The death penalty is in a state of troubled flux.

Recently, the Supreme Court has halted lethal injection executions due to conflicts in which they are deemed cruel and unusual punishment.

On September 25, 2004, the Supreme Court had come to agreements to examine the process of the executions after two death row inmates from Kentucky, Ralph Baze and Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr., sued the state of Kentucky, stating that the mix of chemicals that are used to eliminate the inmates violates the eight amendment, which says that “excessive bail not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishment.”

“How humane is it to put someone to death?”said Social Studies teacher Mr. Ernie Lorenzo. “Lethal injections are not the option to convict a criminal.”



The injection or the “cocktail” consists of three chemicals which are sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride in between minute intervals for a total of three minutes.



Two to five grams of sodium thiopental is injected into the inmate’s veins, causes the inmate to lose consciousness in just a matter of 30 to 45 seconds while it is distributed throughout the entire body.

This chemical is usually used as an anesthetic. When an inmate is given a “mega” dose, then it usually takes about 10 seconds. The inmate is now fully unconscious. Thiopental is usually administered for the induction of comas.

Pancuronium bromide is then injected. Pancuronium or “Pavulon” is used to paralyze the skeletal muscles without interfering with the brain and/or nerves. While making it a lethal dose at 100 milligrams, this chemical disables the inmate’s ability to move or speak, giving the illusion that they are “calm and tranquil.”

The last part of the “cocktail” is potassium chloride. Potassium chloride is used to stop the beating heart. The potassium affects the electrical conduction of the heart, and makes the heart cells produce at extreme elevated heights, causing a cardiac arrest. This stage has been known to cause excruciating pain to the inmate and then that is when they finally pass away.

Overall, it takes only about three minutes to successfully kill a person.

The suspension officially took hold in Florida on December 15, 2006, after Governor Jeb Bush was made aware of a botched injection incident concerning convicted inmate Angel Nieves Diaz.Diaz, who was convicted of robbing and murdering a strip bar manager in 1979.

It took an additional injection and 34 extra minutes to finally execute Diaz.

According to the Washingtonpost.com, a state medical examiner said “that needles used to carry the poison had passed through the prisoner's veins and delivered the three-chemical mix into the tissues of his arm, reducing the effectiveness of the drugs.”

Other states are under review of their method on the lethal injection. States such as South Dakota, Maryland, Ohio, Colorado and North Carolina have halted any execution dates for this year and are under intense scrutiny from the public.



Who knows what the outcome will be, maybe the next time that you hear a case on the news, the court will have found another alternative to execute a criminal.