Beastly Humans: The Welfare Model of Executions

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.