# Execution methods in US **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 9, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261 "2016-12-09T09:02:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/61 "2016-12-22T13:37:36Z")
Killing _should_ cause stress. It’s a brutal, ugly business, and pretending otherwise is an affront to human dignity. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/62 "2016-12-22T17:16:28Z")
I have suggested nitrogen asphyxiation myself in the past, and I still think it’s the way to go in the future. However, a question did just occur to me: is reviving in any way a possibility? How long must a person be left in the nitrogen environment to be officially past the point of recovery? Any method we use must be, above all, _final_. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/63 "2016-12-22T17:43:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Killing _should_ cause stress. It’s a brutal, ugly business, and pretending otherwise is an affront to human dignity. If so, then have public executions so the public can witness directly what is being done in their name. Capital punishment isn’t about justice. It’s about revenge. Revenge in any form should not be part of the justice system. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/64 "2016-12-22T17:48:40Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > If so, then have public executions so the public can witness directly what is being done in their name. I agree. If you’re ashamed to do it in public, you shouldn’t be doing it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/65 "2016-12-22T18:00:31Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > If so, then have public executions so the public can witness directly what is being done in their name. I’d _like_ to believe that would make people hesitate…but I’m really afraid it might have the opposite effect. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/66 "2016-12-22T20:45:30Z")
As I’ve said in the past, put it on PPV, charge for it, and the complaint that the DP costs too much money goes away. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/67 "2016-12-22T23:49:09Z")
I think the French during the “Reign of Terror” had a good system - chop off the head and then lift it and show the crowd while it was still warm. Or the Spanish during the Inquisition - drive 'em insane with torture, paint and dress them as fools and make a carnival of their executions. Remember the modern Psych test “You are administrating an adjustable electrical shock to the person in the chair - NEVER turn it up past this mark…”? If you frame the task right, you can get simply every last “sane” human to torture and kill simply everybody. That classic “room with the only opening is a trap door in the ceiling” into which the hero always gets thrown, really did/does exists - its name is a version of the French word “forget” (obli… something) - which is another way to deal with the corpse. A very effective way… ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261/68 "2016-12-22T23:54:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’d _like_ to believe that would make people hesitate…but I’m really afraid it might have the opposite effect. Yes, that’s why public executions were stopped in both the US and the UK. The huge crowds, the carnival atmosphere, people coming from miles away to attend, parents bringing the whole family along including the children, general rowdiness and petty crimes, mainly pickpocketing. The public really _loved_ a good hanging. Bringing them back would be most certainly counterproductive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-methods-in-us/774261.md?page=3)