
Throughout history of the United States, the death penalty or capital punishment has undergone massive reform and changes. The following paper is a debate of which method should be considered primary in the United States and is not about whether the death penalty is moral or humane and should retain continued use. The constitution of the United States states, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments." This remains to be one of the largest arguments against the death penalties use, especially that of the firing squad. The United States policy on the firing squad in the modern day should be changed to make it the primary execution method in all states using the capital punishment practice. The Firing squad should become the primary method of execution in the United States because it is cheaper, it removes guilt from the executioner(s) and it is 100% effective with no recorded failures. To make the claim that there is a humane method of killing is foolish, killing is killing. "We have sent condemned criminals to the gallows, executed them by firing squad, electrocution, lethal gas, or using a cocktail of deadly chemicals. Each of these methods of execution was, at the time of its introduction, said to be able reliably to impose death without the unnecessary suffering condemned by the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of 'cruel and unusual punishment.' None has delivered on that promise" (Richard).

The death penalty in the United States very early. In 1612, Virginia governor, Sir Thomas Dale, enacted martial laws which included the death penalty, for the first time officially in the American colonies, as a punishment for even minor offenses including stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with native Americans ("History of the Death Penalty"). Hanging was one of the first methods used, along with firing squad, because it was simple, inexpensive, and sent a powerful message to future violators of similar degree. As time passed and technology developed other methods were adopted, and in 1890 preference shifted from hanging to electrocution. This change made the executions private rather than the public exhibitions they had been in the past. This was the first step in which executions were attempted to be made humane. Since this time other methods have attempted to make this same step forward to a more humane form of punishment including the gas chamber and lethal injection. In search for the most humane execution method, the United States was the first country to perform lethal injection in 1982("Capital Punishment Essays").

One of the biggest problems facing the capital punishment system today are botched executions. There are 5 main methods of execution used today throughout the United States; hanging, lethal injection, gas chamber/asphyxiation, electrocution, and firing squad. Of these 5 methods, 3 have failed more than once in the past 35 years. Over that time, 47 recorded botched executions were recorded, 35 were failed lethal injections, 10 from failed electrocutions, and 2 botched gas chamber executions ("Methods of Execution.").

The most common problems with the lethal injection method is the inability to correctly place the IV in the inmate's arm and after multiple painful failures, the inmate could still die a long painful death due to poor reactions to the drugs or even to a heart attack. Clayton Lockett is a recent example of this problem when he died April of 2014. This is an account of his execution:

At 6.23 p.m., a doctor administered the first drug, which corrections officials identified as the sedative midazolam. What followed was an agonizing spectacle that ended when Lockett died at 7.06 p.m. -- 43 minutes after the drugs began to flow" (Richard). In this example the drugs were not the previously approved versions from the same creators and resulted in the man to have a long painful death lasting more than 40 minutes. After an hour, a vein was finally found in Mr. Lockett's "groin area," and the execution went forward. Ten minutes after the administration of the first drug, a sedative, the physician supervising the process (whose very presence violated ethical standards of several medical organizations) announced that the inmate was unconscious, and therefore ready to receive the other two drugs that would actually kill him.  Those two drugs were known to cause excruciating pain if the recipient was conscious.  However, Mr. Lockett was not unconscious.  Three minutes after the latter two drugs were injected, "Lockett began breathing heavily, writhing on the gurney, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow." Twenty minutes after the first drugs were administered, the Director the Oklahoma Department of Corrections halted the execution, and issued a two-week stay (later extended by extensive litigation) for the execution of Mr. Warner.  Mr. Lockett died 43 minutes after the execution began, of a heart attack, while still in the execution chamber ("Methods of Execution.").

Though this method is claimed to be the most humane, 43 minutes of torture sounds a lot worse than 4 bullets to the heart(Richard). This failed execution seems far too painful to no be called "cruel" a concept which is since of lethal injection was introduced in the United States make executions seem less cruel.

