States consider reviving old-fashioned executions [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

States consider reviving old-fashioned executions
By JIM SALTER, Associated Press | January 28, 2014 | Updated: January 28, 2014 3:06am

ST. LOUIS (AP) — With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some death penalty states are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past: firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers.

Most states abandoned those execution methods more than a generation ago in a bid to make capital punishment more palatable to the public and to a judicial system worried about inflicting cruel and unusual punishments that violate the Constitution.

But to some elected officials, the drug shortages and recent legal challenges are beginning to make lethal injection seem too vulnerable to complications.

"This isn't an attempt to time-warp back into the 1850s or the wild, wild West or anything like that," said Missouri state Rep. Rick Brattin, who this month proposed making firing squads an option for executions. "It's just that I foresee a problem, and I'm trying to come up with a solution that will be the most humane yet most economical for our state."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/States-consider-reviving-old-fashioned-executions-5180903.php

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