Forty years ago this month America entered the era of execution by lethal injection. On Dec. 7, 1982, Texas used this method for the first time to put Charles Brooks Jr. to death. Since then, lethal injection has been used in almost 90% of all American executions.
Before the introduction of lethal injection, proponents claimed that it would solve America's century-long quest to find an execution method that was safe, reliable and humane. As one of them said, it would mean that executions could be carried out with "no struggle, no stench, no pain."
