Could the gas chamber return in the US?
The gas chamber remains on the books as a possible execution method in some states. Historian and author Scott 海角大神son talks about the gas chamber's surprising past and his expectations for the future.
'Gradually, capital punishment will end,' predicts Scott 海角大神son, historian and author of 'The Last Gasp.'
Many Americans know there鈥檚 a debate over lethal injection, but they may not realize that another execution method 鈥 the gas chamber 鈥 has vanished from death row. 听
Thanks to concern about horrific mishaps and pressure from federal judges, no state has put anyone to death by gas since 1999. But the gas chamber remains on the books as an execution method in California, Arizona, and Missouri, where the attorney general hinted in 2013 that the state could press deathly gas back into service amid a debate over lethal injection. 听
Two other states are on the list with an asterisk. Earlier this year, the governor of Oklahoma signed legislation allowing execution via nitrogen gas 鈥 not previously used in executions 鈥 if drugs for lethal injection are unavailable or the method is declared illegal. Wyoming has a similar policy in place, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
For now, no Death Row inmate will breathe a last breath of poisonous gas. On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled in Oklahoma鈥檚 favor and allowed it to continue lethal injections. Massachusetts historian Scott 海角大神son, author of 2010鈥檚 The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber, was disappointed but not defeated. A foe of capital punishment, he believes lethal injection belongs in the history books with deadly gas and every other tool of legalized execution. 听
In an interview, 海角大神son talks about the gas chamber鈥檚 surprising past, his thoughts about reducing harm in executions as they continue, and his expectations for the future.
鈥淚t鈥檚 folly to think that we can go ahead and claim that something is acceptable and effective and just start killing people,鈥 he says, 鈥渁nd then years later determine it really is problematic.鈥
Q: Tell us a little bit about the history of the gas chamber, which you explore in your book. Who first developed it?
The United States invented the gas chamber, something that was developed by the military and really favored by certain chemical interests. It was used for decades to kill several hundred people here. But it was picked up by the Nazis, who drew upon the experiences of the US and used it to kill more than 1 million innocent prisoners during the Holocaust.
Q: How did the Nazi experience affect executions in the US?
It really hung over the capital punishment debate and became one of the reasons why California and other states retreated from the gas chamber and began to resort to lethal injection.
Q: The gas chamber faded away in the US thanks to the Nazi connection and concerns about executions that went terribly wrong. Why has deadly gas come back into the debate in states like Oklahoma?
There鈥檚 an assertion that they don鈥檛 necessarily need a gas chamber, that they could simply use a gas mask or a gas tent, some sort of very limited contraption to pump nitrogen gas into somebody who鈥檚 breathing in order to kill them.
In Oklahoma, they did that听said this method won鈥檛 pose any kind of problems and not not require any kind of medical involvement. It what was said about lethal injection, the electric chair, and various other methods that have been abandoned because things haven鈥檛 turned out that way.
Q: What鈥檚 the connection between the debate over execution by gas and the one over euthanasia?
People have said gas will work well because it鈥檚 used by people who are committing suicide as part of the Right to Die movement.
In some countries, the rate of these suicide deaths is becoming very high. It鈥檚 irresponsible to put this method of execution out there and support it in this way that鈥檚 going to encourage its use outside of death row. It鈥檚 not simply a narrow issue of capital punishment.
Q: Many Americans believe that teens shouldn鈥檛 have sex, but they support educating them about how to protect themselves if they do. The idea is to reduce harm.听Along these lines, does it make sense to identify the most humane method of execution and push for it? Capital punishment isn鈥檛 likely to disappear anytime soon, so shouldn鈥檛 its foes devote some effort to reducing its harm while it exists?听
听It鈥檚 folly to think that we can go ahead and claim that something is acceptable and effective and just start killing people and then years later determine it really is problematic.
Q: What do you think will happen next in light of the the Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling?
The people who argue for capital punishment have run out of reasons for it. They can鈥檛 claim that it serves as a deterrent, and they can鈥檛 claim it saves resources or money.
The whole system is problematic and expensive with so much litigation. There are so many other factors like people becoming more aware of wrongful convictions.
These will still plague the death apparatus regardless of what the court does. Gradually, capital punishment will end.听
Randy Dotinga, a Monitor contributor, is president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.