Lethal Injection

Ohio lethal injection protocols sufficiently prevent pain during executions

The anesthetic dosage delivered under Ohio's lethal injection protocol is sufficient to prevent the condemned inmate from suffering during an execution, according to Tuesday testimony from an anesthesiologist during a court hearing on the constitutionality of Ohio's death penalty procedure.

The testimony by Dr. Mark Dershwitz contradicts that given Monday by another anesthesiologist, who said that the state's execution method does not comport with the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution or with Ohio's requirement that executions be carried out "in a professional, humane, sensitive and dignified manner."

Under 2001's HB No. 362, lethal injection is the only death penalty option available in Ohio. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected a lawsuit challenging Ohio's lethal injection practice on procedural grounds.

Ohio lethal injections came under fire after a difficult May 2006 execution where staff struggled to find a vein to administer the lethal injection cocktail, and the one they did use collapsed before injection.

A modified procedure was introduced in June 2006 and employed the following month. Last September, the American Bar Association death penalty assessment team called for a temporary halt on Ohio executions on due process grounds.

Several states have placed a moratorium on lethal injections pending US Supreme Court review in Baze v. Rees, including Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

(Published by Jurist 9, 2008)