following the botched execution -- what should be the way to execute some one?

[srican69]

I am generally anti-death penalty and believe it should be used very sparingly ( serial murder rapists etc) . Regarding the question itself .. Hanging used by the Brits (before they abolished capital punishment) is better than our methods. Alternately a firing squad should be used ... it's a mess cleaning up - but it is over quickly.

Update:

I dont want this thread to get swamped by Capital Punishment abolitionists ... lets just assume the we have to have death penatly - what is the best way to do it?

[jberryhill]

1. Force them to get old

[Coventina]

3. This ^^^^

[madokie]

5. +1

[mike_c]

8. yup....

eom

[jeff47]

19. Yep. Execution via old age. (nt)

[Half-Century Man]

2. Death by old age.

The only acceptable form of capital punishment.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. Having to live with your crime(s) for the rest of their lives

should be bad enough IMHO. At the most, people might be able to change their lives for the better and seek/achieve some sort of redemption or, at the very least, society will be safer and more humane

[s-cubed]

4. DON'T DO IT. nt

[Recursion]

6. I don't believe in capital punishment, but this attempt to "medicalize" it is even worse

I mean, they wipe the spot they put the needle in with antiseptic... otherwise people might realize what's happening, I guess?

If we're going to do it, just use a gun. I don't like that capital punishment, but if we're going to do it we shouldn't try to pretend it's something that it's not.

[hlthe2b]

26. Actually, alcohol helps (a bit) with visualization/getting the vein to stand up

As to any "infection control" representation, that is, of course, silly-- even in the medical fields, alcohol takes 20 minutes of prolonged contact before really rendering any bacteriocidal effects.

[Politicalboi]

7. Firing squad

Much cheaper, and it's quick. Unlike the possible mercy they showed their victims.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Unfortunately

I am worried that incidents like this will only lead to more calls for more "humane" solutions.......like firing squads. Aren't there some states actively considering bringing them back anyway as part of their "what's old is new again" program of de-evolution?

[Politicalboi]

24. I don't know, but I have NO sympathy

For a TRULY guilty person. I think the worse they treated their victims should be the decision of the death penalty. If some monster kills and rapes a child, then they IMO deserve the DP. If they tortured their victims, the DP should apply. If they made their victims suffer, they deserve the DP. If it was a crime of passion, life in prison with no parole. A fight that caused a death, life in prison. But stalking and killing and torturing should have a different penalty.

[hlthe2b]

36. No, but I have sympthy for ALL OF US--who are made unwilling, yet responsible for such barbaric

acts committed by the state on the behalf of ALL OF US. We are all responsible. And any sense of "moral authority" we might have is decimated by the fact we are in the league of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia China, and Yemen--as the world's top executioners. The impacts that has on our attempts to impact foreign policy are not insignificant. Since diplomacy is (to me) far better than more endless Neocon wars, I DO think that is worth considering, even for those who can not get past a sense of blood lust vengeance.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

70. I have mixed feelings on the DP

Usually on a case by case basis. I can understand why people feel so strongly about the DP on both sides. The idea of calculated state sanctioned killing of people seems somewhat disconcerting but I also understand the emotional side of people whose lives have been touched by a remorseless killer.

[nadinbrzezinski]

79. Given we have executed innocent people...

and that it is zero deterrent, and that it is very expensive to carry out and, and, and, and...

Sorry if I cannot sympathize, And I say that as somebody who took care of people of horrific crimes and declared others who were killed in horrific ways.

Most of the world deals with these people with a nice cell for the rest of their lives. It's time the US grows up

[politicat]

83. It's not that I have any exceptional sympathy. It's that I believe we as a society must prove that

we are better than those who damage the social fabric. I, as a citizen, am part of the state, so when the state puts someone to death in my name, the state is forcing me to be party to judicial homicide. I believe that descending to the level of the malefactor damages the entire society. It engenders callousness, and opens us up to enormous error -- should we as a society execute someone in error, we are all collectively guilty of actual manslaughter, if not murder.

