An inmate in an Idaho prison. POOL | Reuters
Thus, there are already five US states that will apply this enforcement system
He firing squad it will soon cease to be a gruesome image from Idaho’s past. The only thing missing is the governor’s approval, Republican Brad Littleto make this method of execution a reality again in the 21st century in this country for those on death row.
The law allowing this was passed in the Parliament on Monday – with two-thirds of the seats – and as a condition for its implementation, it states that while serving the sentence imposed on these prisoners, lethal injection is not available. And this fatal blow is becoming increasingly difficult to deliver in the United States.
The idea of reintroducing firing squads for those sentenced to death was put on the table given the considerable difficulties in get substances taken by lethal injection. More than one pharmaceutical laboratory refuses to provide them because they do not want their brand to be associated with such a controversial issue in various sectors inside and outside the United States as the death penalty. And Idaho, unaware of the trail of criticism its new law will generate, doesn’t want that rejection to be an obstacle to continuing with executions.
The law that was launched on Monday with 24 votes for and 11 against in Idaho makes it abundantly clear that the firing squad will only be an option if lethal injection is not available. A rule that has already caused several reactions to return the execution method to the present “terrible” and “archaic”, condemns the civil rights organization ACLU (acronym for American Civil Liberties Union). People who die this way, they state, “likely suffer extreme levels of pain and torture.”
This controversial type of execution had already been approved in Idaho many years ago, but had never been used. To was eliminated in 2009, after the United States Supreme Court ratified lethal injection as a common method in the country.
The return of the firing squad, however, is not new in the country, which already has four other states where that end exists for prisoners sentenced to death. is around Utah, Oklahoma, Mississippi and South Carolina, who approved it a few years ago, along with the electric chair, precisely because of the shortage of drugs for lethal injections. It is not a method, yes, that is used regularly. In almost half a century, only three people have been executed in this way in the USA. he was the last one Ronnie Lee Gardner -convicted of the outright murder of a lawyer during a failed escape- who died on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, Utah’s capital, in 2010.
Despite criticism, there are prisoners who asked to be shot deeming it “faster” and “less painful”. This is the case Michael Nance, 61, who was sentenced to death in Georgia in 2002 and asked to be executed by the squad ten years later. The convict claimed that the lethal injection could cause him “excessive suffering because his veins were in bad condition”. The Supreme Court agreed with him and approved the fulfillment of Nance’s will.
Source: La Vozde Galicia
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
