The Eighth Amendment states "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." In 1972 the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. This decision was then overturned in 1976. Since then, the number of executions in America has drastically increased, according to The Death Penalty. Soon after the death penalty was re-instated, lethal injection became the method of choice in 1982.
With this more civil way to execute prisoners, support and popularity of the death penalty climbed. Over 70% of Americans say they favor some form of capital punishment. Is this because lethal injection is more humane than the gas chamber or electric chair? Most likely. The reputation of the electric chair declined during the seventies as the number of executions that had gone wrong grew. Some required several shocks while others experienced side effects such as charred flesh, burnt hair, and burst eyeballs.
Just because there are no side effects to lethal injection, does that make it any less cruel? Execution is execution, regardless of the method. A person is still losing their life.
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