. Not Stan, no. Stan stuck to his guns. Stayed the course, if you will, and had the integrity to allow the press to have their day. No one in the DE government has avoided work harder in their strenuous effort to bring the ineptitude of the prison system into the public eye.

Because of Stan’s steady leadership, the federal government has been invited with open arms to take a look at our prisons and offer their advice for improvement. They don’t accept that kind of invitation from just anyone. I think it’s Stan’s record of keeping 18 prisoners per year, far more than any other state, from hitting the streets again that has won the federal government’s attention. Now Stan, his work done, will hand the reigns of leadership to another, passing also the opportunity to implement the improvements that Stan’s hard work highlighted. Stan is not only retiring, but humbly handing over glory rightfully his to another.

Now, that’s a public servant!