I am a judicial restorationist. I believe that crimes are offenses against the individual first then the society at whole second. I believe that a crime creates tears in the social fabric, and that the best restoration possible is for the convicted to serve the society and the victim to the best extent possible. My ideal prison would have work programs to do things that are necessary but unprofitable (because un or low paid prison labor incentivizes more incarceration, and that leads to a cycle of more and more incarceration.) Thus, things like training therapy and service dogs, doing environmental restoration, serving each other in in-prison hospitals and hospices, printing Braille books, or that serve the society as a whole -- building tiny houses for disaster relief and homeless populations, rehabilitation of wheelchairs or other assistive devices, even doing the field work for agricultural science to develop better, cleaner, safer farming practices. (Some of those are not possible in maximum security, but I bet there are similar jobs.)

I believe that execution is too easy and too vengeful. An eye for an eye was, in the context of Hammurabi's code, an improvement on the state of affairs in 3000 BCE. Then, if someone put out your eye, the society didn't forbid a more extreme response. Hammurabi said that the punishment should be proportionate to the crime. We have progressed from Hammurabi's day -- we no longer sell our daughters, or practice infanticide. We deplore slavery, we are trying to be better. Execution means that we have deprived our collective social fabric of at least two contributing threads -- the victim and the aggressor -- and that the convicted has no chance to attempt to make a restoration of his/her theft from all of us.

How would I punish someone who killed brutally, in cold blood? A lifetime of service, and a lifetime of being reminded of what zie did. Daily, zie would need to listen to or view home videos of the person zie killed. Daily, zie would need to sign off on zir labor with "Murderer's name, in memory of Victim's name." Can empathy be taught? Maybe, but I think actions matter, and the dead don't act.

[MillennialDem]

69. Beheading, cheaper and quicker

[hootinholler]

9. Well if you must have a death penalty

Then allow the condemned to choose the manner of execution.

[Politicalboi]

12. Like they gave their victims?

I say let the victims family choose if they want too.

[jberryhill]

23. Odd thing about our criminal system

Our criminal system seems to be primarily geared toward protecting people against the power of the state.

An accused criminal gets, among other things:

- public, speedy trial
- trial by jury
- trial in the jurisdiction where the offense happened
- a lawyer
- compulsory process for evidence and witnesses
- right to confront accusers
- protection from cruel or unusual punishment

Even in that off-the-cuff recitation of the basics, there does not seem to be single word anywhere in the Constitution about the victims getting any kind of retribution or restitution.

Why do you suppose that is?

[Politicalboi]

27. Well maybe we need one

When the Constitution was written, nobody thought about the horrible manner in which these monsters kill. We live in a world where grown men have sex with small children and then kill them. I feel there is no other justice for the victims families who like Sharon Tate's sister can tell us all about if she were alive. That woman had to go to all those appeals for those monsters. Had we killed them in 1970, that never would have happened. Why should family have to go through that for pieces of shit.

[jberryhill]

28. Oh baloney

Gruesome murderers have always existed. It's not some "new" thing.

America's first recorded mass murderer was Byron Davenport in 1780, which was 9 years before the Constitution.

[hlthe2b]

40. Indeed. One need only study the Revolutionary War to appreciate the amount of depravity

barbarism that was historical fact--be-headings, mass immolation of women and children, induced (seige) starvation--you name it . Further, does that poster really believe that child rape and murder is a NEw thing?

[jberryhill]

52. And interestingly enough

I wanted an example apart from what might otherwise be considered incident to war, since that is..... state action.

The various brutal methods of exercising state power - and particularly in the area of execution - are what the framers of the Constitution knew quite well.

[Iggo]

42. Oh bullshit.

People been killing each other in amazingly brutal and creative ways for thousands of years.

[hootinholler]

67. I disagree

There would be requests they be drawn and quartered.

However, the family should be able to stay an execution if they wished.

[nadinbrzezinski]

97. And what if the families demand it be commuted to life

More than a few families are not as blood thirsty as you seem to be. And no, I am not kidding.

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Kill-Our-Names-Families/dp/0813531829

http://ejusa.org/learn/victims

http://deathpenaltyblog.dallasnews.com/2010/02/victims-families-speak-out-aga.html/

Most people who are pro DP do not even have a family member who is a victim, thankfully, but are far more blood thristy than the families themselves. How I can explain this paradox, I can't

[srican69]

13. I agree ... wonder if some states already give that option to them

[Proud Liberal Dem]

16. Reminds me of a scene from a certain Monty Python movie..........

n/t

[safeinOhio]

72. I'll take

asphyxiation by nitrous oxide for 3, Bob.

