Constitutional Law

Firing Squads Making Comeback?

In the wake of five states suspending lethal injections, some advocates of capital punishment are exploring other methods of executing prisoners. Enter stage right: Democrat and New Hampshire State Rep. Delmar Burridge.

Burridge recently proposed legislation to bring back firing squads in New Hampshire. With the state readying to execute a convict for the first time in 70 years, Burridge is seizing the opportunity to make a point to criminals rather than to actually advocate for firing squads. He told reporters that he chose the method to stick in the mind of those considering committing heinous acts. "I call it the enhanced death penalty," he said. "You've got to love the marketing."

Setting aside arguments over the deterrent value, Fordham Law Prof. Deborah Denno says, "There's evidence that [firing squads] could be the most humane method [of execution] that's currently available."

Denno has studied execution methods for 18 years and testified before state and federal courts on the topic. She says that the pain and suffering inflicted by firing squads, as opposed to other available means of execution, makes them "definitely something worth investigating."

She may be right. A 1993 study examining the pain inflicted by different means of execution found that firing squads were virtually on par with lethal injections as the least painful forms of execution. This study, however, came before problems were revealed about many states' use of lethal injections, such as incompetent executioners and botched executions. Since then, the doctor who created the three-drug cocktail most commonly employed in lethal injections has disavowed the model. Veterinarians have added that they wouldn't use the method to euthanize animals.

Denno told the Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire that firing squads are free of such complications. In fact, evidence suggests that death by firing squad occurs within two minutes of shooting, rather than the nine-minute average for lethal injections without complications.

New Hampshire's current procedure for executing death row inmates is by lethal injection unless officials deem the method "impractical." In that case, the sentence is carried out by hanging, as was the state's most recent execution, in 1939.

H/T: Sentencing Law and Policy.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 16, 2009 (boomark / email).