From the Los Angeles Times:
Oklahoma’s Lethal Injections Called Fatally Flawed
By Henry Weinstein, Times Staff Writer
August 8, 2006Death by lethal injection faces a significant challenge in federal court today in Oklahoma City, with doctors contending that the state’s method creates an unnecessary risk that a condemned inmate will suffer excruciating pain, in violation of the constitutional prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
Nearly 30 years ago, Oklahoma became the first state to develop a procedure for lethal injection — leading three dozen other states to develop similar methods.
Like challenges to lethal injection in several other states — including California — the one in Oklahoma contends that although lethal injection is supposed to be more humane than earlier execution methods, it often masks a painful death.