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Is it finally time to just go back to firing squads for executions?

By Douglas A. Berman

The question in the title of this post is inspired by this article that appeared this weekend in the New York Times.  The piece is headlined, "A Drug Used in Executions Becomes Very Hard to Get," and here are the passages inspiring my serious query: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is exploring its options, including what other states facing a similar shortage are doing, said Michelle Lyons, a department spokeswoman. But the drug alternatives are limited and they would most likely still leave Texas reliant on nations that oppose executions. Oklahoma and Ohio both turned to pentobarbital, a barbiturate similar to sodium thiopental. Oklahoma used it in its three-drug cocktail to execute John David Duty in December. Ohio plans to use one huge dose in its executions ? a method similar to the one veterinarians use to euthanize animals...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 07, 2011 (boomark / email).