The most common problems with the electrocution method, considered a much crueler method, the inmate's skin burns, their eyeballs pop out, their flesh swells and their skin stretches, or sometimes the procedure fails to cause instant death and there is a need to administer repeated shocks. A rather gruesome example of this execution issue is Allen Lee Davis's execution in Florida in 1999. Reports revealed the man to have had a very abnormal response to the electric shocks. His response included bleeding from the mouth, an enlarged chest, burned skin and similar things of this nature. "Before he was pronounced dead  ...  the blood from his mouth had poured onto the collar of his white shirt, and the blood on his chest had spread to about the size of a dinner plate, even oozing through the buckle holes on the leather chest strap holding him to the chair" ("Methods of Execution").

The firing squad method of execution is never botched; the victim dies in one of two ways, both of which occurs in less than 10 minutes.

"For execution by this method, the inmate is typically bound to a chair with leather straps across his waist and head, in front of an oval-shaped canvas wall. The chair is surrounded by sandbags to absorb the inmate's blood. A black hood is pulled over the inmate's head. A doctor locates the inmate's heart with a stethoscope and pins a circular white cloth target over it. Standing in an enclosure 20 feet away, five shooters are armed with .30 caliber rifles loaded with single rounds. One of the shooters is given blank rounds. Each of the shooters aims his rifle through a slot in the canvas and fires at the inmate. The prisoner dies as a result of blood loss caused by rupture of the heart or a large blood vessel, or tearing of the lungs. The person shot loses consciousness when shock causes a fall in the supply of blood to the brain. If the shooters miss the heart, by accident or intention, the prisoner bleeds to death" ("Methods of Execution").

This description is consistent for both of the two states currently using the death penalty today. The important part to take away from this excerpt is that there is no line saying what happens if the inmate survives the first round of shot from the firing squad. This is because they can't survive it; they die, and they die quickly. Gas chamber and hanging will not be mentioned when discussing failed or prolonged executions because they also do not have botched executions though these methods are still permitted in some states today("Methods of Execution").

Beyond botched executions, another reason for the firing squad to be made the primary method for capital punishment in the United States is that when all 5 methods are considered, it produces the least amount of guilt for the executioner. Due to the process, the firing squad method allows 5 men to share the guilt of four men. As only four men fire real bullets, each of the 5 can assume that they had blanks to remove any form of guilt from their mind. Conversely, lethal injection's guilt lies with the people who directly injected the lethal chemicals into the inmate. The first drug knocks the inmate out. The second relaxes their muscles and paralyzes the inmate. The final is the killer as its purpose is to stop the heart completely. The person responsible for injecting the third takes full responsibility for the death of the inmate. Similar cases exist with hanging as the person who makes the floor drop beneath them is responsible, and with the gas chamber or electrocution the person that flips the final switch is fully responsible for the execution.

A third and final reason to turn to firing squad as the primary method of execution in the United States is that it is the least expensive method. The final cost of the bullets, head bag and target cloth on an inmate would be less than 10 dollars(Dieter). By far one of the cheapest methods also would be hanging, unfortunately both of these highly inexpensive methods are considered them most inhumane. Through the excessive use of drugs utilized in the lethal injection method and the high cost of energy for electrocution, many states are running out of viable, affordable options for their executions(Chammah). This only is piled on to the multiple different costs of lawyers, experts and other in case costs. Firing squad is a logical deterrent as it is very, very cheap. It costs bullets which can cost less than a dollar for the rifles most commonly used for these executions. This is one of the many claims being brought to the table as states slowly begin the shift back to the firing squad now that two states currently allow the firing squad if no lethal injection drugs are available, or in some cases affordable("Utah State Rep. Proposes Bringing Back Execution By Firing Squad").

In conclusion, the firing squad should be the primary method of execution in the united states today. The system currently is based off how humane the method of execution is or as stated in the constitution how not cruel the punishment is for the crime committed. The firing squad is the only method that successfully does this as this method is a sure fire way that is quick, effective, cheap, and leaves no guilt for the executioner.

