The U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that Kentucky’s method of execution by lethal injection does not violate the Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The majority opinion is based largely on an 1890 ruling that defines cruel as punishments that “involve torture or a lingering death.”

But Death Penalty News argues that cruel is in the eye of the beholder or, at least, victim. The 1890 ruling is based in part on a 1879 Utah case that ended in a firing squad. Wallace Wilkerson lost his appeal to the Supremes and went before a firing squad in a jail yard. Prison authorities allowed Wally to decline a blindfold, which would turn out to be a mistake.

When the command to fire was given, Wilkerson flinched in anticipation of the bullets. A combination of that and some amazingly poor marksmanship resulted in the bullets riddling his arm and torso, but completely missing his ticker.

The unblindfolded Wilkerson looked up and shrieked:

My God! My God! They have missed!

It took nearly a half an hour for him to bleed to death in front of witnesses, including a doctor. But Wilkerson never complained that it was cruel.