Death penalty in USA becomes brutal torture for prisoners

[Arawn-ap-Hywel]

Death penalty in USA becomes brutal torture for prisoners - Pravda.Ru

The use of lethal injections in the US has led to at least nine bungled executions, including one in which the prisoner took 69 minutes to die and another in which the condemned man complained five times: "It don't work," a report by Amnesty International says today. The report contains a catalogue of botched executions dating from 2000, when lethal injection was adopted by 37 of the 38 US states with the death penalty. In an execution in Ohio in May last year it took technicians 22 minutes to find a suitable vein in which to inject the lethal combination of three drugs. When the condemned man, Joseph Clark, raised his head to complain that the process was not working, the technicians closed the curtains around his trolley and spent an additional 30 minutes looking for a suitable vein. An autopsy discovered 19 puncture marks on Clark's corpse

the good old noose or short sharp firing squad may be more humane folks?

[Osborn F Enready]

I have long said it is more humane to have a firing squad.

In todays day and age, there is no need to even have men holding the guns, it could be done by computer, removing the trauma from the task of simply doing the job.

[Arawn-ap-Hywel]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready I have long said it is more humane to have a firing squad. In todays day and age, there is no need to even have men holding the guns, it could be done by computer, removing the trauma from the task of simply doing the job.

Osborne excellent a computer controlled execution, could even be linked to an Xbox or on line gaming live linked to Youtube. shall we say $100 a pop? Guess a gross felon is worth that much?

[ruksak]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready I have long said it is more humane to have a firing squad. In todays day and age, there is no need to even have men holding the guns, it could be done by computer, removing the trauma from the task of simply doing the job.

I was gonna say just that. Many people don't know, but the firing squad is still used in a few American states. Its a "volunteer" only option. Hasn't been used since the 70's though.

I guess they give one of the guards a blank to remove the guilt factor.

I have long felt that executions should be a public display. Not for entertainment purposes, of course.

[xyzer]

Maybe we should give the person to be executed a choice of method?
Lethal injection is obviously the easiest and probably consists of little if any pain? The condemned can be painlessly drugged before a lethal shot(one example of a person with veins difficult to find is not proof of anything) I've been pricked several times when giving blood and it isn't so bad?
Then there is by firing squad..over in a few seconds. Or head chopping with a sword or other blade(more common in Islamic countries)
Hanging is probably the most brutal
Bottom line! What difference does it make to you if you are rendered dead how you die?

[Osborn F Enready]

I can agree with having a death penalty IF the courts provide justice, and the law is clear, as is the facts of the case.

I don't trust the current courts, nor do I have faith in them finding justice, so I currently have a problem with the death penalty.

To address xyzer's point: Bottom line! What difference does it make to you if you are rendered dead how you die?

If death is going to be part of the justice system, it can't be torture in my opinion, therefore, it must be quick, painless and effective.

As of late, they have been having problems making it quick, or painless.

I think we need some serious debate on this issue at the highest levels of government, but with the people filling those seats now, it wouldn't result in anything but more injustice.

[Milton Bradley]

As long as there is never talk of removing the death penalty for treasonous scoundrels. That threat, and the fear it involks is there for a reason.

[pinocchio]

It's total nonsense that these cretins couldn't find the guy's vein. And why is it that a fully qualified doctor is not appointed to do this job?

I myself have had a surgeon stick a needle in my arm and ask me to start counting. I counted to five and passed out.

That's exactly how it should be done. Not three drugs... just one to knock out the condemned man - and then a lethal injection straight into the heart.

[cnredd]

Why don't they just send death row inmates to Miami Beach or Detroit with $500?...

They'd all OD by next Tuesday...problem solved...

[ruksak]

Quote by: cnredd Why don't they just send death row inmates to Miami Beach or Detroit with $500?... They'd all OD by next Tuesday...problem solved...

....and they'd kill my child while breaking into my house to steal my microwave.



Bad idea. I say, use them for Operation Human Sheild in Iraq.

[Suburbanite]

Off with their heads!

[pinocchio]

Do what they do in China with their prisoners... auction their body-parts on the international market to the highest bidder.

Kidneys, corneas, hearts, etc. These are valuable commodities that should be harvested from the inmates on death row.

What's not transplantable can be ground up and sold as chicken or pig-feed for $10 a 25kilo bag at the supermarkets.

:)

[donfie]

If execution is used as a deterrant, doesn't it make more sense to make it as painful as possible? Wouldn't it be a better idea to go back to public executions? And if it's a punishment wouldn't it also be a better idea to make it hurt like hell?

[ruksak]

Quote by: donfie If execution is used as a deterrant, doesn't it make more sense to make it as painful as possible? Wouldn't it be a better idea to go back to public executions? And if it's a punishment wouldn't it also be a better idea to make it hurt like hell?

Best point made in this thread yet.

[Thanatos]

Unfortunately, executions do not make a very good deterrent because most criminals do not believe they will be caught.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/DonohueDeter.pdf

I don't like the death penalty because using it implies absolute certainty that the accused is guilty, and I don't do absolute certainty. If it has to be done I don't see why they got rid of firing squads; you'd think that several people aiming for your heart and forehead from close range would be pretty much instantaneous.

[The Decider]

Quote by: donfie If execution is used as a deterrant, doesn't it make more sense to make it as painful as possible? Wouldn't it be a better idea to go back to public executions? And if it's a punishment wouldn't it also be a better idea to make it hurt like hell?

Quote by: ruksak Best point made in this thread yet.

Donfie would have a great point except for one small technicality: the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

The Bill of Rights: Bail, Fines, and Cruel and Unusual Punishments

[Osborn F Enready]

I agree Decider.

[donfie]

Not my idea I will admit (from Wikipedia actually) but the use of the word "and" instead of "or" is, indeed significant.

This IS my idea: This means that punishments can be cruel if they are not unusual. If burning at the stake becomes the norm then it is no longer unusual and thus the cruelty of it becomes irrelevant.

But that's way off point and is just me arguing for arguments sake (I hate myself sometimes).

I should really point out that I am actually completely opposed to the death penalty for the same reasons Thanatos gave.

If one innocent is executed in error then that is one too many. Removing that person from society permanently is enough in order to protect the public from that person and to allow scope for erroneous decisions. Death is irreversible.

It's very simplistic, I know, but I just can't get a handle on the fact that, "Killing is so bad that, if you do it, we'll kill you".

[nerdvincent]

I agree. And for those who will say the murderer earn death, well just tell yourself that being in jail for the rest of his life is way worse than death...for peoples who want it to be worse.
Some people, a very few of course, take a new start in jail. They open schoolbooks and study, learn for the sake of learning, and eventually live happily for it. And if a good day they get out of the hole, for a reason X or Y, they are new, useful and possibly good peoples. Death sentence don't let that chance, and every crimes can be forgiven. And for the other ones well they get bored till they're living dead. It's bad enough to punish them.

[grandpa]

Quote by: nerdvincent And for those who will say the murderer earn death, well just tell yourself that being in jail for the rest of his life is way worse than death...

Well, also consider how wanting another to die or face something "worse than death" is ultimately sharing the conscience of a murderer. Being changed in that way is not really that healthy, I think. This is not to say I never wish anyone dead, but I'm just trying to be honest here.

Of course, the death penalty becomes thornier in cases where there is no way to know for sure if the person was guilty.

Grandpa h.