The state plans to use nitrogen gas in its executions.
Many Americans have strong feelings either for or against the death penalty. Whatever your feelings may be, it is legal in 31 states, including California. However, in states where the death penalty is a part of the criminal justice system, there has been a significant problem in administering this punishment: an inability to access the necessary drugs to carry out lethal injections.
Two of the three primary drugs used to make the cocktail used in lethal injection, sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide, are not available to state officials seeking to use them for executions. Drug manufacturers are refusing to permit the use of their medications for this purpose, and the Food and Drug Administration has not permitted states to import the drugs illegally to use for executions. As a result, many states, including California, have not carried out a capital punishment in a number of years due to a lack of access to these drugs. According to an Orange County criminal defense attorney, some states have turned to alternative drugs in an attempt to execute prisoners, resulting in multiple botched execution attempts. Several inmates have experienced extreme pain and many have not died as a result of these execution attempts, raising constitutional questions about whether this constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
In response to the shortage, some states are turning to other methods of execution. Florida has adopted new drugs to use in lethal injections, while Tennessee and Utah have decided to return to old methods of execution: the electric chair and the firing squad, respectively. Nevada and Nebraska have pushed laws that will allow them to use fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid, in executions. Neither state has carried out an execution using this method.
Oklahoma has introduced an entirely new method of executions: nitrogen gas. This method has never before been used for executions, and there is no protocol in place for its use. The state claims that it will only require a container of gas and a gas mask. Oklahoma has not carried out an execution in more than three years, since it made a series of high profile errors involving lethal injections. This included a case where officials used the wrong drug to execute an inmate, a fact that the state only acknowledged after they called off a second execution when they realized that they had mixed up the drug again. In 2014, Oklahoma faced intense public scrutiny after an inmate suffered intense pain for more than 20 minutes before the execution was called off; he died of a heart attack shortly afterwards. Later, an investigation determined that there was a problem with the IV that should have delivered the fatal medication.
While the death penalty is legal in Oklahoma, California, and other states, there are serious questions as to whether completely experimental methods should be used — and whether state officials who have already committed serious errors should be trusted with this new process. The state has argued that the families of the victims deserve closure, and many advocates would agree. However, an Orange County criminal defense attorney would point out that the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment — and executing someone without knowing how the method of execution will work may violate that person’s constitutional rights.
The Chambers Law Firm is dedicated to fighting for the rights of its clients. We offer free consultations, and work diligently to help our clients get the best possible outcome for their case. Contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a consultation.
