Apart from religious beliefs, sociological studies reveal a deep moral contradiction existing in the society of the United States.
There is evidence that a good part of those who support the death penalty oppose abortion because that is what the commandment of thou shalt not kill establishes.
In a hypothetical situation, this can lead to a celebration of saving a fetus and then, once it grows up, maybe it's a stray bullet and, the same ones who hailed it, demand to send it to the scaffold.
So this biblical precept disappears when it comes to the legal execution of a criminal, and its justification is also found in the Bible, a tailor's drawer for everything, as demonstrated by Emmanuel Carrère in his monumental book The Kingdom .
Of course, this act of capital justice, which in case of error is irreparable, must be ethical and facilitate the criminal to die with dignity and without suffering, not like his victims, in a show of mercy.
But, and this is the question, are there compassionate ways to apply this ultimate punishment?
"Unlike many countries that have the death penalty and generally only use one method of execution over an extended period of time, in the United States, since the late 19th century, we have been looking for a method of 'execution that is safe, reliable and humane', says Austin Sarat, Professor of Political Science and Law at Amherst College and scholar on the subject, with several books published.
On Thursday the country entered experimental territory. Kenneth Smith, who at the Holman prison in Alabama already tried unsuccessfully to kill by lethal injection in November 2022 for a crime in 1988, made history by being the first to be executed by asphyxiation with nitrogen, supplied through a mask Despite modernity, it does not seem that the persecution debate should be resolved.
The Attorney General of Alabama, Steve Marshall, assured when this process was finished that the execution was "by the book" and that "his humanity" had been observed. Just like that. "We have done it and we are ready to help you", words said by Marshall to encourage other states to follow his path.
But witnesses to the execution offered another version, in which Smith, 58, was violently shaking and shaking for several minutes, as well as another time with heavy breathing.
The White House (President Joe Biden is pro-abortion and anti-death penalty being a practicing Catholic) described the execution as "problematic" due to the descriptions of the events.
"Apparently he suffered convulsions for four minutes, and was panting for breath. He wasn't knocked unconscious within 30 seconds. It's scary, pain for four minutes is a long period and it's a period of torture", Deborah Denno, a professor at the Faculty of Law at Fordham University and an expert in the method of execution, intervened on the X network. This 2024 has just published a work in which it analyzes the disastrous investigation of human rights in the USA when it comes to putting these sentences into practice. In 150 years, the country has used six methods – gallows, firing squad, electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection and asphyxiation by nitrogen – and always one system has replaced the other in order to avoid the prisoner the cruelty
The horror of the gallows and the barbarity of the firing squad were replaced by electrocution as the perfect method. The sadism of the electric chair seemed to be overcome by the use of gas, although it was seen to cause deep pain. Then, in 1982, lethal injection was established, the ideal method with which to end all controversies. It turned out to be one of the most disastrous.
Professor Sarat analyzed the 8,776 documented executions between 1890 and 2010. He found that 276 were lynchings, or 3.15%. Among the malfunctions, the palm was taken by lethal injections, far above more barbaric methods from another era, such as the gallows and the electric chair.
What has happened in the following years has only deepened the disaster of injections, to a large extent due to the boycott of the pharmacists, who do not want their name to appear in a case like this, which generates more and more social opposition pronounced
"There is a slight majority in the United States in favor of the death penalty, but the number is in constant decline, the percentage of those who oppose it is growing and this is the long-term trend," explains Robin Maher, executive director of the Center on the Death Penalty, a non-profit organization dedicated to this issue.
He insists that there is already a majority of states that have abolished this punishment (29) or do not apply it even if they keep it and do not have prisoners on death row. "The death penalty is isolated in a handful of states," he emphasizes.
Due to the deadly drug crisis, in a throwback to the past, Idaho brought back the firing squad, as did South Carolina, as well as dusting off the electric chair. Others have already shown interest in nitrogen.
"There is no infallible method of execution," replies Sarat. "The search for a safe, reliable and humane method - concludes the professor - is not likely to be fulfilled. It's an illusion."
