A perfect example of why the electric chair is needed for some. (Arguments concerning criminal executions and methods)

[Free-Stater 101]

So I am a proponent of bringing back old sparky. I know it's not a popular opinion on some corners of the internet or even the idea of executions in general but I am still a proponent of the death penalty.

The other day I was browsing youtube and I found what I think is the perfect example of a story involving the complete story of a crime of a few individuals who deserved the ride.


Does anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Why not execution by firing squad? It'd be a more dignified death than being strapped. Also only costs 50 cents for ammo.

 

[Simonbob]

I don't mind the idea of execution, but I also think the current Gov will screw it up.

It's still a good idea, I think. There needs to be harshness, after all. And i don't pretend that all life is sacred.

 

[Captain X]

Why not execution by firing squad? It'd be a more dignified death than being strapped. Also only costs 50 cents for ammo.

It also eliminates any pretension of being "civilized."

Personally I am against the death penalty, and one of the more significant reasons for that is my distrust of the government. Our current Vice-President is a great example of how corrupt the "justice" system can be through her own actions in hiding evidence.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

So I am a proponent of bringing back old sparky. I know it's not a popular opinion on some corners of the internet or even the idea of executions in general but I am still a proponent of the death penalty.

The other day I was browsing youtube and I found what I think is the perfect example of a story involving the complete story of a crime of a few individuals who deserved the ride.


Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Sad thing is I have a bit more respect for the outlaws sometimes than I do society. Somehow the outlaws were more intellectual honest about their motives. ☹

 

[ShadowArxxy]

I actually support the guillotine because while certainly messy, it's the most humane method of execution ever invented as far as I'm aware. It has a decidedly ugly reputation, sure, but I largely consider that a feature rather than a drawback because it quite neatly satisfies the deterrent half of the equation. The actual execution is as humane as possible -- beheading with mechanical precision, no hesitation or inaccuracy, near instant total loss of blood pressure and volume to the brain.

I find lethal injection deeply immoral because it pretty much is tailor-made to look as humane as possible while actually being horrifyingly inhumane. I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, but I find it difficult to believe anyone could possibly actually invent it without that being the exact intent, because there's almost infinitely many ways to poison someone, and the one they picked is just up there. You could painlessly execute someone by the exact same method that is used to put pets to sleep (massive overdose of tranquilizer), or you could use any of a vast number of fast-acting poisons to render them "dead before they know it". Instead, the method chosen is to use a limited dose of sedative combined with a paralytic agent to immobilize the subject, then slowly administer an electrolyte to shut down their heart. At best, it's an unnecessarily complex protocol that doesn't actually guarantee unconsciousness. At worst, it's a protocol that literally only makes sense if you wanted to make the subject suffer as much as possible while making it difficult to *prove* they were suffering.

The electric chair, meanwhile, *actually was* a conspiracy; Thomas Edison was heavily involved with lobbying to use alternating-current electricity for executions specifically to promote the idea that the alternating current systems produced by his competitors were unsafe compared to the direct current systems made by Edison. The Edison company provided all of the equipment to develop the first experimental electric chair for human executions, but illicitly obtained Westinghouse AC generators for it to make sure that the rival brand was specifically associated with electrical executions.

 

[King Arts]

I think that having one death penalty is wrong instead the method of death should mirror the type of murder so a gangster shoots someone firing squad, someone poisons somebody lethal injection, etc. ironically this means I disagree with the electric chair because few murders are done by electricity.

 

[Captain X]

guillotine

Dude, it was proved people actually lived for a short time following it. It was hardly a quick, painless death or humane in any sense of the word.

I definitely agree with you about lethal injection, though. Not only is it less humane than the method used to put animals down, it adds to the pretension of being civilized I was referring to.

 

[ATP]

Why not execution by firing squad? It'd be a more dignified death than being strapped. Also only costs 50 cents for ammo.

As traditionalist,i support beheading with sword.Special swords with one side for mens,other for womans.
According to what i read,it really existed.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

It also eliminates any pretension of being "civilized."

