Facing dwindling supplies of lethal injection chemicals and increased legal scrutiny of the practice, some states are considering a return to antiquated execution methods like firing squads and gas chambers — and Oklahoma is considering using a new type of gas. But experts warn the problem with both new and old methods is the same: They may violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
“States have painted themselves into a corner with lethal injection and are trying to bring back these old methods,” Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that distributes information about capital punishment, told The Huffington Post Tuesday. “There is no painless method.”
Allegations of torture and cruel and unusual punishment surfaced in the wake of botched lethal injections last year, like those of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett and Arizona inmate Joseph Wood. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court delayed execution for three Oklahoma prisoners while it reviews the state’s protocol.
In response, Oklahoma legislators recently advanced bills that would authorize “nitrogen hypoxia” — which causes death by depleting the oxygen supply in the blood — as a gas chamber alternative to poisonous hydrogen cyanide gas.
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Ironically, Denno said, firing squads are perhaps the most effective execution method. “We’ve had three firing squad executions in the modern area — since the ’70s — that have gone off without a hitch,” she said.
Zivot criticized Oklahoma as having shown “a lack of seriousness” about determining whether its methods meet both ethical and constitutional requirements.
“You’re left with the state declaring this to be safe and a form of execution that’s not needlessly cruel,” Zivot said. “I would ask the state, ‘Prove that.’”