[hootinholler]

75. Ok, I LOL'd n/t

[lpbk2713]

10. Make the condemned watch the 2008 rethug primary debates 24/7

They will be agreeable to any alternative after that.

[Politicalboi]

14. LOL!

Now that I like.

[kcr]

15. No death penalty

Sorry, you don't get to dictate where people post.

[moondust]

17. NRA big game preserve?

For only $5000...

Think of the profits!

I'm surprised Texas hasn't done this already.

[srican69]

20. I love that Idea..

[0rganism]

21. hanging's optimal, as long as you have a responsible hangman

the goal is to snap the cervical vertebrae quickly and cleanly. the right amount of drop is the key.
too little rope and the .... "client"... strangles.
too much rope and the client's head pops off and you have a big mess to clean up. i heard this happened in Iraq during the executions of some of Saddam's ministers.
fortunately, all this math has been meticulously handled in prior centuries so if the hangman wants to be responsible, s/he certainly can be.

ETA: personally i'm anti-death penalty, but if we're going to do it anyway, there are cheap and effective ways to handle it, and there are slow, expensive, and ineffective ways to fuck things up for everyone.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. I'm a death penalty abolitionist swamping this thread

Fuck the death penalty

[PeteSelman]

25. Headsman, hanging, bullet behind the ear.

All quick, simple and humane. Certainly more humane than this ridiculous lethal injection crap.

It's not rocket science.

[Kaleva]

29. The Royal Navy used shooting out of a muzzle loading cannon

[tularetom]

30. Tie them to a chair and force them to watch Fox news 24 hours a day until they beg you to shoot them

Seriously, you don't read about "botched executions" in Saudi Arabia where beheading is the method of choice. The guillotine would work pretty well and there's very little suffering involved.

[hlthe2b]

50. YOU are so very wrong about that. The clock tower near the gold souks in Riyadh is the traditional

spot for Friday be-headings. Those westerners in the know, avoid it at all cost because Saudis believe they should be in front to watch (witness the much aggrieved spouse of a Japanese ambassador, who apparently experienced this "privilege" before being whisked out of the country under very heavy sedation years ago)...

A routine beheading may involve giving the sentenced a mild sedative and swift decapitation. By contrast,a political execution mayl not only not receive a sedative, but an unsharpened or overtly dull blade leading to many attempts before final severing.

If you think beheading is appropriate, heaven help you. If you think hacking away repeatedly to sever a head is A-Ok, there is little hope for you.

[tularetom]

64. I must have been misinformed about Saudi Arabia

Of course I don't think "hacking away repeatedly to sever a head is A-Ok", but the point of the thread was what would be an appropriate method of executing people.

And as you yourself pointed out, "a routine beheading may involve giving the sentenced a mild sedative and swift decapitation". So it can be done in a much less barbaric manner. Sounds a lot more humane than what happened the other day to me.

[Bragi]

31. No to all forms of revenge justice /nt

[Dr. Strange]

32. As the White House said, it should be done humanely.

Thus, drones should be used.

[Bragi]

33. Question: What are the criteria to follow, srican69?

Quickest? Slowest?

Least painful? Most painful?

Most entertaining? Best TV?

So what kind of state murder best does the job for you?

What's the criteria you'd set?

[srican69]

38. combination of quickest/least painful/ no mess

[Open_n_Shut]

34. Wile E. Coyote style...

Big ol 10,000 lbs weight dropped... Messy but absolutely guaranteed instant results....

[riqster]

48. Yeah, but half of that shit he bought from ACME didn't work as advertised.

[Open_n_Shut]

59. Gravity was not always constant in the world of Looney Tunes

I have more faith in the real world...

[riqster]

73. A fair point. I once had a physics teacher who used that universe in an extra-credit exam problem.

The trick was, it couldn't be solved, because G was a variable. Only a few of us got it.

Here's my little homage to the worthy Mr. Coyote, penned during the fiscal cliff imbroglio: http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/falling-off-the-cliff-a-coyotes-perspective/

[MicaelS]

35. Firing Squad.

We should quit hiding executions behind closed doors at midnight. Make the only punishment as Death by Firing Squad, in a public place and time. A designated place of execution in every city, county, state or at the Federal Level, at high noon local time, and the media would be able to cover it live if they so chose. If the public wanted to attend, then there would a lottery for those that wanted to attend.

