# Capital Punishment supporters, would you support public executions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 2, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858 "2012-06-02T11:46:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/41 "2012-06-05T19:34:11Z")
I support the death penalty and yes, I would support public executions as well. I think the “charge admission” idea would work if done in a large enough venue and at a high enough ticket price to defray some of the costs of supporting the condemned from conviction through the many appeals to the actual carrying out of the sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/42 "2012-06-05T19:51:20Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > I support the death penalty and yes, I would support public executions as well. I think the “charge admission” idea would work if done in a large enough venue and at a high enough ticket price to defray some of the costs of supporting the condemned from conviction through the many appeals to the actual carrying out of the sentence. Sure, and maybe get Snickers or Budweiser to sponser the show, huh? Maybe we could get some cheerleaders in there to pad things out a little bit. Maybe start off slow with a bunch of guys getting kicked in the junk first, just to warm up the crowd. Idiocracy. I’m telling you. It’s on its way. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/43 "2012-06-05T20:09:15Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Sure, and maybe get Snickers or Budweiser to sponser the show, huh? Maybe we could get some cheerleaders in there to pad things out a little bit. Maybe start off slow with a bunch of guys getting kicked in the junk first, just to warm up the crowd. > Idiocracy. I’m telling you. It’s on its way. I know… death makes you squeamish. I guess I’m not so squeamish. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/44 "2012-06-05T20:11:21Z")
I’m “squeamish” because I find the thought of killing people for entertainment abhorrent? Fine. Color me squeamish if you must. I’m comfortable with that collar. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/45 "2012-06-05T20:13:56Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m “squeamish” because I find the thought of killing people for entertainment abhorrent? Fine. Color me squeamish if you must. I’m comfortable with that collar. …and I’m comfortable with the pragmatist collar. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/46 "2012-06-05T20:18:02Z")
What’s pragmatic about watching people die between handfuls of popcorn? Wanting certain people dead can be pragmatic, but if the method includes a half-time show, you’ve slipped from pragmatic to prurient, in my view. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/47 "2012-06-05T20:24:38Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > What’s pragmatic about watching people die between handfuls of popcorn? > > Wanting certain people dead can be pragmatic, but if the method includes a half-time show, you’ve slipped from pragmatic to prurient, in my view. In my view the condemned is going to die. Thats a given. It cost a fuck load of money to the government to get to this point. Recovering some of those expenses is simply pragmatic regardless of one’s level of squeamishness ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/48 "2012-06-05T20:27:12Z")
Squeamishness don’t enter into it. Where’s the morality of killing people for entertainment? Fuck sakes, we execute people who do shit like that. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/49 "2012-06-05T20:35:36Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Squeamishness don’t enter into it. Where’s the morality of killing people for entertainment? Fuck sakes, we execute people who do shit like that. Where does morality enter into pragmatism? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/50 "2012-06-05T21:12:04Z")
Utah used lever-action Winchester model 1894’s with Silvertip 30-30 cartridges. Not much product endorsement potential there, since there are a lot better deer rifles on the market. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/51 "2012-06-05T21:13:23Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > Where does morality enter into pragmatism? It should. Otherwise we’d be able to buy cans of minced pauper children at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/52 "2012-06-05T21:25:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Too bad Richard Dawson just died. We could do “Running Man” for real. Are you serious? Wow, I just googled. How the heck did I not hear that ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/53 "2012-06-05T21:39:31Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > It should. Otherwise we’d be able to buy cans of minced pauper children at the grocery store. OK, but we aren’t talking about minced pauper children (though I imagine them to be tougher and stringier than minced rich kids as there is less time to graze). We are talking about the death penalty. Morality lines are different for everyone. For you death is a line on TV, however we can watch war and suicide bombings on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, et al. For me death on TV already exists. MMA and boxing are popular pay-per-view sports in this country where the goal is to beat each other into submission or ALMOST killing them by beating them into unconsciousness. Sometimes the line from almost-to-death gets crossed. I remember watching Ray Manicini kill [Duk Koo Kim](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duk_Koo_Kim) on live television. If someone getting pummelled to death or almost to death is not for you, my suggestion is to not watch. Everyone has a different moral line. Carrying out death sentences, whether attended by live audiences or in private is not my line. Calling me immoral or less than moral than you is no different to me than the pro-lifer’s shouting “Murderer!” at abortion doctors. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/54 "2012-06-05T22:41:44Z")
This is kinda an odd topic for a first post, I’d think, but I have thought about this a lot in years past, and decided to have my say here. So, my opinion on capital punishment is that while it is morally acceptable in theory, I would prefer to see it abolished, both for practical and humanitarian reasons. But if we are going to have it, I am extremely in favor of public executions. I am reminded of an interesting theme in George R.R. Martin’s _Song of Ice and Fire_ series - namely that the person who passes the sentence should swing the sword. Now we don’t have to execute people by beheading, and we don’t have to have the judge personally do the deed. But I do think that our society as a whole has the duty to observe firsthand the end of the lives we deem fit to end. If we’re not willing to look directly at our grisly handiwork, then maybe they don’t deserve to die. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/55 "2012-06-05T23:41:30Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Squeamishness don’t enter into it. Where’s the morality of killing people for entertainment? Fuck sakes, we execute people who do shit like that. On the up-side, the show would become self-sustaining. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/56 "2012-06-06T01:05:47Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Where’s the morality of killing people for entertainment? They are not being killed for entertainment. They’ve been tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. The entertainment is just extra goodness! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858/57 "2012-06-06T01:52:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Lets clear the air first. This is not about the rightness or wrongness of the death penalty…FTR, I oppose capital punishment. What a shocker (no pun intended). I don’t see any need to make executions more public than they already are (they’re not exactly secret; various officials, witnesses and victims’ relatives attend). Why give killers a greater chance to gratify their egos and playact\*, or allow creepy people in the TV audience a thrill\*? \*Imagine the fun that Ted Bundy or another socipathic killer would have had with a huge public audience to mess with. \*\*Routine executions would probably get dull quickly, and lose the ratings battle to _Storage Wars_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-supporters-would-you-support-public-executions/623858.md?page=2)