Resolved: The United States Ought to Abolish the Death Penalty

Contention 1: Execution is inhuman! C1.1) the Methods of execution is questionable. By questionable, I mean that it may be immoral as to how the DP is carried out. In theUSA, there are 2 primary methods of execution. Electric Chair Lethal Injection The Electric Chair (EC hereafter) How does the EC kill? First, the electrocution causes the prisoner's muscles to spasm. This can cause dislocation and bone fractures. The prisoner defecates, tissues swell, and vomiting of blood is common. In all EC cases, a blindfold is applied. The reason is because the prisoner's eyes often pop out. Their body can emit smoke and in rare cases, may catch on fire. ". the prisoner's eyeballs sometimes pop out and rest on [his] cheeks. The prisoner often defecates, urinates, and vomits blood and drool. The body turns bright red as its temperature rises, and the prisoner's flesh swells and his skin stretches to the point of breaking. Sometimes the prisoner catches fire. .. .Witnesses hear a loud and sustained sound like bacon frying, and the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh permeates the chamber. (Ecenbarger, 1994)" [1] Lethal Injection (LI hereafter) How does this kill? Let's take a look. the prisoner is bound to a gurney. The LI contains three primary drugs. They are: sodium thiopental This is a drug that paralyzes the victim and induces cardiac arrest. This finally ends the pain by stopping the heart. The anesthetic that is given first often wears off after about 7-10 minutes. What does this mean? This means that the second drug keeps them paralyzed while their heart is racing and they are in cardiac arrest. They cannot express their pain because they are paralyzed. [2] What does the United Nations have to say about this? "No-one shall be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" [3] Questions for my opponent TheUnitedState's constitution clearly states that we are free and protected from cruel and unusual punishments. Does this sound cruel or what! C1.2) There is no fool proof method of preventing a botched execution since 1982; there have been 43 botched executions! That is 43 bad executions in only 29 years! Let's take a few looks: Botched Execution 1: James Autery "Autrey took at least 10 minutes to die after the chemicals began to be injected. Throughout much of those 10 minutes, he was fully conscious and complained of pain. This was caused by the catheters clogging so delaying the transmission of the chemicals. It is also probable that the needle either did not enter the vein or passed through it. When the lethal chemicals enter the muscles instead, they cause considerable pain. " Botched Execution 2: James McCoy "McCoy had such a violent physical reaction to the drugs (heaving chest, gasping, choking, etc. ) that one of the witnesses (male) fainted, crashing into and knocking over another witness. The Texas Attorney General admitted the inmate "seemed to have somewhat stronger reaction," adding, "The drugs might have been administered in a heavier dose or more rapidly. " [4] Contention 2: The death penalty takes innocent lives. Since 1993, 21 cases have been added to the list of wrongful executions [5. ] Is this really justice? How can we allow this system of failure to continue? | Questions for Opponent | What crimes are worthy of death? Why are those crimes the only crime worthy of death? Sources: 1. . http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org...... 2. . http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org...... 3. . http://www.un.org.... . http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org...... 5. . http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org......