Cruel and Unusual

Am I alone in thinking that, if the state has already made up its mind that someone is such a blight on society that they must be put to death that it's more than a little academic whether or not it hurts when they die?

They're being killed. They probably inflicted a lot of pain on someone (or several someones) to earn their sentence. I don't see any value in commuting a few moments' agony just to appease an already justification-riddled sense of fairness.

This is one more illustration of a basically OK idea that's been fucked up by bureaucrats, lawyers, and do-gooders getting their noses bent out of shape after sticking them where they have no business being.

Was there something -wrong- with shooting them? Other than it being messy and mediapathic? Hell, that might be a lot more effective as a deterrent. Most folks understand what a bullet is, whereas a three-drug cocktail is a much less concrete notion.

And, really - we've got some very good chemists in this country. How fucking hard can it be to whip up a one-drop solution?