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Joel Harford
ENG 123
Prof. Fisher
Fall 2015
Research Proposal
Recently, lethal injection as come into question on whether or not it is a humane form of
execution. The execution of inmates is bound by the 8th amendment of the United States of
America to not be cruel and unusual punishment (The Constitution of the United States,
Amendment 8). Many people see lethal injection as a human rights issue, while others see it as
the most humane way of enforcing the death penalty. California is in a legal and economic crisis
in regards to capital punishment, I will argue that California push for the repeal of lethal injection
over reforming the practice, as an immediate solution that would save the state millions, as well
as provide the state a way to close hundreds of legal cases.
I will argue for the repeal of lethal injection by looking at sources ranging from the
medical field to law review journals. I will look at the history of lethal injection to find root
causes of the issue in California. I will review researchers in the medical field who look at lethal
injection with various views the humaneness of lethal injection. Law review journals were used
to look at legal cases that have spurred an increase of litigation in California. The legal journals
also assist in building a timeline of the lethal injection issue. The investigation of the history of
capital punishment in California will start with the reinstatement in 1972, and lead up to the
failed proposition in 2012 and the current problem. The two solutions to the lethal injection
problem are reform of lethal injection methods or the repeal of its use as a method of execution. I
will be implementing a web page approach as an effective rhetoric medium to advocate for the

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solution. The web page is meant to appeal to the young voter group in California that can affect
change in the state.
The first step in researching this topic was looking at capital punishment as a whole.
Carol Steiker is a professor of law at Harvard Law School. She looked at the similarities and
differences between trends in mass incarceration and capital punishment. In her article she goes
into great depth of the history on how both subjects saw a dramatic increase of use. She also
looks at the difference in how capital punishment and standard sentences are treated differently
by the courts. This is an important source for looking at the history of capital punishment. To
look at the humaneness of lethal injection, it is important to look at the bigger picture of capital
punishment. Angelo J. Corlett has spent 30 years studying philosophy and punishment at San
Diego State University. He has looked at the issues of capital punishment in his book
Responsibility and Punishment. He explains in great detail each argument for and against capital
punishment. He looks at capital punishment as an institution that may be reformed to become an
effective punishment. The great detail that Corlett goes into will be invaluable to the argument of
retaining the use of lethal injection after proper reform. His book is the basis for one of the
solutions presented. Steiker and Corlett contribute arguments for and against capital punishment;
they will help me show both viewpoints on the subject.
Proceeding into research on lethal injection led to countless articles on the humaneness of
the practice. Sara Coln is a graduate from Berkeley school of law and, writing for the California
Law Review, studied the death penalty in California. She advocates for the repeal of the death
penalty in California citing 8th amendment violations. She looks at the definition of cruel and
unusual and lays down moral objections to the death penalty. She creates criteria for what is
considered cruel and unusual, which may also be used to judge lethal injection. Her analysis is

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great for reviewing the states obligation to constitutional compliance. Teresa A. Zimmers and her
team of researchers looked directly at the administration of lethal injection as a violation of the
8th amendment. Through research of many executions they found that even if lethal injection is
administered without technical error, those executed may experience suffocation (653). The
research into lethal injection has highlighted the frequent botched executions. They argue
strongly against lethal injection and side with the argument of lethal injection as a violation of
the 8th amendment. Looking at the history of lethal injection, we can see where these issues have
started.
Many researchers have argued that capital punishment saw an increase in use due to the
events of the 1960s War on Drugs. Looking at that time will show how attitudes towards
crime and punishment shifted to a more swift and severe approach. This was a time of increased
police force which led to a boost to incarcerations. Events in the early 70s are contributed to a
push for capital punishment as a form of deterrent. Looking at these events, such as the 1972
reinstatement of death penalty in California, show a push for severe punishments for criminals.
Carol Steiker had an in depth look at this time period, and the consequences of the increase of
incarceration. Her research will show a political push for swift and severe punishment schemes.
With the history of an increase in severe punishments leading to our current problems, I can
show that reversing course, in regards to severe punishments, can lead us on the path to
correction.
The legal troubles facing the state in regards to capital punishment began with the passing
of proposition 7 in 1978. This proposition called for an automatic Supreme Court appeal for
death penalty sentences. Scott Howe is a researcher at Chapman University School of law who
looked at the severe backlog of cases to be heard by the courts. His research directly relates to

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this proposition as a cause to the increase in court cases. With Howes research I can show how
reform in the capital punishment system is severely needed, both financially and legally.
Stanford Progressive shows that in 1994 lethal injection became the primary form of execution
when gas chambers were deemed unconstitutional. With gas chambers being decided as cruel
and unusual, I can look at the similarities with the use of lethal injection. A source to site would
be Teresa A. Zimmers, as she looked at the effects of lethal injection and the asphyxiation that
may occur during its administration. The asphyxiation endured there is comparable to that of gas
inhalant (Zimmers 646). The new execution method prompted inmates to argue for protection
due to 8th amendment rights.
The most important legal case in history to look at in my research is that of Michael
Morales. In 2006, a US District Court Judge blocked the execution due to concerns that improper
administer of the drugs could lead to intense pain. This is a very important legal case in my
research to the consequences of the ruling. The judge ruled that physicians must be present
during execution to ensure proper procedure. Joel Zivot researches philosophy, ethics &
humanities in medicine; he provides a look at physicians their role in lethal injection. He holds
that physicians should be absent in the execution process, directly conflicting with the judges
guideline. Due to physician absence, no executions have taken place since this event. The history
of lethal injection points towards two solutions.
The issues that lethal injection has brought may be solved by one of two solutions: The
repeal of lethal injection or the reform of the lethal injection process. The first solution most have
leaned towards is the repeal of lethal injection. Most have argued for removal of the death
penalty as a whole in California, I will focus on lethal injection in specific. The argument for
removing the use of lethal injection is led by the argument of humaneness. Proponents for