Personally I am against the death penalty, and one of the more significant reasons for that is my distrust of the government. Our current Vice-President is a great example of how corrupt the "justice" system can be through her own actions in hiding evidence.

A touch of barbarism is necessary to keep a civilisation.

In my view, I feel a firing squad is a more honourable way to meet one’s end than the helplessness of the chair. If the condemned has any dignity, or courage, then he may refuse the blindfold and “earn Valhalla” in a way.

 

[Robovski]

It also eliminates any pretension of being "civilized."

Personally I am against the death penalty, and one of the more significant reasons for that is my distrust of the government. Our current Vice-President is a great example of how corrupt the "justice" system can be through her own actions in hiding evidence.

I also distrust our governemnt, but then there is on the other side that waste of skin that drove through a Christmas parade in Wisconisn (a state that doesn't have a death penalty).

 

[Captain X]

A touch of barbarism is necessary to keep a civilisation.

In my view, I feel a firing squad is a more honourable way to meet one’s end than the helplessness of the chair. If the condemned has any dignity, or courage, then he may refuse the blindfold and “earn Valhalla” in a way.

Honestly a shot to the base of the skull would probably be the most quick and painless way to kill someone.

I also distrust our governemnt, but then there is on the other side that waste of skin that drove through a Christmas parade in Wisconisn (a state that doesn't have a death penalty).

But on the other is the fact that the state has most likely killed more than one person who was innocent of the crime.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

A touch of barbarism is necessary to keep a civilisation.

Civilization is a theater, a false sense of good. But that's another subject for another day. Honestly there is something I find appealing in the brutal honesty of death by dueling.

The victim(s) and the criminal confront each other the victim gets their revenge or join their loved one In death. It's sick and brutal but it makes for a good story and gives a sense of closure to the masses and sadly more often than not that's the only thing people care about.

 

[bintananth]

Assuming execution is an appropriate sentence - which this thread does* - how said sentences get carried out is the question.

Towards one extreme there's "hanged, drawn, and quartered", "burned at the stake", &c ... which are very public and messy ways of making an example out of someone.

Methods like the electric chair, firing squad, and long drop hanging are fairly quick and can be set up so there's multiple people pulling triggers at the same time with all but one trigger being dummies. The ways we do it now are all set up so the executioner can't say for certain "I done it".

Avoiding the appearance of subjecting the condemned to a "cruel and unusual" execution is mostly just theatre.

* Not opening the can-of-worms that is the "death penalty debate".

 

[Agent23]

I prefer the classics, a bullet to the head, a noose around the neck or public impalement.
A good professional impaler could make it so that the victim would not die for days.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

A good professional impaler could make it so that the victim would not die for days.

The U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[King Arts]

The U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

Just redefine how it’s interpreted it so that cruel and unusual means that the punishment is grossly excessive compared to the crime. That way some people would be able to be impaled not many sure but some serial killers since they are tucked up.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

The U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

I agree with kings on this one, in the context of the constitution I think it means punishment must fit the crime IE no chopping off hands for stealing an apple or pummeling a woman to death for having sex outside of marriage. Keep in mind that Tar and feathering were considered an adequate punishment depending on the severity of the crime. and if you don't think that can do much damage beyond humiliation...

 

[Bear Ribs]

The standard for what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment was set by Justice William Brennan. In Furman v. Georgia.

• The "essential predicate" is "that a punishment must not by its severity be degrading to human dignity", especially torture.
• "A severe punishment that is obviously inflicted in wholly arbitrary fashion."
• "A severe punishment that is clearly and totally rejected throughout society."
• "A severe punishment that is patently unnecessary."

It's highly unlikely impalement could pass this test, especially the first "essential predicate."

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

• The "essential predicate" is "that a punishment must not by its severity be degrading to human dignity", especially torture.

Shouldn't most death penalties in the US like hanging and the chair, as well as punishments like life in prison fall under this? it certainly removes the ability to "Die with your boots on" as so many Americans like to boast. Compare that to punishments like crucifixion burning at the stake or death by combat where while cruel are associated with bravery and/or guts and/or martyrism or death by combat which provides a sense of "Dying with your boots on."