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The US Supreme Court has upheld the use of lethal injection as a means of execution for prisoners. Two Kentucky inmates challenged the use of lethal injection, citing it as cruel and unusual punishment, which has resulted in executions, nationwide, being put on hold while the court reviewed the case. The court rejected the case by a vote of 7 to 2 however.

Now, if only they would do something about inmates sitting on death row for years (sometimes even decades) before finally getting executed.

States began using the three-drug method in 1978 as an alternative to historic methods of execution such as electrocution.

However, in recent years there have been botched lethal injection executions in Florida and California, in which inmates took up to 30 minutes to die.

A 2005 study also sparked controversy by suggesting the amount of sedation given might not be enough to stop the inmate feeling the painful effects of the other drugs - but would prevent him crying out.

I can understand the concern over their deaths not being quick which essentially results in the prisoner being “tortured” to death. (I confess that a part of me thinks they probably deserve it, but that’s for another time.) However, when it comes to execution, it seems that lethal injection is actually the most “humane” method to date. Death by electrocution, is messy, painful, and takes a long time to be sure the prisoner is dead. Firing squad, also does not ensure that death will come quickly. Unless one of the shooters hits a vital spot, say the heart, there is no guarantee that the prisoner will die quickly and not in severe pain. Hanging/strangulation, again, not necessarily quick either. Unless the neck snaps immediately, they’re going to hanging there for a bit.

Frankly, I can’t help but to wonder if this was really just another attempt to have execution eliminated entirely.

For those that think a person who has taken the life of another has no compassion left, here is an example of a man that still had a kind heart.

A convicted murderer put to death in Tennessee this week got his last meal wish after he died.

Philip Workman had turned down the usual final meal of his choice traditionally offered the condemned, asking instead that a vegetarian pizza be given to a homeless person.

Prison officials refused to send out a pizza, and Workman died Wednesday by lethal injection.

Despite the prison’s refusal to send out the pizzas the homeless and even some troubled teens got a pizza regardless. When word was released to the public about the inmates unusual last meal wish several members of the Nashville community donated pizzas to the Union Rescue Mission. Reports also came in that radio listeners in Minnesota sent pizzas to a center for troubled teens in response.

Now this was a last meal request that wouldn’t cost nearly as much as most requests and was something from the heart. Why couldn’t the prison officials have carried out this request?

Dorinda Carter, spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction, said, “Taxes are to be spent on specific things for the care of the inmates.” But she acknowledged there was no regulation against carrying out Workman’s request.

Sounds to me as though some people were just being cruel.

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