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removal of lethal injection hold that it violates the 8th amendment. Several Supreme Court cases,
including one this year, have contradicted these claims. Repeal of lethal injection would require
another solution be found for the inmates on death row. If lethal injection were outlawed the state
would need to discover a new form of capital punishment. For this reason, those who oppose
lethal injection lobby for removal of capital punishment as a whole. Removing capital
punishment would put an end to the hundreds of legal cases currently in litigation. The cost
saved from moving inmates from death row to life in prison without parole would save the state
millions. Removing lethal injection could prove to be a positive step in eliminating the death
penalty in California.
Capital punishment proponents are pushing for the reform of lethal injection. J. Angelo
Corlett advocates for suspending capital punishment sentences for ten years to leave room for
reforming and closing all pending cases (149). Reforming lethal injection would involve not only
changing the process in execution, but finding a way to alleviate the litigation stress on
California. CNN reports that Oklahoma has recently changed to a new method but is now under
investigation for using the incorrect drug (Vogue, par. 1). Inconsistencies in other injection
methods pose a problem for this solution.
With the lack of executions in California since 2006 and questions of 8th
amendment violations, I will argue that California remove lethal injection from use immediately,
rather than wait until the state can find another execution method that is able to be utilized.
Removing lethal injection, thus ending current litigation against its use, would save the state
millions as well as bring the state to reevaluate the moral implications of capital punishment. I
feel the moral justification for repealing lethal injection is important for establishing us as a state
that cares about human rights, even for those we have decided deserve death.

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Works Cited
A Timeline of the Death Penalty in California Stanford Progressive. Oct. 2011 Web. 18 Nov.
2015
Alper, Ty. The United States Execution Drug Shortage: A Consequence of Our Values. Brown
Journal of World Affairs. 21.1 (2014): 27-39. OneSearch. Web 11 Nov. 2015.
Blythe, Harrison. Laboratories of Democracy? Or Machinery of death? The Story of Lethal
Injection Secrecy and a Call to the Supreme Court for Intervention. Case Western
Reserve Law Review. 65.4 (2015): 1269-1289. OneSearch. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Coln, Sara. Capital Crime: How Californias Administration of the Death Penalty Violates the
Eight Amendment California Law Review. 97.5 (2009): 1377-1417. Business Source
Premier. Web 12 Nov. 2015.
Corlett, Angelo J. "Responsibility and Punishment." Library of Ethics and Applied Philosophy.
4th Ed. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2013. Webcat. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Davis, Michael. "The Death Penalty, Civilization, and Inhumanness." Social Theory & Practice.
16.2 (1990): 245-259. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Denno, Deborah W. "Lethal injection Chaos Post-Baze." Georgetown Law Journal 102.5 (2014):
1331-1382. Business Source Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2015.
Giby, George, and Jennifer Stanford. The Ethics of Medical Involvement in Lethal Injection
Executions: Discussing the Role of the Anesthesia Provider. Penn Bioethics Journal 7.1
(2011): 33-37. OneSearch. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Hodgkinson, Peter, ed. Capital Punishment: New Perspectives. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing
Company, 2013. Webcat. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

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Howe, Scott W. "Can California Save Its Death Sentences? Will Californians Save the Expense?"
Cardozo Law Review 33.4 (2012): 1451-1516. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov.
2015.
Langford, Catherine L. "Tinkering With the Machinery of Death: The Body-As-Gauge in
Discourses about Capital Punishment." Argumentation & Advocacy. 51.3 (2015): 153170. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 November 2015.
LeGraw, Joan M., and Michael A. Grodin. "Health Professionals And Lethal Injection Execution
In The United States." Human Rights Quarterly 24.2 (2002): 382-423. Criminal Justice
Abstracts. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
Murphy, Jeffrie G. "Christianity and Criminal Punishment." Punishment & Society. 5.3 (2003):
261-278. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Price, Keith J., and Gary R. Byrd. Capital Punishment in Texas and California: A Comparison.
Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice. 4.2 (2008): 207-227. PsycINFO. Web. 12 Nov.
2015.
Steiker, Carol S. "Mass Incarceration: Causes, Consequences, and Exit Strategies." Ohio State
Journal of Criminal Law. 9.1 (2011): 1-6. Web. 2 Nov 2015.
Steiker, Carol S. and Jordan M. Steiker. "The Death Penalty and Mass Incarceration:
Convergences and Divergences." American Journal of Criminal Law. 14.2 (2004): 189207. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Varelius, Jukka. "Execution By Lethal Injection, Euthanasia, Organ-Donation And The Proper
Goals Of Medicine." Bioethics 21.3 (2007): 140-149. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14
Nov. 2015.

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Vogue, Ariane de. Oklahoma delays further executions while system is reviewed CNN.com.
Cable News Network. 8 Oct. 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Zimmers, Teresa A., et al. Lethal Injection for Execution: Chemical Asphyxiation? Plos
Medicine. 4.4 (2007): 646-653. OneSearch. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Zivot, Joel B. "The Absence of Cruelty is Not the Presence of Humanness: Physicians and the
Death Penalty in the United States." Philosophy, Ethics & Humanities in Medicine 7.1
(2012): 1-4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov 2015.