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Ohio will adopt a new (classic) execution protocol and resume executions on Jan. 12, 2017:
The state of Ohio plans to resume executions in 2017 with a new three-drug combination. The state will use the drugs midazolam, rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride. To make the switch the state is expected to adopt [a] new execution protocol by the end of the week. The state hasn't executed anyone since January 2014.
The new drug mix is really a return to one the state used for 10 years. "The department used a similar combination from 1999 to 2009, and last year, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the use of this specific three-drug combination," said JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Ohio has had trouble getting drugs to use for lethal injections in part because pharmaceutical companies don't want their medical products used for killing people. Two years ago European pharmaceutical companies blocked further sales on moral and legal grounds. Ohio has looked for other options, but all have obstacles.
For background, Wikipedia offers: Midazolam, rocuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 04 2016, @02:47PM
And here I am stuck trying to figure out why killing somebody doesn't typically fall under the definition of "cruel" in the US.
I do think, if we're going to kill people, we should be doing something more like a public execution by guillotine or firing squad or something complete with angry mob. This idea of hiding away what we're doing in the bowels of some prison with non-medical people dressed up in white coats trying to pretend they're doctors and trying to pretend this is some sort of clean medical procedure is propaganda trying to convince people that it is possible to kill somebody without being brutal.
An alternate solution to this problem, if we really want to give someone an injection that will kill them: Heroine. It's not like there's a shortage of it in Ohio, and we just have those on death row get as high as a kite until they overdose and die.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 04 2016, @04:09PM
Its really not that easy to die from a heroin overdose. Believe me, I've tried. Now fentanyl, the adulterant in heroin thats killing people, thats another story.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 04 2016, @05:07PM
Which heroine would you like to use? I'd vote for Wonder Woman. But I want to do the injecting myself. My wife would be glad to do the killing afterwards for free when she found out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 06 2016, @02:42AM
It's "cruel and unusual punishment" that's forbidden. The "and" is key. It's OK to punish people cruelly, so long as you do it in a commonly practised way.