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. Quickest way to getting rid of it actually

so I am all for it, with one caveat. Media HAS TO COVER. TV and Radio is preempted and all activities are suspended. In other words, make it very public with no escape.

It used to be this way, public... and all that. After a few were botched in the 1920s people were ready to get rid of it. This is why it moved behind closed walls.

This, but painless, in an almost medical setting, is meant to preserve it.

And firing squad or hanging are guaranteed to be botched from time to time. Given they cannot get the drugs...

And the lottery would only be for those who want to attend in person since the TV is not enough. As to TV, I want close tight shots. And no hood for the condemned. A few people with purple tongues hanging out, even if otherwise the hanging went perfect, will be enough to start to horrify people and make them realize this is not a damn fracking game.

[MicaelS]

61. I agree with you on almost every point.

I seriously doubt the firing squads would be botched. Not with a dozen modern rifles firing 7.62 NATO. But, the solution to that is a single .357 Magnum pistol bullet to the back of the head. One executioner, with a black hood. I'm sure there would be plenty of volunteers.

And yes, no hood for the condemned.

[nadinbrzezinski]

66. I want no hood for those carrying them either

I want them fully and completely known by the community.

And perhaps you will have volunteers early on...

As to the shot to the back of the head, that is the best way to do that. Another one, top of mouth going though the Corpus Callosum, bisecting the brain, with exploding rounds.

But I want this, with all it's messiness, LIVE.

As to the firing squad, yes, it can still fail with even modern rifles and ammo. And no woozy one rifle gets a blank either.

[MicaelS]

77. So you really think exposing the identities of the executioners is going the shame them?

I think not. We still have plenty of volunteers for the military. Plenty of men volunteer to be snipers and spotters. And that is as up close and personal as you can get these days. I'm sure some women would volunteer to be snipers if they were allowed. Soviet women were some of the best snipers of WWII.

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-03-16/news/mn-26525_1_hooded-executioner

Said one Nevada prison official: "You shouldn't do it if it's going to bother you. . . . I'm a very compassionate man, but it does not bother me to execute somebody. I don't look forward to it. But it's a job. So I do it in a businesslike way."

And let me be perfectly clear. Some executioner executed some murdering baby-killing POS? I'd shake his hand, tell him Thank You Very Much, and buy him all the drinks he wanted. I sure as fuck wouldn't shun him or his family.

I remember about 20-30 years ago, one of the Southern states put out a call for volunteers to be Executioners for $300 an execution. They were flooded with volunteers. The warden would pick him up at an isolated spot, give him a hood, take him and he would perform the execution. Take him back and pay him his $300.

When it comes to the DP, the difference between California, and the South, especially in Texas where I live, is like night and day. Texas will probably the very last state to outlaw the DP.

[nadinbrzezinski]

78. It is not about shaming the executioners

to be brutally honest, it is fully about transparency. I want the full process at high noon, with everybody responsible there. Serious. Full transparency.

We want a DP. sure, full transparency.

And I know it is night and day, but a few botched executions in the light of day, with full tv presence, when even small kids are exposed, will start to change attitudes, even in the south.

And yes, some of these no hoods executioners will be shamed and people will not want to share anything with them. But that is just a side benefit.

Oh and no pay either. This is a public service.

One reason they got the flood of volunteers was precisely hiding their identities. Why we have hoods, going as far back as the 10th century.

[jmowreader]

87. Disagree on the caliber

A .44 Magnum would work a LOT better...remember, you are occasionally going to have to execute a Republican, and you need something that'll go through the cast iron plates Republicans call skulls.

[MicaelS]

91. No, the .44 Magnum is too powerful.

The .44 Magnum was specifically created by the late Elmer Keith for those who wanted to hunt with a handgun. It was designed to take down large animals at a range of 100-200 yards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson_Model_29

Elmer Keith's achievements in maximizing the power and performance of the .44 Special was the inspiration and driving force behind the introduction of the .44 Magnum by Smith & Wesson. His intention for the new round was for it to be used in sidearms for hunters of large, dangerous game, rather than for self-defense, though with today's specialty cartridges, it can be a good defensive round.

