Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin signed the bill into law yesterday (4/17/2015) which will allow another alternative for death penalty executions -- nitrogen.
Squeamish drug makers are reluctant to sell drugs intended for lethal injections, and there is always the possibility of a claim that a particular style of executing someone is cruel and unusual. So they came up with the nitrogen alternative. That would actually be the first alternative behind the lethal injection. The next alternatives in order are electrocution and the firing squad.
All of this comes to us by way of NewsOK.com.
My own suggestion, which no executioner has yet to adopt, is carbon monoxide. It's very easy to produce -- all it takes is a lawn mower motor -- and according to survivors of accidental exposure, a person subjected to it simply goes to sleep completely unaware of what's happening. And if no one comes along to save them, they die. It seems perfectly suited for a painless execution.
Meanwhile, the hand wringing over these peaceful means of execution seems quaint when we recall that there are those abroad and probably among us who would like nothing better than to slice off our heads in front of a video camera.
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