Re: Why are lethal injection needles starilized before they are put into use?

Your question is a good question and not as easy to answer as one might 
think.  Why are sterilize needles used in lethal injections?  Many 
individuals supporting the death penalty believe that no other care should 
be given to such dangerous criminals.  However, there are a few 
considerations that maybe you might want to think about.  One of these is 
for the safety of the individuals administering the injection, or more 
importantly the individual inserting the needles.  Sometimes despite how 
careful someone thinks they are being, one can receive a needle prick.  Now 
for the criminal, most would say no big deal.  But what about the 
individual responsible for inserting the needles?  Any infectious or 
unsterile needle would then be a hazard to this individual (a doctor or law 
enforcement individual).  There are all sorts of dangerous diseases out in 
our world today and quite a few are transmitted through and/or by the use 
of unsterile needles.  I do not think you would want to unintentionally 
injure any other individual associated with this process?  To 
unintentionally give this individual a disease, maybe even fatal, to 
themselves?  Also, if for some reason the lethal injection process did not 
work the first time due to a bad needle (clogged or bent), the 
administrators would again put themselves at risk for an additional needle 
prick when they had to change out needles.  So by using sterile needles, it 
is a safety measure for the other individuals involved in the process and 
not necessarily the criminal.

And despite this being a criminal, they are still human beings.  There are 
rules of ethics in our society.  There are different rules for different 
societies and in ours, we would like to think we afford everyone some since 
of dignity, compassion, and safety; even if they are a convicted criminal.  
Some societies do not think this way and do unspeakable things to convicted 
individuals.  It's called cruel and unusual punishment.  In our society, we 
like to think everyone has a right to a dignified death by a method that 
does not create excessive pain or is long and drawn out.  The use of 
sterile needles plays into the philosophy of a dignified death and not a 
cruel or unusual punishment.  The individual, even though a dangerous 
criminal, is afforded the opportunity for a dignified death by a swift, 
clean method.  The use of sterile needles fulfills this requirement.

Also, in one sense, it may be a legal issue not to afford the criminal an 
opportunity to file an appeal against the use of dangerous, unsterile 
needles.  The thought of being stuck by an infectious needle may create 
undue mental torture for an individual - cruel and unusual punishment.  For 
some individuals, they have no problems facing the death penalty; but it 
may be quite upsetting for them to think about being stuck by an infectious 
needle.  It's not saying our legal system is outrageously flawed, but the 
individual condemned to die still has the right to appeal and if the court 
found that the mental torture the individual endured by the thought of 
being stuck by unsterilized needles was cruel and unusual punishment, the 
sentence may be commuted to life in prison or day of execution delayed 
until another more humane execution method is identified.  This affords the 
criminal to live longer, file more appeals, and may not have to die at all. 

So even if you are a supporter or not for the death penalty, the use of 
sterile needles used in the lethal injection process is first of all of a 
safety concern.  The other considerations are important but not as 
important as providing safety to the other individuals involved in the 
process.

I hope this will begin to answer your question as there are still many 
other reasons for why we do things the way we do.  Keep searching and you 
will find the answers you are looking for.