At point blank range the energy level of the .44 Magnum is such that the penetration level exceeds the depth of the human torso. In other words, if you shoot someone in the torso, the round can exit the body with sufficient power left to go downrange and possibly harm someone standing behind the person you are shooting. You would not want that in a place of execution. A point blank shot to the back of the head would probably explode the head like a watermelon dropped on concrete. You would not want that either. And if you're going to reduce the power of the .44 Magnum for executions, you might as well stick to the .357 Magnum, or a high pressure loaded 9mm or .45 ACP whose energy level is equivalent to the .357 Magnum.

[Upton]

37. I would put them to death in the same way they committed the murder..

the guy in the botched execution should have been buried alive. However, since that's never going to happen, I would opt for the firing squad, hanging, or even the guillotine..

[oldhippie]

39. I like the victim or family choice myself .....

Let the victim or their family chose the method of execution. Maybe even offer the executioner's job to the victim or family member.

I have always liked the idea of a single .45 ACP to the back of the head, but it's a little messy and kind of too quick. Also, the state could auction or raffle off the privilege of pulling the trigger. The proceeds would help recoupe some of the appeals cost.

[LittleBlue]

41. The guillotine

Why pretend that execution is civilized just because there is no blood?

Beheading is far more humane than using drugs to induce a prolonged heart attack. That's how I'd go out if I had to choose. And in public too. No more hiding it away.

[giftedgirl77]

49. This would be my suggestion as well.

It's quick & easy, two seconds & done.

[Iggo]

43. No fucking death penalty....ever.

[TorchTheWitch]

44. we euthanize pets every day painlessly and quickly

I don't see why this can't also be done with humans. It's how I'd like to die. I don't want to suffer the horror or pain of a car accident or the like or the ongoing pain and suffering of a disease like cancer.

[dionysus]

45. i'm not pro DP, but if you were going to do it, how the fuck can it be hard? it doesn't take a Dr to

know a huge dose of benzos + opiates = quick painless death.

[seveneyes]

46. The best and only way

Is to terminate them before they kill innocents. Otherwise, there is no need for the death sentence.

[951-Riverside]

47. I like what Japan does

They don't let the condemned or public know the date of the execution. It could be two weeks or 10 years, the condemned won't know until the morning also they execute by hanging which is much quicker.

[img][/img]

[nadinbrzezinski]

51. Don't, and it has to do with the number of people wrongly convicted

and the fact that it is not a deterrent to any of the crimes you speak off. It really it is not.

As to you do not want the thread flooded. sorry, I cannot even think of how to kill somebody in the hands of the state. That said, there are "clean" ways to do it, and a firing squad, as well as a hanging can and have been historically botched this way. There is a reason why it moved behind the walls of prisons.

It is also very expensive to carry out.

[riqster]

53. I prefer life at the hardest labor they can physically perform. No parole. Worse than death.

Plus, keep the proceeds of their labor and forward the money to their victims.

That is me in my calmer moments, anyway.

Death is obviously not a deterrent, so let's work the motherfuckers to death.

[msanthrope]

109. 1-6 leave. nt

[riqster]

114. Thanks, I didn't know it had been alerted on.

Could you PM me the details? I'd like to know what people had to say - I try very hard to not be unintentionally offensive.

[Prophet 451]

54. Well, in theory

Firing squad is instant and painless. The most humane method I've read of is to gradually fill teh chamber with pure nitorgen. They die from lack of oxygen but don't feel like suffocating because that's caused by too much CO2 in the bllodstream, rather than lack of oxygen. Add a little nitrous oxide and you'd even induce euphoria.

[lostincalifornia]

55. They didn't even validate or test the drugs used. Unforgivable

[backscatter712]

57. Captive bolt pistol.

[hunter]

58. Crucifiction. It was good enough for Jesus, right?

[Xithras]

60. Captive bolt to the lower skull. Seriously.

It's been proposed many times and is inarguably the most humane way to purposefully end a life, but it never goes anywhere because it involves a bit of blood.

Basically, a high speed bolt punched into the rear of the skull. This bolt would crush the lower part of the brain, almost instantaneously ending life functions while simultaneously severing nerve connections to the thalamus, which handles pain. The part of the brain that feels pain would be destroyed before the nerves could even send a pain signal to it, so the roughly 1/2 of a second that it would take for the rest of the brain to shut down would be completely painless.

I don't agree with the DP, but if you want the most "humane" method, it's hard to find a better solution. Simple, effective, instant, and 100% painless.

