Tennessee is bringing back old sparky

[superfreddy]

I believe the reason we went to lethal injection and away from electrocution was because of all the "botched" executions with the electric chair.

If I had a choice, I would choose carbon monoxide.

 

[The Norseman]

Here's an alien thought -- how about zero executions by any method dreamed up by mankind?

 

[BardKesnit]

I wonder if the horrifying aspect of being electrocuted would add as an additional crime deterrent. I personally think it falls under cruel and unusual punishment and it will be challenged in the courts.

I'm not sure if a challenge will succeed. The chair was used for a rather long time (removing the "unusual" aspect). It's use fell out not because of challenges, but because lethal injection became more popular.

In fact the firing squad seem the best (and probably instantaneous as multiple bullet mush your heart - insta heart stopping and unconsciousness probably within seconds - IMNAD).

Not a lot of states used the firing squad, whereas many used the chair. I think that would be an issue with switching to firing squad - it would be something "new" for most states.

I'd choose hanging for myself, if I were being executed and got a choice. It's picturesque, short, and while it can be botched it would even so be more pleasant than being cooked alive by the chair. Hell, people have burst into flames on that thing.

I agree. Until there is a short drop by mistake...

Here's an alien thought -- how about zero executions by any method dreamed up by mankind?

That would be ideal. But if we start the argument not from "eliminate the death penalty" but "ok, we use it, so how should we do it," it makes sense to discuss various methods and find the (looking for phrase) most practical.

 

[marplots]

They could modernize the chair simply by adding a selfie to the routine.

"Any last tweets?"

 

[12AX7]

Apparently tehre are more "botched" (going away from protocol) execution with lethal injection than with sparky.

Just be sure to wet the sponge first. Percy didn't wet the sponge and we all know what happened then.

 

[Corsair 115]

Too expensive. Just throw them off a tall building.

Or take them skydiving. Only their parachute doesn't open.

 

[The Norseman]

That would be ideal. But if we start the argument not from "eliminate the death penalty" but "ok, we use it, so how should we do it," it makes sense to discuss various methods and find the (looking for phrase) most practical.

Best, most practical, and least anxiety-producing probably is oxygen deprivation as has been brought up in similar threads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation

It strikes me as going back to a more barbaric time with the use of the electric chair. Does anyone remember what problems it had when used in the past? Pretty horrific.

 

[Cleon]

I'd choose hanging for myself, if I were being executed and got a choice. It's picturesque, short, and while it can be botched it would even so be more pleasant than being cooked alive by the chair. Hell, people have burst into flames on that thing.

Plus you get the opportunity to have your last word be "WHEEEEEEEEE-"

 

[MontagK505]

Seems like they could solve a lot of problems with these execution methods if they went all-in for quickness of death, rather than methods that I guess seem more peaceful. Like, why not just get a good-sized high-explosive shaped charge, position it at the base of the skull, have maybe 3 detonators for redundancy, and go with that method? Best I can tell, that'd be quicker than pretty much anything else, though not so easy to watch for the witnesses - but I'm not too concerned about them.

The guillotine is faster, more humane and more efficient. It is messy although. It requires less energy than the electric chair. It doesn't require special skills like lethal injection or marksmanship with a rifle. I spoke to a doctor friend about this and he stated the the neurological shock of cutting the spinal cord would render you unconscious. The loss of blood pressure would keep you out until brain death. Sometimes the gallows doesn't cleanly break the neck. Especially, if you have a sadistic hangman.

 

[MontagK505]

Best, most practical, and least anxiety-producing probably is oxygen deprivation as has been brought up in similar threads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation

It strikes me as going back to a more barbaric time with the use of the electric chair. Does anyone remember what problems it had when used in the past? Pretty horrific.

I read the first time they used the electric chair it took several jolts before the guy died after several broken bones from the convulsions. The guillotine is more humane and doesn't require special preparation of the prisoner.

 

[The Norseman]

I read the first time they used the electric chair it took several jolts before the guy died after several broken bones from the convulsions. The guillotine is more humane and doesn't require special preparation of the prisoner.

I agree except that it's a damn sight bloody and we enlightened ( ) Americans are squeamish as hell. At least the inert gas asphyxiation (IGA) doesn't need special training, is humane to the prisoner and bloodless to watch. There are no poisons to worry about and there are still probably a few gas chambers still around that can be used as IGA chambers. It can easily be silent so the prisoner doesn't hear the deadly hissing of killing gases.

