inmates had their death sentences lifted because of the Furmann decision, between 1967 and 1972. The first execution after the Furmann case and the resulting decisions, came in January of 1977 when Gary Gilmore was executed in Utah. After this execution, the rates of death penalty usage bega!
             n to rise. Since 1984, there have been at least ten executions every year.At the end of the year 1997, 38 States and the Federal government had capital punishment law, while twelve states have no death penalty.
             There have been many methods used to execute a person since colonial times. Stories of being stoned to death, crushed, starved and dismembered have been relived in History classes all over. Yet, as the use of the death penalty progressed, there was a cry for more humane methods of executing persons for committing crimes. Today, there are five methods of execution accepted in the United States, they are: Electrocution, Hanging, Lethal Injection, Firing Squad and the Gas Chamber (Methods of Execution, 1999). Each method is unique in and of itself, and each state in the country has ruled on which, if any, method they will use to put a prisoner to death (Demographics of the Death Penalty). (See Appendix 1 at end)
             The use of lethal injection is the most widely used form of capital punishment because it is fast and humane (Methods of Execution, 1999). When this method is used, the prisoner is usually bound to a gurney and a member of the execution team positions several heart monitors on his skin. Two needles (one is a back-up) are then inserted into suitable veins, in the inmate's arms. Plastic tubes connect the needle to a hole in the cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution that is started immediately (Methods of Execution, 1999). Then, at the warden's signal, a curtain is raised exposing the inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room. The inmate is then injected ...