Law Professor Says Lethal Injection Is Messy And Cruel

NEW YORK (June 13) – The horrible disfigurement of Bennie Demps by lethal injection in Florida last week shows “death by lethal injection is as cruel and unusual as any other method of execution,” says Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno, Ph.D., a national expert on capital punishment. “The public always assumes lethal injection is painless and quiet and medically sound, but it’s nothing like that at all. It’s administered by very inexperienced people who often can’t find a vein, and it is very painful.” Pictures of Demps’ disfigured body are being used as evidence of the brutality of lethal injection by attorneys for Florida death row inmate Joseph Provenzano, scheduled for execution next week. Denno’s writings on the constitutionality of capital punishment, which have been cited in court cases and provided the basis for expert testimony in state and federal courts on electrocution and lethal injection, will likely be used in the Provenzano case. Denno is available for interview