One of the chemicals used to create the infamous lethal injection cocktail, sodium thiopental, has become near impossible for states to obtain. States like Texas have tried to implement the use of pentobarbital, a drug used in the euthanization of animals, but at what ethical costs are we willing to risk with such a ethically difficult form of justice.

With Judge Jeremy Fogel set to rule on the constitutionality of California’s lethal injection procedure after a five-year execution moratorium, the death penalty debate has reentered Californian’s psyche.