[wickerwoman]

62. Shark tank

But seriously, no.

The DP isn't a deterrant and the government shouldn't be in the "revenge" business. People who commit unspeakable crimes should be kept away from the general public so they can't reoffend and that is it.

[hootinholler]

68. With fricken lasers on their fricken heads!

Or another elaborately slow method.

[FarCenter]

63. Carbon dioxide

Last edited Thu May 1, 2014, 04:20 PM - Edit history (1)

Or an amount of HMX or RDX detonated behind the neck, so as to instantly turn the head into "pink mist".

[jmowreader]

89. How about a Primacord collar, like they used in The Running Man?

[FarCenter]

92. I think a shaped charge of a plastic would be much better

The objective is not just to decapitate, but to create a shock wave directed towards the center of the brain that instantly and utterly destroys the central nervous system.

[SheilaT]

65. Makes you wonder how most of the rest of the first world countries

get along without a death penalty.

We're up there along with China, Iraq, Saudia Arabia, Egypt . . . and all those other wonderful bastions of human rights.

No death penalty. Period. Don't tell me I can't post here.

[MADem]

107. I was surprised to learn that Japan still had it.

Ya learn something new every day here at DU...

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

It's very personal and specific there--tailored to the individual, and the victim's family, as it were:

In Japan, the courts follow guidelines laid down in the trial of Norio Nagayama, a 19-year-old from a disadvantaged background, who committed four murders in 1968 and was finally hanged in 1997.
The supreme court of Japan, in imposing the death penalty, ruled that the death penalty may be imposed "inevitably" in consideration of the degree of criminal liability and balance of justice based on a nine-point set of criteria.[3] Though technically not a precedent, this guideline has been followed by all subsequent capital cases in Japan.[4] The nine criteria are as follows:
Degree of viciousness
Motive
How the crime was committed; especially the manner in which the victim was killed.
Outcome of the crime; especially the number of victims.
Sentiments of the bereaved family members.
Impact of the crime on Japanese society.
Defendant's age (in Japan, someone is a minor until the age of 20).
Defendant's previous criminal record.
Degree of remorse shown by the defendant.

[MillennialDem]

71. I am against the DP, but if we're going to do it - beheading. Nothing is quicker or

more humane outside of sitting on top of a large bomb.

[lumberjack_jeff]

74. "Assuming we have to have it"? Then as cheaply and efficiently as possible, of course.

Since your question presumes that the need to kill people is the paramount imperative, maybe mass gas chambers disguised as showers? Or perhaps if deterrent is the main goal, then public beheadings with the heads mounted atop the town's welcome sign.

I don't accept the premise because it's plainly false. We don't have to have it.

[Xipe Totec]

76. Hypoxia

Painless.

[physioex]

80. None of the above.....

I saw a show on PBS dealing with end of life issues, and the best solution determined by medical experts was hypoxia with helium.

[jschurchin]

81. Shotgun to the back of the head.

Quick and they will be very dead.

[Lars39]

82. Reminds me of watching Conpiracy, movie about the Wannsee Conference.

Some things just shouldn't be.

[morningfog]

84. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT MUST, AND WILL, BE ABOLISHED!

SWAMP!

It is happening. Get over your desire for the state to kill.

[politicat]

85. If it's absolutely necessary...

Full sedation, via standard (inhaled and intravenous) anesthetic process, then the destruction of the brainstem via electrical cauterization.

If the executed agrees, then zir organs may be removed for transplantation.

If we must have capital punishment, then allow those who are sentenced to die to go to their deaths with an act of partially restorative generosity available to them.

Nobody should be forced to donate, but it should be an option, which it isn't given lethal injection. (That was one of the reasons that one of the last people to choose firing squad did so.)

[physioex]

86. And where are you going to find someone to do that?

[politicat]

98. exactly.

I don't think it's ever necessary, but if a humane form is demanded, that's the only one available. There is no such thing as "do no harm" in execution.

[jmowreader]

88. The nastiest method allowed by the Constitution, for good reason

A nice calm peaceful-looking way to knock someone off encourages juries to hand down those sentences. A really gory execution would be far better for making juries really THINK about whether the guy in the dock needs to die or if justice wouldn't be as well served by the convict being sent to scrub pots in a prison kitchen for the rest of his life...shooting with .50-caliber machine gun, perhaps?

