Suffocation to be used in capital punishment

[martybegan]

So would locking him up for the rest of his life, and it would be less expensive.

That may be punishment for you, but many of these guys see 3 hots and a cot as the price to pay for being criminal assholes.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Christians sure do like to execute people.

so do non Christians....its not an exclusive club....

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

Well, they did it and it was a clusterfuck.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/alabama-prepares-carry-out-first-execution-by-nitrogen-asphyxiation-2024-01-25/

Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes after the nitrogen was activated, according to five journalists who were allowed to watch the execution through glass as media witnesses. Although the mask was also secured to the gurney, he then began shaking his head and writhing for about two minutes, and then could be seen breathing deeply for several minutes before his breathing slowed and became imperceptible, the witnesses said.

"It appeared that Smith was holding his breath as long as he could," Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told a press conference. "He struggled against the restraints a little bit but it's an involuntary movement and some agonal breathing. So that was all expected."

Rev. Jeff Hood, Smith's spiritual adviser, was at Smith's side for the execution, and said prison officials in the room "were visibly surprised at how bad this thing went."
"What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life," Hood, attending his fifth execution in the last 15 months, told reporters. "We saw minutes of someone heaving back and forth. We saw spit. We saw all sorts of stuff from his mouth develop on the mask. We saw this mask tied to the gurney, and him ripping his head forward over and over and over again."

[skipping the discussion of the legal and moral controversies about acceptability of execution, and discussing the medical effectiveness of methods...]

The fact that we apparently have not figured out how to quickly, painlessly, and humanely execute the most vile criminals among us makes absolutely no sense.

I had surgery yesterday. There are tens of millions of successful surgeries performed annually.

When the anesthesia was add to my IV, I was in a deep state of unconsciousness in less than 10 seconds. There was no pain as they sliced into my tissues. When I woke up, I had no memory whatsoever of what occurred during my deep peaceful sleep.

They could have shot me up with a gram of Fentanyl or cut my head off with a butter knife, and it would have been humane.

This is inexcusable. I am inclined to believe that all the litigation has actually had the reverse of the intended effect - in the noble but misguided attempt to make executions more humane, they have turned them into torture.

Might as well just go back to firing squad. The status quo is complete nonsense.

Regards,
Jim

 

[Vastator]

[skipping the discussion of the legal and moral controversies about acceptability of execution, and discussing the medical effectiveness of methods...]

The fact that we apparently have not figured out how to quickly, painlessly, and humanely execute the most vile criminals among us makes absolutely no sense.

I had surgery yesterday. There are tens of millions of successful surgeries performed annually.

When the anesthesia was add to my IV, I was in a deep state of unconsciousness in less than 10 seconds. When I woke up, I had no memory whatsoever of what occurred during my deep peaceful sleep.

They could have cut my head off with a butter knife, and it would have been humane.

This is inexcusable. I am inclined to believe that all the litigation has actually had the reverse of the intended effect - in the noble but misguided attempt to make executions more humane, they have turned them into torture.

Might as well just go back to firing squad. The status quo is complete nonsense.

Regards,
Jim

I'm fine with the firing squad. I'd take that over the other options...


Right up front in the video is Utahs firing squad execution method, done on a ballistic dummy. Cheap, and effective...

 

[JoeB131]

That may be punishment for you, but many of these guys see 3 hots and a cot as the price to pay for being criminal assholes.

Really, I don't know anyone who would find prison better than any alternative.

If they did, then our 582K Homeless in the US would happily commit a crime to go to jail.

 

[JoeB131]

[skipping the discussion of the legal and moral controversies about acceptability of execution, and discussing the medical effectiveness of methods...]

The fact that we apparently have not figured out how to quickly, painlessly, and humanely execute the most vile criminals among us makes absolutely no sense.

I had surgery yesterday. There are tens of millions of successful surgeries performed annually.

When the anesthesia was add to my IV, I was in a deep state of unconsciousness in less than 10 seconds. There was no pain as they sliced into my tissues. When I woke up, I had no memory whatsoever of what occurred during my deep peaceful sleep.

