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Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Mon Jun 26, 2006 at 08:59:52 PM EST
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U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. has issued an order preventing Missouri from executing prisoners due to the "unconstitutional pain and suffering" the inmate may experience from the drug cocktail used.

Until satisfactory changes are made, the Judge says no more executions can take place. The Department of Corrections has 15 days to come up with a new protocol.

And this takes the cake: The lone doctor mixing the drugs has dyslexia:

"For example," he wrote, "there is no written protocol which describes which drugs will be administered, in what amounts."

The judge also said he was "gravely concerned" because the lone doctor in charge of mixing the lethal drugs in Missouri is dyslexic. Someone else administers the drugs.

The doctor's dyslexia, the judge wrote, "causes him confusion with regard to numbers."

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    • Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#1)
    by aw on Mon Jun 26, 2006 at 09:18:08 PM EST
    Would you like that doctor to mix a little something for you before surgery?

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#2)
    by james on Mon Jun 26, 2006 at 09:38:47 PM EST
    Making fun of a person who has overcome a learning disability to become a doctor is the kind of tone-deaf comment I would expect of Hillary Clinton.
    Doctors who work for the Department of Corrections tend not to be able to 'cut it' in the 'real world'. If you have to go so low as to actually mix drugs you know are going to be used to kill another human being then you are probably someone fairly desperate for a job. Dyslexia is a factor; I don't think you'd be comfortable going under with a dyslexic physician performing the procedure. Actually, there aren't many dyslexics in private practice; they'd get sued all the time and it's because they are an 'easy target' whether or not they do a good job.

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#3)
    by james on Mon Jun 26, 2006 at 09:40:36 PM EST
    Sorry, I meant to say that "if you are a physician who has to go so low as to mix drugs that you know are going to be used to kill a human being". Regardless, you don't need a doctor to mix the drugs. A pharmacist would be able to do it.

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#4)
    by phat on Mon Jun 26, 2006 at 11:45:20 PM EST
    How is attempting to make sure that a punishment not be "cruel and unusual", as mandated by the 8th Amendment, cluthing at straws? I suppose you may not accept the 8th amendment as a good idea. It strikes me that it is the responsibility of the state to prove that a method of punishment fit the mandates of the bill of rights before it is used. Of course, in relation to the death penalty, this has never happened. Until proponents can come up with a "perfect" form of execution these questions will just keep on coming. Good luck finding a method of execution that isn't dependent upon the vagueries of human behaviour. Mistakes will always be made. Innocent people will be executed. Some of them will be tortured in some manner. It's these questions that have moved Americans to accept life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty. phat

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#5)
    by phat on Mon Jun 26, 2006 at 11:48:18 PM EST
    As for general anesthesia being pain free: Simple. JCAH standards for hospital care require that surgery under general anesthesia be pain-free. There is plenty of evidence that mistakes can and have been made during surgeries that require general anesthesia. When these mistakes have been made, well, those surgeries have been far from pain-free. Humans make mistakes. In the case of the death penalty, those mistakes cannot be remedied. phat

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#6)
    by HK on Tue Jun 27, 2006 at 01:52:21 AM EST
    Rogan1313 on the Was the Wrong Man Executed thread:
    People who view him through the rose-colored glasses of "learning difficulties and a questionable mental state" should have the honor of living next door to him.
    Rogan1313 on this thread:
    Making fun of a person who has overcome a learning disability to become a doctor is the kind of tone-deaf comment I would expect of Hillary Clinton.
    No body is making fun of a person with learning difficulties because we don't have your double standards. It matters when a person has learning difficulties that seriously affect other people - whether they are a doctor or a criminal. I don't think either of them deserve to be executed; equally I wouldn't like my medication to be mixed by either one of them. People with learning difficulties need to be treated appropriately and not be in a position in which their difficulties can cause harm.

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#7)
    by cpinva on Tue Jun 27, 2006 at 02:52:50 AM EST
    rogan posits a straw man: no one was making fun of the dr. with dyslexia. of course, he knows that, or should. actually, there is a painless method of execution, the guillotine. it's quick (1/270th of a second) and effective (only one recorded instance of the blade not going through the first time, that was louis xvi), it needn't be done a second time. if the blade's kept sharp, it will be over in less than the blink of an eye, and a doctor needn't be involved. if your head is severed from your body, the odds are really, really good that you're dead. beheading, as an official execution method, never caught on here. probably due to it's over application in the old country, as means of keeping the peasants in line. it could also be because it is so quick, there isn't much of a show, as these things used to be public. actually, i still think it should be public. if, as proponents aver, most of the population supports it, surely they want it done publicly, to ensure the actual execution of the right party, if nothing else.

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#8)
    by kipling on Tue Jun 27, 2006 at 05:12:51 AM EST
    "This isn't poison, it's... extract of LLAMA!!" "In my defence, your poisons all look alike. You might think about re-labelling some of them." ("The Emperor's New Groove", Scene between Yzma and Kronk).

    Re: Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions (none / 0) (#9)
    by HK on Tue Jun 27, 2006 at 08:35:12 AM EST
    if your head is severed from your body, the odds are really, really good that you're dead.
    cpinva, I'd be entirely inclined to agree with you on this, but thought you (and others) might find it interesting that others who have studied this would beg to differ. (Link awkward - see 'Does the head survive?' in the Index) Of course, the main reason that the guillotine is not used is that it appears cruel (not to mention messy). The lethal injection typically does not appear cruel and there is a lot less cleaning up afterwards. And in the 'civilised' world, appearances and convenience are of paramount importance.

    Missouri Federal Judge Halts State Executions | 9 comments (9 topical)