If anyone needed proof that the death penalty as carried out in the United States is an anachronistic horror show, they need look no further than the execution of Joseph Woods, who died in Arizona after nearly two hours in agony. Two hours during which he repeatedly gasped, his body convulsing, because the poison cocktail administered to him hadn’t been mixed right.
It was the third botched execution in the United States in 2014 alone. The first one resulted in 15 minutes of agony for the victim, the second 45 minutes. The question now seems to be how long the next victim has to suffer before the U.S. courts quit executing people by lethal injection. Three hours? Five? Seven? When is the point reached that the U.S. Constitution calls cruel and unusual punishment?
The third goof-up should be the last. Executioners in U.S. prisons shouldn’t hesitate to refuse to use problematic and untested poisons which turn them into de facto torturers. The death penalty system in the United States is beyond redemption. A court-ordered moratorium on its practice is the very minimum that should happen until such time as they solve the problem of getting the right mixture for their deadly cocktail.
Better yet, they should do away with the death penalty altogether.
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