The US is killing someone by firing squad for the 1st time in 15 years. Here's a look at the history

[hlthe2b]

7. Lethal injection requires expertise and no one with any ethics whatsoever is likely to provide that expertise

so they choose really bad drug combos and fail to achieve the kind of vascular access that would make it fast and error-free (following sedation ----which authorities don't want to for fear of being accused of pandering to the condemned or some such nonsense). Should an issue arise, their substitute "staff" have zero clue how to resolve the problem quickly or to achieve vascular access in those with poor vasculature. As one that has that expertise, I can attest that I know NO ONE who would do this (certainly not myself). All this combined is why some of the more preferred barbiturate type drugs (e.g., Sodium Pentothal) were banned from export to the US by their European manufacturers and ultimately ended production. Multi-drug regimens are thus required and are not straightforward for those whom these prison officials designate to use.

I, too, am totally anti-death penalty (as I have been since my teens). That said, there are far less cruel ways to achieve a humane death. Honestly, though, I would hope we'd reserve these considerations, not for those condemned to execution (who can remain imprisoned), but for how we can best deal with those few among us whose terminal illnesses cannot be ameliorated by all the pain management we have avialable to offer and a horrible type of death is fast approaching.