Capital Punishment and Enlightenment

1. Lethal injections in the United States are typically a three-part ordeal: a first anesthetic injection to induce something like a coma, a second to paralyze, and a third to stop the heart. If the first does its job, supposedly, the actual murder by the third is supposed to have not violated the 8th Amendment prohibition against ‘cruel and unusual punishments’. The second, let’s note in passing, by freezing the dying body in place, can only be for the benefit of the killers and witnesses.