Here is an almost unbelievable story from the New York Times (note: site requires registration if you do not already have an NYT account):
State Can Make Inmate Sane Enough to Execute
The federal appeals court in St. Louis ruled yesterday that officials in Arkansas can force a prisoner on death row to take antipsychotic medication to make him sane enough to execute. Without the drugs, the prisoner, Charles Laverne Singleton, could not be put to death under a United States Supreme Court decision that prohibits the execution of the insane.
“We have to gave him antipsychotic drugs so he’s not crazy when we kill him…! Anything less would be cruel and unusual.”
Can anyone still argue that capital punishment is sane? What are we trying to deter?