Botched execution in America: How Could it Happen ?

America is the world leader in executions after China. Sometimes I wonder why the American criminal justice procedure condones so many executions. One would hope that with all these executions, the Americans would have perfected an ideal method to execute a criminal. I am afraid it is not so and the recent execution of Dennis McGuire is food for thought.

In America the method of execution is by injection of a lethal drug or by strapping to an electric chair. Both these methods in my opinion are more barbaric than a simple hanging.  In the case of Dennis McGuire he was injected with the lethal drug but he struggled for 25 minutes before he died. He was gasping a number of times.  There is no doubt that McGuire deserved to die for his crime of killing a pregnant woman, but surely this torture could have been avoided.