They could have shot me up with a gram of Fentanyl or cut my head off with a butter knife, and it would have been humane.

This is inexcusable. I am inclined to believe that all the litigation has actually had the reverse of the intended effect - in the noble but misguided attempt to make executions more humane, they have turned them into torture.

Might as well just go back to firing squad. The status quo is complete nonsense.

Regards,
Jim

I suspect a lot of these challenges to Lethal Injection are in fact meant to throw a spanner in the works, and frankly, it has worked. We've gone from 85 executions a year in 2000 to 11 in 2021, and part of that was because Trump was knocking off Federal prisoners like they were party favors.

I'm not sure if putting someone to sleep in order to kill them in their sleep is particularly ethical. Doctors are refusing to participate in lethal injections, and drug companies are refusing to sell the drugs.

If you wanted a truly "humane" form of execution, they should bring back the guillotine. You are dead instantly. Maybe takes 14 seconds for the brain to die once it's been separated from the body. And we should do the guillotine live on national television, so everyone can see it.

Then we might find out what kind of country we truly are.

 

[martybegan]

Really, I don't know anyone who would find prison better than any alternative.

If they did, then our 582K Homeless in the US would happily commit a crime to go to jail.

Because you are not institutionalized like they are.

Because most of them are drug addicts or have massive mental issues.

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

I suspect a lot of these challenges to Lethal Injection are in fact meant to throw a spanner in the works, and frankly, it has worked. We've gone from 85 executions a year in 2000 to 11 in 2021, and part of that was because Trump was knocking off Federal prisoners like they were party favors.

I'm not sure if putting someone to sleep in order to kill them in their sleep is particularly ethical. Doctors are refusing to participate in lethal injections, and drug companies are refusing to sell the drugs.

If you wanted a truly "humane" form of execution, they should bring back the guillotine. You are dead instantly. Maybe takes 14 seconds for the brain to die once it's been separated from the body. And we should do the guillotine live on national television, so everyone can see it.

Then we might find out what kind of country we truly are.

Nah. Anesthesia followed by lethal injection, as I described. Totally peaceful and humane. Go ahead and put it on TV as you suggested.

I have no problem with the guillotine, but you are suggesting the absurd for the sake of growing undue public disfavor. We need to go the other way. Execution is lawful in about half the states, and it should comply with the 8th Amendment, and there is no need for such politically-motivate gore, which has the same intentions as the challenges you mention in your first sentence.

Regards,
Jim

 

[JoeB131]

Nah. Anesthesia followed by lethal injection, as I described. Totally peaceful and humane. Go ahead and put it on TV as you suggested.

I have no problem with the guillotine, but you are suggesting the absurd for the sake of growing undue public disfavor. We need to go the other way. Execution is lawful in about half the states, and it should comply with the 8th Amendment, and there is no need for such politically-motivate gore, which has the same intentions as the challenges you mention in your first sentence.

Regards,
Jim

It seems that we spend a lot of time trying to desensitize ourselves to what we are doing. Why, we are putting them to sleep, just like the Vet did to poor Buster when he started pooping on the rug. I'm halfway surprised we don't tell people that he went off to live with a nice farm family.

Of course, the whole history of Capital Punishment has been that. We replaced drawing and quartering with the Gallows (or the Guillotine on the continent) because they were considered more humane. Then we replaced the gallows with the Electric Chair. Then after dallying with the gas chamber, we went with lethal injection.

 

[Vastator]

It seems that we spend a lot of time trying to desensitize ourselves to what we are doing. Why, we are putting them to sleep, just like the Vet did to poor Buster when he started pooping on the rug. I'm halfway surprised we don't tell people that he went off to live with a nice farm family.

Of course, the whole history of Capital Punishment has been that. We replaced drawing and quartering with the Gallows (or the Guillotine on the continent) because they were considered more humane. Then we replaced the gallows with the Electric Chair. Then after dallying with the gas chamber, we went with lethal injection.

I'm fine with a pack of starving dogs...

