Call to Action: Speak Out Against Lethal Injections!

Lethal injection kit
Lethal injection kit © AI

There are over 3, 300 men and women on death row throughout the United States. Amnesty International USA is committed to work on the global abolition of the death penalty until it is achieved. Our supporters are a vitally important part of this struggle. We call on our groups and members to make your voices heard!

Please join us in talking to your friends and family, writing your local news papers, posting comments on a blog, or calling-in to your favorite talk radio shows whenever lethal injection is being discussed or written about.

Beyond the flaws in the lethal injection system, there are many issues that plague the death penalty in the U.S. including innocence, racial bias, and cost.
| Learn more | Read the report »

Lethal Injection Ruling in Federal Court in California

The subject of lethal injection will be a hot topic in the media now that U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel has ruled on California's lethal injection protocol calling it "intolerable under the Constitution." California has, BY FAR, the largest Death Row, with over 650 people now awaiting death at the hand of the state.
| Read the statement by Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Director of Amnesty International USA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty »
| Read Judge Fogel's statement »

Florida Halts Executions to Examine Lethal Injection

Governor Jeb Bush announced of the creation of a Commission on Administration of Lethal Injection in Florida, after the botched execution of Angel Diaz on December 13, 2006. A medical examiner said that the needles used for the lethal injection punctured Mr. Diaz's veins causing the execution to take 34-minutes.
| Read the statement by Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Director of Amnesty International USA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty »
| Read the statement by Florida Governor Jeb Bush »

Tips for writing a Letter to the Editor
  1. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 250 words.
  2. Always include your full name, city and a phone number where you can be reached. The paper will not print your phone number but they will use it to verify the authenticity of your letter.
  3. Whenever possible refer to an article or editorial (on lethal injection) that appeared in the newspaper you are writing to.
  4. Letters to the editor can be sent directly from your newspaper's website.
Talking Points on Lethal Injection/Physician Involvement in Execution

Amnesty International believes that all methods of execution constitute cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.

Lethal injection risks involving medical personnel in unethical practices that run counter to their professional mandate.
  • Lethal injection has a corrosive effect on the medical profession, which finds itself reluctantly conscripted to play a lead role in state-sponsored executions. Employing medical knowledge and skills in executions is in direct breach of internationally accepted standards of medical ethics. It represents a clear perversion of the Hippocratic Oath and compromises the integrity of all medical practitioners involved.
  • Numerous organizations have declared that physician participation in executions constitutes a serious violation of professional ethical standards. These include: The American Medical Association, The American Society of Anesthesiologists, The American Public Health Association, The California Medical Association, Physicians for Human Rights, and The American Nurses Association, among others.
  • Such professional associations should ensure that their membership is informed of the relevant medical ethics standards as they pertain to participation in executions and should take action against physicians who violate such standards.
  • Efforts to discipline doctors who take part in executions have been hampered by protections (including laws that protect their identity from public scrutiny) accorded them by the state.

The specific issues associated with the administration of lethal injection detract from the real problems surrounding the administration of the death penalty as a whole.
  • Recent decisions in Florida and California have requested a review of execution protocols, which have been arbitrarily developed and which have been demonstrated to be faulty. This review process does little to address the real, ongoing flaws in the system.
  • Questions that focus on lethal injection protocols do not address other real issues such as the inherent risk of executing the innocent, the biased and arbitrary nature of the way in which the death penalty is administered at all levels, and the lack of demonstrable evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect on crime.

Execution by any means is a political distraction from implementing effective crime-prevention measures.
  • As long as political leaders champion the death penalty as the answer to rising crime, there is a risk that they will neglect developing and pursuing real solutions to curbing crime. In some countries the debate about serious crime is dominated by arguments about ''tough'' responses and the death penalty is regarded as the "ultimate" tough response. While it may be perceived by the public as "tough on crime," evidence suggests that it does not act as a greater deterrent than other penalties. However, it does appear to encourage a violent response to violent crime and this may ultimately have a brutalizing effect on society overall.
  • The continuing search for an "ideal" way to extinguish a human life is no sign of a humane, evolved society; it merely perpetuates the false notion that lethal injection [or any such sterilized or medicalized method] represents a "humane" form of execution.

US History:

37 states, the federal government, and the U.S. military use lethal injection (the only exception among death penalty states is Nebraska, which uses the electric chair). About 20 states also authorize alternatives methods of execution for inmates sentenced before the introduction of lethal injection or in the case of successful legal challenges to this process.

Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection legislation when, on 11 May 1977, a bill was approved to provide for execution to be carried out by injection. Other states soon followed with similar protocols.

The first person to be executed by lethal injection was Charles Brooks, who was killed by the state of Texas on December 7, 1982. More than 845 people have been executed by lethal injection since that time (over 83%).

The execution of Charles Walker (IL), September 12, 1990 is believed to be the first time that US doctors played an active role in administering lethal injection.

International:

In 1997, China became the first country outside the USA to carry out a judicial execution by lethal injection. Four other countries - Guatemala, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand - currently provide for execution by lethal injection and all but Taiwan have carried out executions via this method. A number of other countries have been reported to be contemplating the introduction of lethal injection. Still, an overwhelming number of executions worldwide continue to be carried by other methods using "old technology".