Understanding How The Lethal Injection Process Works
The death penalty is still alive and well in the United States
, despite those who have tried to do away with it. While the methods have evolved dramatically, ranging from the barbaric to the modern, lethal injection remains the most current form of the death penalty in the United States today.
About seventy four of the world's countries and thirty eight American states have a death penalty. The form by which prisoners are executed is changing.
Between 1977 and 1982, the years immediately following the reinstatement of the death penalty, there were a total of two executions. In 2004, there were fifty nine executions.
Once a prisoner's appeals are exhausted, an execution order is given and a date is set for the execution. The condemned inmate may be moved from the general condemned housing area into a special area of the prison, called death watch.
This area may be housed in the same building as the execution chamber. Some states move the inmate to another prison -- a central prison where executions are carried out.
In the final twenty four hours before the execution, a prisoner can be visited by several people, including family, friends, attorneys, and spiritual advisors. These visits take place in the death watch area or a special visitation room, and are halted sometime during that last day.
In the final few hours, several events take place in preparation for the execution. Prisons try to provide whatever meal is requested by the condemned prisoner.
The warden and the state-appointed chaplain visit with the inmate and stay until the end of the execution. There is no contact allowed between witnesses and the condemned prisoner.
Witnesses are typically restricted to the witness room adjacent to the execution chamber, and are instructed to remain silent. In some states, male inmates are given a fresh pair of pants and a shirt, female inmates a dress, and the prisoner is allowed to shower before getting dressed.
In other states, the inmate must remove all outer clothing. The inmate is connected to an electrocardiogram machine, which will be monitored for flat line to determine when the heart stops and death has occurred.
Once the inmate is dressed, he or she waits in the death-watch cell with a spiritual advisor, until the warden gives the signal to bring the prisoner to the execution chamber. The prisoner is brought to the chamber just a few minutes before the scheduled execution.
Executions in the United States were once a public spectacle, and the tradition persisted well into the first half of the 20th century. Some states began enacting laws prohibiting judicial public executions in the latter half of the 19th century.
Today, executions are carried out behind prison walls with only a small group of witnesses in attendance. Every state that performs executions has legislation providing for certain people to witness them.
State laws vary as to who is allowed to watch, but in general, these are the people who are allowed to be witnesses include relatives of the victim, relatives of the prisoner, the prison warden, any medical personnel, the chosen spiritual advisor, prison guards, an official group of "reputable citizens," official group of state-selected witnesses, and in some cases, media representatives. Witnesses may arrive anywhere from twenty minutes to two hours before the scheduled execution, at which point they are escorted by prison guards into the witness room.
Relatives of the victim are sometimes placed in a different room than relatives of the prisoner, but not always. Some execution chambers have a one-way mirror that only allows the witnesses to see the condemned.
Others have a clear window that allows the condemned to see the witnesses as well. Once the IVs are inserted into the prisoner's arms, the curtain covering the window is drawn back.
Some states require complete silence in the witness area. Once the execution is over, witnesses are escorted out by prison staff.
Media and families may be taken to a press area for a press conference. The official witnesses sign a document attesting to the fact that they have witnessed the execution and that it took place.
The experience is not pleasant, but still remains a necessary part of our system of justice. Hopefully you will never have to witness an event like this.
by: Ignacio Lopez
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