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

It seems that we spend a lot of time trying to desensitize ourselves to what we are doing. Why, we are putting them to sleep, just like the Vet did to poor Buster when he started pooping on the rug. I'm halfway surprised we don't tell people that he went off to live with a nice farm family.

Of course, the whole history of Capital Punishment has been that. We replaced drawing and quartering with the Gallows (or the Guillotine on the continent) because they were considered more humane. Then we replaced the gallows with the Electric Chair. Then after dallying with the gas chamber, we went with lethal injection.

Yes, it's progress.

But the purpose is not desensitization, it's what civilized societies do.

It doesn't bother me personally if a convicted killer suffers horrifically during execution, but I can respect the alternative viewpoints.

The penalty is death, the ultimate penalty. No need to make it unnecessarily cruel or gory, although as you noted, gore used to be used to enhance the deterrent nature of the sentence.

Regards,
Jim

PS: In the Middle East, you'll get thrown off the top of a rooftop for being gay. Here, you get your own TV show.

 

[JoeB131]

I'm fine with a pack of starving dogs...

Maybe you should move to North Korea.

Yes, it's progress.

But the purpose is not desensitization, it's what civilized societies do.

It doesn't bother me personally if a convicted killer suffers horrifically during execution, but I can respect the alternative viewpoints.

The penalty is death, the ultimate penalty. No need to make it unnecessarily cruel or gory, although as you noted, gore used to be used to enhance the deterrent nature of the sentence.

Regards,
Jim

PS: In the Middle East, you'll get thrown off the top of a rooftop for being gay. Here, you get your own TV show.

Actually, the people who get thrown off rooves are child molestors, not gays... but I think I want something more humane than the Middle East.

My opposition to the DP is pragmatic. YOU WILL INEVITABLY EXECUTE INNOCENT PEOPLE.

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

My opposition to the DP is pragmatic. YOU WILL INEVITABLY EXECUTE INNOCENT PEOPLE.

What's your opinion on abortion? Oh, never mind. ;-)

 

[Vastator]

What's your opinion on abortion? Oh, never mind. ;-)

And that's what's known in Forum Circles, as a threadkill.

Thanks for coming out folks!

 

[JoeB131]

What's your opinion on abortion? Oh, never mind. ;-)

That is a woman doesn't want to be pregnant, she'll find a way to not be pregnant.

That if you conservatives were really interested in reducing abortion, you'd support family leave, sex education and availability of contraception.

Oh, yeah, and the law has never recognized fetuses as people, even when abortion was illegal.

 

[Blues Man]

Based on people who have suffocated due to carbon monoxide we actually can say that he won't suffer. As his O2 levels drop he will fall asleep, and then die in his sleep.

Do you know what it's like for your body to be starved of oxygen?

It would be akin to drowning

Do you think drowning is just like falling asleep?

Why not just lock the guy in a freezer and let him die of hypothermia? Would that bee cruel?

 

[Markle]

I have my issues with the current system of capital punishment in this country.
But that's another topic.

A prisoner in AL is going to be killed by asphyxiation by nitrogen gas. Does that rise to cruel and unusual? It certainly is unusual since gas chambers have been outlawed.

In my opinion, anyone sentenced to death should suffer the same method they employed on their victims. All appeals should be limited to two years after sentencing.

 

[Blues Man]

In my opinion, anyone sentenced to death should suffer the same method they employed on their victims. All appeals should be limited to two years after sentencing.

Maybe we should let the families of the victims kill the guilty.

Just think of the money we could save.

 

[Markle]

That is a woman doesn't want to be pregnant, she'll find a way to not be pregnant.

That if you conservatives were really interested in reducing abortion, you'd support family leave, sex education and availability of contraception.

Oh, yeah, and the law has never recognized fetuses as people, even when abortion was illegal.

About that...

The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-212) is a United States law that recognizes an embryo or fetus in utero as a legal victim, if they are injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence. The law defines "child in utero" as "a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb."[1]

 

[Markle]

Maybe we should let the families of the victims kill the guilty.

Just think of the money we could save.

Perhaps as an option?