And better: require the jury to attend the execution and one of its members, chosen at random, to fire the rounds that end the offender's life.

[nadinbrzezinski]

96. Yup, and that televised, in the middle of the day

with tight shots, and people being able to watch.

You and I are on the same mind set

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4896862



I did not go as far as having the jury present, well I did, I said all involved had to be present. Foreman or forewoman carrying it out perhaps?

[jmowreader]

100. No. Random selection

There needs to be the risk that anyone who voted to execute someone would have to actually do it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

101. I think our death penalty phase rate would go down to zero

[arely staircase]

90. Firing squad or guillotine. and explosion that turned the condemned a mist in a fraction of a secon

[Tom Ripley]

93. Exploding helmet

or nibbled to death by ducks

[JackRiddler]

94. This thread should be swamped by capital punishment abolitionists.

The assumption that "we have to have death penalty" is an irresolvable problem in your logic.

To grant you that assumption leads us to your entirely irrelevant question: How should the state kill someone over whom it has total power? It's like asking, even though I am not compelled to do a wrong thing, how should I do a wrong thing in a fashion that makes me feel better about myself, and thus makes it easier for me to do the wrong thing?

The only answer should ever be: don't do the wrong thing and don't think there is a way to do the wrong thing that somehow makes it less wrong.

Now the usual ways historically have been shooting or hanging. Shooting is quick and does away with the moronic and hypocritical pretenses that there is a humanitarian way to kill someone. It's certainly what I'd demand, if I were to be the judicial murderee.

[Lancero]

95. Medically induced coma.

Harvest organs for life saving transplant, and pull the plug on the rest.

[Adam-Bomb]

99. Hung by the neck until dead.

[oldandhappy]

102. I want to choose,

so I guess we should allow the prisoner to choose. I would choose firing squad. Most likely I would die instantly. I have never believed the injections worked as well as advertised and electric chair is not quick. Sometimes hanging does not work well. Either the firing squad or the guillotine for me.

[bravenak]

103. I favor letting them do it themselves.

Sitting in a box all day, with no contact with people. When they are ready they can ask for an overdose of something tht will be fatal. Like wayyyy to much morpheine. Since we tend to kill innocent people, we shouldn't be abe to kill anyone unless they fully admit to what they did. We fuck up too much.

[edbermac]

104. Wood chipper.

Sorry, I was just watching Fargo.

[Historic NY]

105. Guillotine !!

works for the rich or the poor.

[spanone]

106. make them live.

[Hippo_Tron]

108. Inert gas asphyxiation

Though I'm not sure what scheme they'd use to make sure nobody actually has to be the executioner.

[Capt. Obvious]

110. Guillotine

And everyone has to watch.

But they can gamble on it.

[Madam Mossfern]

111. *If* there must be a death penalty

then I think the condemned should be executed as soon as possible and not know when or how. Slip him/her a strong sedative in their evening meal and then give them an overdose of barbiturates, heroine...whatever, ... shoot them while they're unconscious...

I think the worst part for the condemned is the wait for the execution.
That being said, I am against the death penalty.

[DrDan]

112. life in a cell

[JoeyT]

113. I'm always curious when I see someone say the DP should be used sparingly.

They will, without fail, list rapists and murderers. That makes me wonder what non-sparingly would look like.

What would a non-sparingly DP cover? Assaults? Jaywalkers? People with an annoying laugh?

[Lizzie Poppet]

115. I oppose capital punishment, but if it must happen...

...I prefer the guillotine. While the lead-up would be terrifying for the condemned (but what lead-up wouldn't be?), the act itself is about as swift as it gets. The cleanup in the aftermath, however, would be messy and horrifying, as it damn well should be...a reminder of the utmost gravity of what has happened.

[Paladin]

116. Yeah, I figured this thread would go into the toilet pretty quickly.

Several folks revealing a great deal more about themselves than they probably intended......

[sarisataka]

117. Old age...

but in the spirit of the OP, two methods come to mind.

-one, let the condemned person choose from a list of recently used options, injection, hanging, chair, firing squad...
-two, suicide. A room with a bed, a gun with one round, a knife and a bottle of pills. There will be some form of monitoring and the door will not reopen until the person is dead. They have the option of using one of the three provided methods or choosing to die of starvation.