Citation

Walker RL. Crim. Justice Ethics 2017; 36(1): 78-96.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Jay College of Criminal Justice - Institute for Criminal Justice Ethics, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/0731129X.2017.1301520

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the United States at present, the death penalty is a possible sentence in 31 out of 50 states, as well as within the military and for federal cases. In the U.S., numbers of executions are declining, in part due to moratoriums in place and challenges to execution by lethal injection. Participation by physicians in lethal injection executions has been steadfastly viewed by professional medical organizations as contrary to their ethical standards. However, physicians have participated in lethal injection executions, and the morality of the death penalty itself is a matter of intense social and political debate. Medical ethics commentators and professional organizations have typically held that the prohibition on physician participation in the death penalty is independent of the ethical status of the death penalty itself. This article argues that this view is untenable, and that it is tied to a view of professional role virtue that is similarly untenable. At the same time, it argues that, given the morally uncertain status of the death penalty, it is plausible that virtuous physicians may either refuse or choose to participate in some aspects of the death penalty.

Language: en

Keywords

capital punishment; death penalty; humane execution; lethal injection; physician professionalism; professional ethics; virtue