....recent decisions... rely on accounts of witnesses, post-mortem blood testing and execution logs that seem to show that executions meant to be humane have, in fact, caused excruciating pain.

There are three chemicals:

The first chemical in the series is sodium thiopental, a short-acting barbiturate. Properly administered, all sides agree, it is sufficient to render an inmate unconscious for many hours, if not to kill him. The second chemical is pancuronium bromide, a relative of curare. If administered by itself, it paralyzes the body but leaves the subject conscious, suffocating but unable to cry out. The third, potassium chloride, stops the heart and causes excruciating pain as it travels through the veins.

In the Willie Brown case, Judge Howard in North Carolina last Friday issued an order requiring medical personnel to be present:

Judge Howard based his order on what he said were "substantial questions" about the possibility of agonizing death. He noted that post-mortem levels of sodium thiopental in the bodies of four North Carolina inmates executed in the last six months suggested that they might have been conscious as they endured the suffocation and pain caused by the final two chemicals. Prosecutors said the testing might not have been conducted properly.

Judge Howard also noted that three lawyers who had witnessed executions in the state submitted sworn statements saying that some of the condemned men were writhing and gagging during their executions.

Doctors cannot ethically participate in an execution so there is no way for them to assure sufficient anaesthesia is being administered. A 2005 medical research report concluded:

...until better protocols are developed and tested and those delivering the executions are better trained to assure it is performed in a humane and competent fashion, execution by lethal injection should be stopped to prevent unnecessary cruelty and suffering.

We reported on the drugs at length here and here . In the Abdur' Raman case, one of the witnesses who testified was a woman who had had eye surgery:

Carol Weihrer, who underwent eye surgery in 1998, testified for Mr. Abdur'Rahman at the hearing in May. Anesthesia was administered before the surgery, as was pancuronium bromide to immobilize the eye. But the anesthesia was ineffective. Ms. Weihrer testified that the experience was terrifying and torturous. She could not, she said, communicate that she was awake. "I remember using every ounce of my strength to try to move," she said....Ms. Weihrer called the experience "worse than death.

One more must-read: You Wouldn't Do a Dog This Way" about the planned South Carolina execution of David Clayton Hill.

There is a solution. It's called life in prison without parole.