Davis / 1 Senator Luttrell

S.B._____

A BILL
To outlaw the use of all inhumane forms of capital punishment including electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and
firing squad and to require the use of lethal injections in all cases of capital punishment.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Death Penalty Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1)1,436 people were executed in the United States from 1977 through May 2016, 266 by means other than lethal
injections.
2) The death penalty has been inflicted in many ways including crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering,
impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, tearing asunder, stoning, and drowning.
3) Executions have typically involved injecting prisoners with a "cocktail" of sodium thiopental, pancuronium
bromide and potassium chloride.
4) Concerns over evidence suggesting that some persons had experienced extremely painful executions due to the
poor administration of the standard three-drug procedure for lethal injections led several courts to review how the
injections were conducted and set stricter standards for them.
5) Today, most nations that retain the death penalty reserve its use for the most heinous crimes such as murder,
treason, or espionage.
6) 34 states plus the US government use lethal injection as their primary method.
7) The gas chamber is now only available as an option to inmates in California and Arizona. Most states which once
used lethal gas abandoned the method in favor of lethal injection due to the difficulty of safely maintaining these
facilities, some of which were shown to be at risk for leaks.
8) According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the cost for the drugs used in lethal injection is $86.08.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The Death Penalty Act of 2016 shall hereby eliminate all methods of the death penalty except for lethal injections
in all legal cases which require the use of capital punishment. State executioners shall administer the three drug
cocktail composed of Sodium thiopental, which will induce unconsciousness, pancuronium bromide, to cause muscle
paralysis and respiratory arrest, and potassium chloride to stop the heart. The death penalty is applied by the states
jurisdiction in cases of crimes including but not limited to murder and terrorism. The prisoner will undergo a quick
and fair trial. The prerequisites of using the death penalty as a means of punishment are DNA evidence, one or more
eyewitness accounts, and/or verbal confession. Should the court decide to use the death penalty as punishment, the
defense has 30 days minimum to present evidence to have the execution lifted or somehow invalidate the evidence
presented by the prosecution. The person(s) involved in administering the cocktail must undergo thorough training
and education on the process and the drugs by a team of medical staff and scientists to promote a painless and
comfortable execution. Should the prisoner being executed withstand a botched execution, the person(s)
administering the drugs are to do all in their power to save the person. Should they survive, they will not be executed
and instead sent to the hospital and have their case reevaluated for a sentence in prison. In the case of a botched
execution, the person(s) at fault must be relieved of all duties by the state executioners.
B) The United States Department of Justice is the administrating agency and enforcing agency. The United States
Department of Justice will provide the funds necessary to purchase the drugs required for the lethal injection process.
The funding is hereby set at 25,000,000 to cover drug costs as well as payment for administration for up to 30
executions each year.
C) The Death Penalty Act of 2016 shall be enacted on January 1, 2017. This bill will apply to only new death penalty
cases after January 1, 2017. This bill is to be revised every 2 years as new alternative methods become available.

Press Release
For decades the United States has been divided over the use of capital punishment in our State
Justice Systems. The United States has used the death penalty as a means of punishment for heinous
crimes since the early 1900s. The forms of execution have varied from firing squad, hanging, one shot
fire, burning, crucifixion, electrocution, gas chamber, and more. Lethal injections should be the primary
method of capital punishment in the United States and all other forms should be outlawed because the
other methods are cruel and unusual, are easily botched, and lethal injections is the most humane way of
executing offenders.
The United States has used a variety of different methods to execute prisoners since the early
1900s that are cruel and unusual and violate the eighth amendment. The executioner administers a jolt
between 500 and 2000 volts for about 30 seconds. If the patients heart is still beating after a few
moments, another jolt is applied and so on. The prisoner's eyeballs sometimes pop out and rest on [his]
cheeks. The prisoner often defecates, urinates, and vomits blood and drool. (Hillman). The suffering
endured during those final minutes violates the wishes of Americas forefathers and the eighth
amendment which calls for no cruel and unusual punishment. These agonizing and painful forms of
execution are proof that the United States needs to change its means of executing felons.
On top of having barbaric and savage ways of executing prisoners, the United States state justice
systems are known for botching executions. Botching executions not only costs taxpayers more money,
but also causes unnecessary suffering for the affected (ACLU). Between 1890 and 2010, the U.S.
executed 8,776 people. Gas chamber executions have a 5.4% botch rate which adds up when talking
about human lives. Until the 1890s, hanging was the primary method of execution used in the United
States (Hillman). Something as simple as too long or short of a rope can make the difference between
decapitation, a broken neck, or a slow, painful death by asphyxiation up to 45 minutes (Holsinger). If the
inmate has strong neck muscles, is very light, if the 'drop' is too short, or the noose has been wrongly
positioned, the fracture-dislocation is not rapid and death results from slow asphyxiation. (Holsinger).
Seeing as hanging was the primary method of execution for a long time, many executions were botched
and many people died a slow, torturous death.
Lethal Injections are the most humane way to execute a person with todays technology. The
United States has always been innovative and constantly adopt new technology and tools (Miller). Lethal
injections is the next technological advancement for America to make towards a creating a more humane
execution policy. The three drug cocktail used by a majority of the 32 states with lethal injections is
composed of the drugs pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride (Lethal Injections).
These three drugs are strategically injected to make the patient as comfortable as possible. Pentobarbital is
an anesthetic used to free the patient from any pain or discomfort. Pancuronium bromide is a muscle
relaxant injected to prevent the struggling of the patient as to not botch the ability of the other drugs to
function. Finally, potassium chloride is injected to stop the heart and cause the patient to enter cardiac
arrest peacefully (Lethal Injections). This method doesnt sound anywhere near as horrible as being
burned and electrocuted, shot in the chest, or slowly suffocating in a metal chamber, making it the most
humane. The nature of the drugs make the three drug cocktail a more pleasant way for the felon to pay for
his/her crimes.
Lethal Injections should be the primary method of the United States Justice Department for capital
punishment because all other methods are inhumane, easily botched, and lethal injections are more
peaceful and mild. The death penalty will continue to be a controversial subject in the United States.
There are 2,905 inmates on death row in the United States as of July, 2016 (Holsinger). Thats 2,905 lives
waiting to be taken. By using lethal injections, the bodies of these people wont be burned, mangled,
corrupted, and tortured by the unjust means of execution still in our country today. Lethal injections will
allow these people to retain their right to avoid cruel and unusual punishment as guaranteed by the eighth
amendment of the United States.