Faith Spraktes

English 2010

Nathan Cole

12/10/16

Firing Squad vs. Lethal Injection

When sentenced with the death penalty, the most common way of execution is by lethal

injection. Lethal injection is one of the only legal forms of death penalty in almost every state.

It is considered more human and efficient. Many argue that firing squad should be brought back

and reinstated saying that it is quicker and more consistent. With firing squad no longer in use

lethal injection is the primary method for the death penalty, but lethal injections have some

problems. So, which is better? When all is taken into account, the benefits of the firing squad

surpass those of lethal injection.

Firing squad was last used in Utah to execute Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010. Utah had

removed the firing squad in 2004 but since Gardner was convicted in 1985 for the murder of a

defense attorney, he was allowed to choose between lethal injection and firing squad. He

originally chose lethal injection but in a court hearing in April of 2010, Gardner said he wanted

firing squad instead. Saying that going out by firing squad was the most efficient way to go. The

Utah Department of Corrections said that the inmate will be strapped to a chair for his

execution wearing a jumpsuit with a target pinned to his heart. After offering last words, his face

will be hooded, and five pre-selected law enforcement officers will aim for that target with .30-

caliber rifles from less than 25 feet away. As in traditional military firing squads, one of those

shooters' guns will be loaded with blanks, to keep each one uncertain about whether he fired a
fatal shot (Lethal Injection). On June 18th, 2010 he was executed. Utah is the last state to

execute an inmate by firing squad.

Lethal injection is performed by injecting one, two, or three drugs. The three-drug

protocol uses an anesthetic or sedative, typically followed by pancuronium bromide to paralyze

the inmate and potassium chloride to stop the inmate's heart. The one or two-drug protocols

typically use a lethal dose of an anesthetic or sedative (Sanger-Katz). This is generally the

procedure, but some states substitute different drugs for others, hoping for and expecting the

same results. The way lethal injection is performed can also be related to euthanasia doctor

assisted suicide. The federal government and all of the states that permit the death penalty use

lethal injection as their method of execution. Very few states have another option. Even though

there have been some problems with lethal injection.

In October of 2015, Ohio announced they had to postpone all of their executions until at

least 2017. Why? The drugs needed for the executions. Obtaining the drugs needed for lethal

injection is getting more difficult. They are either in short supply or very expensive. Just in 2012,

the price went up fifteen times more from the year before. With the drugs needed being in short

supply the price can only go up more. Firing squad is the simplest way of execution since guns

will always be available, and a quick clean shot to the heart kills almost instantly. It is simple but

deadly and the least expensive form of execution. In 2010, Ohio also had to change their

methods after they messed up several executions, including an instance where officials took over

two hours to set up the IV line before giving up.

Lethal injection does not always work. A perfect example is Clayton Lockett. The

execution of Mr. Lockett was unpleasant for both the onlookers and Mr. Lockett. This was
because the drugs the executioners had been using to execute the condemned were unavailable

on the occasion of Mr. Lockett's execution. The Oklahoma executioners were an imaginative

group and used their creative powers to come up with their own death-dealing drug concoction.

When it was given to Mr. Lockett, however, instead of dying peacefully as expected, he writhed

in what appeared to be great pain and only died after 45 minutes. Furthermore, the cause of death

was a heart attack rather than the drugs (Brauchli). That sounds more like torture than a quick

and peaceful death. If the Oklahoma executioners had been able to obtain the drugs needed,

Locketts death would have been quicker, less painful, and more humane. The Eighth

Amendment prohibits a method of execution that, like Oklahomas, creates a substantial risk of

serious harm or an objectively intolerable risk of harm. A protocol using painful lethal drugs

is unconstitutional unless the prisoner is first properly administered a drug that reliably ensures a

deep, coma-like unconsciousness throughout the execution (Konrad).

In light of lethal injection drugs not always being available, Utah's senate has

reintroduced the execution method it favored until it began using lethal drugs to rid itself of the

unwanted: the firing squad. A bill signed by Utah Governor Gary Herbert on March 23, 2015,

provides: The method of execution for the defendant is the firing squad if the sentencing court

determines the state is unable to lawfully obtain the substance or substances necessary to conduct

an execution by lethal intravenous injection 30 or more days prior to the date specified

(Brauchli). Due to their previous problems, Oklahoma has adopted the same policy.

Ultimately firing squad is the best way to go. A Utah inmate who in 1938 agreed to be

gunned to death while hooked up to an electrocardiogram showed complete heart death within

one minute of the firing squad's shots. By contrast, a typical, complication-free lethal injection

takes about nine minutes to kill an inmate (Lethal Injection). While the prisoner is killed almost
instantly, complete heart death is when all heart activity ends. A gunshot to the heart kills a

person within seconds. An eight minute difference, and for the one dying those eight minutes are

unpleasant. The idea of lethal injection is that the inmate feels nothing. With Clayton Lockett

this was not the case. Lockett is just one case. Firing squad may sound old fashion or too much

like the old Wild West, but this is the most humane way to execute someone and there is minimal

suffering. It is most definitely better than the gas chamber, electric chair, hanging, and lethal

injection.

Now some people get very upset about the firing squad saying that being shot is

inhumane and cruel. Maybe the firing squad bothers people because it is different and the use of

guns sounds blood thirsty. Doesnt lethal injection sound risky and unsafe? Some people are

even saying the death penalty is not worth it. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts stated "Death

row inmates have earned the penalty they received. They do not deserve the luxury of living on

the taxpayer dime for a lifetime" (Brauchli). Those on death row are murderers, sometimes with

more than one victim. There is no easy way to put someone to death, but if needed a quick, easy,

and efficient way is best. Today, firing squad is exactly that.

Nobody wants to die slowly or painfully, and many people dont wish it on others.

Lethal injection is the primary way of execution, but people are starting to see that firing squad is

the best possible way to go right now. Maybe in the future, lethal injection will improve, but as

of now it is unstable. When all is taken into account, the benefits of the firing squad are better

than lethal injection.

 Works Cited

Brauchli, Christopher. "Drugs, Guns, or Life in Prison." 24 June 2015. The Huffington Post.

Web. 1 Dec. 2016.

Konrad, Robin C. "Does The Use Of Midazolam During Executions Violate The Eighth

Amendment's Prohibition Of "Cruel And Unusual" Punishment?." Supreme Court

Debates 18.8 (2015): 1. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.

"Lethal Injection." Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.

Sanger-Katz, Margot. "Are Firing Squads a Better Means of Execution than Lethal Injection?"

16 June 2015. Slate. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.