Beastly humans: the welfare model of executions

Jones, Imogen and Malkani, Bharat ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3724-2444 2017. Beastly humans: the welfare model of executions. Law, Culture and the Humanities 10.1177/1743872117739563

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Abstract

In determining whether executions are “humane,” authorities in the USA tend to balance the interest of the condemned person to be free from suffering with the interest of observers to be free from distress. This “welfare model” mirrors the approach to terminating the lives of companion non-human animals. We argue, therefore, that lethal injections are unconstitutional not because of the risk of pain that they present, but because, as a matter of principle they relegate human beings to the same moral space as non-human animals. This conflicts with the Eighth Amendment requirement that punishments respect the dignity of the person.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Cardiff Law & Politics Law Cardiff Centre for Crime, Law and Justice (CCLJ)
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General)
Publisher:	SAGE
ISSN:	1743-8721
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 November 2017
Date of Acceptance:	9 October 2017
Last Modified:	19 Nov 2024 03:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/106158

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