窒息、呕吐、抽搐、痛不欲生……想到注射死刑过程中，在生死临界点可能经历的这些体验，美国密苏里州的死刑犯Russell Bucklew觉得惶惶不可终日。
现年50岁的Russell Bucklew早在1996年就被宣判了死刑，涉及的罪名包括谋杀、强奸和绑架。
(Via Missouri Department of Corrections)
20多年前，Bucklew枪杀了他前女友Stephanie Ray当时的伴侣Michael Sanders，绑架并强奸了Ray，枪伤了Sanders6岁的儿子，并在被捕前枪伤了一名警察。
这个犯下滔天罪行的死刑犯，终于等来了他血债血偿的一天。不过，这个患有先天海绵状血管瘤的罪犯却申请避免使用注射死刑，改用毒气死刑，理由是，他的病症导致注射死刑会增加他临死时的痛苦。
Bucklew argued that his congenital condition, cavernous hemangioma, might cause him excessive pain if he is put to death by lethal injection.Bucklew辩称，假如使用注射死刑的方式对他执行死刑，他的先天性海绵状血管瘤（由众多薄壁血管组成的海绵状异常血管团）可能导致他极度疼痛。The condition causes blood-filled tumours in his throat, neck and face, which he said could rupture during his execution causing him extreme pain and suffocation.这种疾病在他的喉咙、颈部和脸上形成充满血液的血管瘤，据他说，这些血管瘤可能在行刑过程中破裂，导致极度的疼痛和窒息。According to Bucklew, he would feel excessive pain if the state executioner is allowed to use the state's preferred method of a single drug, pentobarbital, applied by needle.据Bucklew称，假如行刑者使用密苏里州首选的针筒注射单一药物戊巴比妥（麻醉剂），他会感到极度痛苦。▲US Supreme Court rules inmate has 'no right to painless death' (via BBC)
美国是首个采用注射死刑的国家。根据不列颠百科全书记载，注射死刑是美国最广泛采用的死刑执行方式。
Lethal injection—now the most widely used method of execution in the United States—was first adopted by the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1977, because it was considered cheaper and more humane than either electrocution or lethal gas.注射死刑——目前在美国最为广泛采用的死刑执行方式——于1977年首次被俄克拉何马州采用，因为它被认为比电刑和毒气死刑更便宜、更人性化。Texas was the first state to administer lethal injection, executing Charles Brooks, Jr., on December 2, 1982.1982年12月2日，德克萨斯州首次采用注射死刑对小Charles Brooks执行死刑。By the early 21st century, lethal injection was the sole method of execution in most U.S. states where capital punishment was legal, and it was an option for prisoners in all states.到21世纪初期，大多数将死刑合法化的美国联邦州把注射死刑定为唯一的死刑执行方式。在其他一些州，注射死刑也是可选项之一。▲Lethal injection (via britannica.com)
尽管注射死刑的引入是出于人道的考虑，通常情况下，注射死刑的效果类似于安乐死，可也有例外，注射死刑不但没有减轻死刑犯的痛苦，反而加重了他们临死前的痛苦程度。美国历史上就有不少案例。
Joseph Rudolph Wood (via AP)
2014年，亚利桑那州州立监狱对死刑犯Joseph Wood执行注射死刑的过程持续了近2个小时，过程十分痛苦。这一事件还引起了美国注射死刑反对者的抗议。
(Via ABC News)
(Via The Guardian)
By the time Wood died, after nearly two hours, he had been injected with 750mg each of midazolam and hydromorphone: 15 times the amounts called for in the state’s execution protocol.从开始行刑到Wood死去，经历了将近两个小时。他被分别注射了750毫克的咪达唑仑和氢吗啡酮，是该州死刑执行协议规定计量的15倍。Wood’s death, on 23 July, was the third highly problematic execution in the US this year, following those of Dennis McGuire in Ohio in January and Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma in April, which were also drawn-out and led to accusations that the inmates may have endured a level of distress prohibited by the US constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment”.2014年7月23日Wood的死，是当年美国第三大死刑执行事故。此前的两起事故是1月俄亥俄州对Dennis McGuire，和4月俄克拉何马州对Clayton Lockett执行的死刑过程都是超时的，引发了民众的指责，囚犯可能已经忍受了美国宪法所禁止的一定程度的痛苦，美国宪法禁止“残忍和不寻常的惩罚”。▲Arizona inmate Joseph Wood was injected 15 times with execution drugs (via The Guardian)
不过，美国最高法院裁定，Bucklew无权得到“无痛死刑”。
But the Supreme Court's conservative justices said on Monday they considered the legal effort to be a stalling tactic.但是当地时间周一，最高法院保守派大法官们说，他们认为Bucklew的说辞只是一种拖延战术。They said it was up to the prisoner to prove that another method of execution would "reduce a substantial risk of severe pain", but he had not done so.他们说，一切都取决于罪犯是否可以证明另外一种行刑方式可以“减轻潜在的剧痛的风险”，但他并没有那么做。▲US Supreme Court rules inmate has 'no right to painless death' (via BBC)
大法官们在裁决书中表示，美国宪法并没有担保死刑犯的死刑过程一定是无痛的。
US Supreme Court: (Front L-R) Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, Jr; (Back L-R) Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh (via Getty Images)
"The eighth amendment [to the US constitution] forbids 'cruel and unusual' methods of capital punishment but does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death," wrote Justice Gorsuch, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017.美国总统特朗普2017年任命的Neil Gorsuch大法官在裁决书中写道，“美国宪法第八修正案禁止‘残忍和非寻常’的死刑执行方式，但并没有担保死刑犯的死刑过程一定是无痛的。”▲US Supreme Court rules inmate has 'no right to painless death' (via BBC)
不过，自由派大法官们认为，根据Bucklew的情况，应当允许使用氮气对他执行死刑，这种方式在美国三个州都是允许的。
"There are higher values than ensuring that executions run on time," wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a separate opinion, adding that secrecy in the death penalty process has recently yielded different results in two similar cases.Sonia Sotomayor大法官在一份单独的意见书中写道：“（允许使用氮气执行死刑）比按时行刑有着更重要的价值。”她补充说，死刑的私密性问题在两桩类似的案件中产生了不同的结果。▲US Supreme Court rules inmate has 'no right to painless death' (via BBC)
Sotomayor大法官所指的这两个案件是，阿拉巴马州的一名穆斯林男子被禁止在他死刑过程中由伊玛目为他祷告，而在另一个类似的案件中，一个佛教徒在他的死刑过程中，申请他的精神导师能够在场，而被法院裁定暂停对他执行。
而Gorsuch大法官提到这两个案件时表示，阿拉巴马州的那名名叫Dominique Ray的犯人在行刑前有着充裕的时间提出申请，但Ray却选择在他刑期到来前15天才提出申请。
你觉得罪犯的要求合理吗？欢迎留言分享你的观点！整合：Du Qiongfang
整合：BBC, The Guardian, britannica.com
图/题图：Missouri Department of Corrections, Getty Images, AP, 网络
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