I'm almost of the mind that we should use bloody executions though because maybe that'll get more people on board to banning executions altogether. I hesitate because I still think a sizable percentage of Americans would love to witness such an event, just as towns would gather for hangings or the guillotine.

 

[a_unique_person]

Have the prison authorities never suggested poison gas?

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

Have the prison authorities never suggested poison gas?

No, like lining people up at the edge of a ditch and shooting them, the Nazi regime gave a useful technique a somewhat bad name.

 

[Hungry81]

Replace the mannequins in nuclear test sights with condemned.

 

[michael44]

There's no denying the electric chairs capacity to torture humans. Even when its working right, some people, like those who respond to a stun gun as though it were a toy, are simply harder to kill. .. I think a good option might be to wheel in a portable blood bank, and instead of only donating a pint, have them donate ALL of their blood. Who knows, it might save a life!

 

[a_unique_person]

There's no denying the electric chairs capacity to torture humans. Even when its working right, some people, like those who respond to a stun gun as though it were a toy, are simply harder to kill. .. I think a good option might be to wheel in a portable blood bank, and instead of only donating a pint, have them donate ALL of their blood. Who knows, it might save a life!

Apparently China is already working on variants of that idea. Of course, it gives you an incentive to harvest body parts then.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

They're resurrecting Charles Schultz?

 

[a_unique_person]

Scientific American has some interesting insights

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com...ute-execution-deemed-humane-in-ohio-analysis/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ath-penalty-is-a-medical-procedure-editorial/

Ohio's stockpile of pentobarbital, its backup drug, expired in 2009, and so the state turned to an experimental cocktail containing the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone. But the executioner was flying blind. Execution drugs are not tested before use, and this experiment went badly. The priest who gave McGuire his last rites reported that McGuire struggled and gasped for air for 11 minutes, his strained breaths fading into small puffs that made him appear “like a fish lying along the shore puffing for that one gasp of air.” He was pronounced dead 26 minutes after the injection.
There is a simple reason why the drug cocktail was not tested before it was used: executions are not medical procedures. Indeed, the idea of testing how to most effectively kill a healthy person runs contrary to the spirit and practice of medicine. Doctors and nurses are taught to first “do no harm”; physicians are banned by professional ethics codes from participating in executions. Scientific protocols for executions cannot be established, because killing animal subjects for no reason other than to see what kills them best would clearly be unethical. Although lethal injections appear to be medical procedures, the similarities are just so much theater.

 

[MontagK505]

I agree except that it's a damn sight bloody and we enlightened ( ) Americans are squeamish as hell. At least the inert gas asphyxiation (IGA) doesn't need special training, is humane to the prisoner and bloodless to watch. There are no poisons to worry about and there are still probably a few gas chambers still around that can be used as IGA chambers. It can easily be silent so the prisoner doesn't hear the deadly hissing of killing gases.

I'm almost of the mind that we should use bloody executions though because maybe that'll get more people on board to banning executions altogether. I hesitate because I still think a sizable percentage of Americans would love to witness such an event, just as towns would gather for hangings or the guillotine.

I don't think public executions would catch on because the British did a study in the 19th century that suggested there was no deterrent value to public executions. It seems that 84% of the people on death row had seen one or more public executions.
One thing that might discourage capital punishment would be to require the prosecution, judge and jury to take part in carrying out the punishment. One idea is to have a guillotine release connected to a circuit that all the court members who ordered the execution would have to complete in order for the blade to fall. If they lose their nerve than the prisoner has the sentence converted to life without parole. My reasoning is that if you are going to order a persons death you should have the courage to carry it out. They may be following the law but it is still their decision.

 

[The Norseman]

I don't think public executions would catch on because the British did a study in the 19th century that suggested there was no deterrent value to public executions. It seems that 84% of the people on death row had seen one or more public executions.
One thing that might discourage capital punishment would be to require the prosecution, judge and jury to take part in carrying out the punishment. One idea is to have a guillotine release connected to a circuit that all the court members who ordered the execution would have to complete in order for the blade to fall. If they lose their nerve than the prisoner has the sentence converted to life without parole. My reasoning is that if you are going to order a persons death you should have the courage to carry it out. They may be following the law but it is still their decision.

Huh. Interesting thought. At a minimum, they should all view the execution when it happens. Unfortunately, the average stay on death row is 11 years. Our little thought experiment implies that the excution be done relatively quickly. Perhaps within a matter of months.

Naturally this limits the time available to go through the appeals process which would probably increase the rate of unintentional executions.