onscious and smoke was coming from all over his body as a result of his flesh burning. An official there even tried to stop the execution on account of it being cruel and unusual punishment, but was unsuccessful. Witnesses later called the whole incident a "barbaric ritual." Another method of execution is the gas chamber; with this procedure a prisoner is put in a closed chamber and forced to inhale lethal fumes from a sulfuric acid and cyanide chemical reaction. According to a dissent by U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens concerning the 1992 execution of Don Harding, there did not seem to be any civilized aspect of the gas chamber method of executing prisoners. According to the report at first Harding tried to hold his breath inside the chamber, but was unsuccessful; when he finally inhaled some of the fumes his body started convulsing and the muscles and veins under his skin were twitching in a "wavelike motion." This execution took over eight minutes to complete and Mr. Harding was writhing in pain for most of that time. According to officials at the scene Harding did not fall unconscious until right before his death (Bedau).The latest method of executing prisoners on death roll has been lethal injection. It is deemed not barbaric by many people because of the fact that it does not cause struggles or maim the body like hangings, firing squads, electrocutions, or the gas chambers. Nonetheless, this method of executing is still barbaric. At the 1988 execution of Raymond Landry officials there had to repeatedly puncture him because he had very small veins. In addition to this cruel treatment, during the procedure a tube attached to theneedle leaked and the harsh chemicals used to kill Landry were sprayed in the direction of witnesses. Beside this case there have been cases where the victims was not given a strong enough dosage and writhed in pain for a long period of time while conscious. According to the many police officers ...
