Legal Definitions - lethal injection

Lethal Injection

Lethal injection refers to a method of capital punishment where a condemned individual is administered a fatal dose of drugs, typically a combination of substances, to cause death. This procedure is designed to execute a prisoner who has been sentenced to death by a court of law.

Examples:

• After years of appeals, a state court upholds the death sentence for a convicted murderer, and the state's Department of Corrections prepares to carry out the execution using its established protocol for lethal injection, which involves a specific sequence of three different drugs.

  This example illustrates lethal injection as the legally sanctioned method by which a state executes a prisoner sentenced to capital punishment, following a judicial process.

• A group of death row inmates files a lawsuit against their state, arguing that the particular drugs proposed for their lethal injections are unreliable and could lead to a prolonged and agonizing death, thereby violating their constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

  Here, the term highlights the specific method of execution being challenged in court, focusing on the legality and humanity of the drug protocol used in lethal injection.

• Facing a shortage of the specific barbiturate historically used in its lethal injection protocol due to manufacturing restrictions, State Z announces a temporary moratorium on executions while it explores alternative drug combinations or methods to legally carry out death sentences.

  This scenario demonstrates the practical challenges states encounter in implementing lethal injection, specifically concerning the availability of the precise substances required for this method of capital punishment.