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Death Penalty

Suddenly said:
It isn't an argument. It looks like you saw one word ("frivolous") and went off into the either and ignored the rest of the thread where your rather obvious point is exhaustively discussed.
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Oh puleeease! If you have a point state it in more than a soundbite, don't claim I didn't read your posts because I did.
 
I think most poignant thing I’ve gleaned from this very good discussion is that if you are wrongly accused of a crime you are better off being sentenced to death than life in prison.

That is a chilling indictment of our system.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I think most poignant thing I’ve gleaned from this very good discussion is that if you are wrongly accused of a crime you are better off being sentenced to death than life in prison.

That is a chilling indictment of our system.
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Yeah - Suddenly has made a strongly pragmatic case for having the death sentence within the current USA justice systems.
 
Several states are considering bringing back the firing squad, given the objections to current methods of execution.

Personally, I'm opposed to the death penalty, but it seems to me that if you're going to do it, it should be as quick and humane as possible. Hanging, when done properly, seems to fit that, though the objection from the US point of view seems to be that it echoes lynching, and that might not look good given the disproportionate number of Black men on death row; not sure why a gas chamber using nitrogen isn't being proposed since it is painless and doesn't use any special drugs.
 
zooterkin said:
Several states are considering bringing back the firing squad, given the objections to current methods of execution.

Personally, I'm opposed to the death penalty, but it seems to me that if you're going to do it, it should be as quick and humane as possible. Hanging, when done properly, seems to fit that, though the objection from the US point of view seems to be that it echoes lynching, and that might not look good given the disproportionate number of Black men on death row; not sure why a gas chamber using nitrogen isn't being proposed since it is painless and doesn't use any special drugs.
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I would not trust the average prison guard to be competent enough with firearms to not make a horrible mess of this. Trying to hit someone in the heart at 15 yards or closer with a rifle might not seem like much of a challenge, but I'm sure your average CO will find a way to muck it up.

Quick execution is a solved problem. Mechanical removal of the head (or total destruction by crushing as suggested here) works great and I doubt that this is any more traumatic than watching some guy slowly die as his lungs fill with blood after 3 moron guards miss their mark.
 
zooterkin said:
Several states are considering bringing back the firing squad, given the objections to current methods of execution.

Personally, I'm opposed to the death penalty, but it seems to me that if you're going to do it, it should be as quick and humane as possible. Hanging, when done properly, seems to fit that, though the objection from the US point of view seems to be that it echoes lynching, and that might not look good given the disproportionate number of Black men on death row; not sure why a gas chamber using nitrogen isn't being proposed since it is painless and doesn't use any special drugs.
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I'll second that. Add some heavy sedation beforehand, ideally.

Why we're obsessed with ritualistic methods escapes me.
 
zooterkin said:
Several states are considering bringing back the firing squad, given the objections to current methods of execution.

Personally, I'm opposed to the death penalty, but it seems to me that if you're going to do it, it should be as quick and humane as possible. Hanging, when done properly, seems to fit that, though the objection from the US point of view seems to be that it echoes lynching, and that might not look good given the disproportionate number of Black men on death row; not sure why a gas chamber using nitrogen isn't being proposed since it is painless and doesn't use any special drugs.
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Inert gas asphyxiation. Legal in, IIRR, three US states.
If course first ensure those to be killed are actually guilty....
 
SuburbanTurkey said:
I would not trust the average prison guard to be competent enough with firearms to not make a horrible mess of this. Trying to hit someone in the heart at 15 yards or closer with a rifle might not seem like much of a challenge, but I'm sure your average CO will find a way to muck it up.

Quick execution is a solved problem. Mechanical removal of the head (or total destruction by crushing as suggested here) works great and I doubt that this is any more traumatic than watching some guy slowly die as his lungs fill with blood after 3 moron guards miss their mark.
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The Thais used to favour a mounted machine gun...
 
SuburbanTurkey said:
I would not trust the average prison guard to be competent enough with firearms to not make a horrible mess of this. Trying to hit someone in the heart at 15 yards or closer with a rifle might not seem like much of a challenge, but I'm sure your average CO will find a way to muck it up.

Quick execution is a solved problem. Mechanical removal of the head (or total destruction by crushing as suggested here) works great and I doubt that this is any more traumatic than watching some guy slowly die as his lungs fill with blood after 3 moron guards miss their mark.
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Somewhat more traumatic for those who have to clear up afterwards than dealing with someone who has apparently just gone to sleep.
 
catsmate said:
The Thais used to favour a mounted machine gun...
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Practically speaking, there's really no reason why a firing squad shouldn't be using a gun that is mounted to a heavy, sturdy tripod.

Firing squads of riflemen as a method of execution is pretty stupid. I suppose it's convenient in the military context because it uses readily available equipment, but there's no reason other than weird nostalgia for modern executions to involve firearms. Most of these executions are decades in the making, there's plenty of time to arrange for more fool-proof methods.
 
JoeMorgue said:
If you can't handle the icky you shouldn't be killing people.
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Might be a valid argument if the person passing the sentence were the one who carried it out.

As I've already said, I oppose the death penalty; one of the reasons for that is that it does require somebody to push the button, pull the trigger, or whatever, and that is likely to have an effect on them. I don't think it's unreasonable to minimise that effect if the State insists on using use the death penalty.
 
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