The US Supreme Court will reconsider the lethal injection death penalty method to see whether or not it complies with the constitution.

The US Constitution forbids any cruel or unusual punishments. Therefore, death penalty opponents have criticized the lethal injection method, used in 98 percent of the most recent 500 executions, saying it can be very painful.

This method has three phases; the first one puts the prisoner to sleep, the second paralyzes his muscles and the third stops his heart.

However, if the first shot does not go according to plan, the two others become extremely painful.

There have been complaints that this procedure is very complicated and that prison personnel are not adequately trained and the risk of suffering is very high.

In the meantime, polls show that two-thirds of Americans support the method. More than 3,200 inmates remain on death row in the US.

The Supreme Court will announce its decision before July.

NA/BGH