No offence taken. I was (and am) just confused - every Japanese knows Japan is composed of 4 major islands and numerous smaller ones. I don’t know of any case where a group of islands is referred to as “the Isand” - when a Hawaiian says it, I’m pretty sure that means the particular island he/she lives on. Although all this is a moot point, as the Japanese language doesn’t have plurals.
Put down? Isn’t that the term used for animals? The term the BTK killer used in court?
Because child molesters are more likely to be guilty than anybody else on death row?
Probably because child molestation is such a horrific crime, people are less likely to view accusations of it with detachment, and more likely to call for vengeance than for other crimes.
[QUOTE=Vetch]
The rest of the world can only look up to the US and admire their stance on the death penalty.
QUOTE]
I know this isn’t GD, but there are many countries in the world that are so civilized that they don’t even have a death penalty. I guess you’re talking about places where one can be summarily executed at the whim of a dictator. I guess those folks would be happy to live somewhere that each case was examined in detail under strict rules of due process. But I don’t think we have a great deal to offer the modern world when it comes to capital punishment. We view people who kill others as so bad that we kill them.
Actually, it does. The affix ~tachi is added to the noun when needed. In usual speech, though, it’s not used. That doesn’t mean the language doesn’t have plurals.
By “we” in that posting, I take it you mean just the federal government and those particular states which have the death penalty, not those states which do not have the death penalty.
Well, yes. The “we” didn’t mean my family and me, either. It referred to the jurisdictions that impose the death penalty here in the U.S., either federal or state, and not to the places that do NOT impose the death penalty. Until it is no longer any part of our society, I think “we” can refer to the U.S. in general when talking about the use of capital punishment in various places in the world.
What is the method of execution in Japan? Is there only one, or are the numerous ones in use like the US?
I could be wrong, but I believe “-tachi” would only be used with people. It’s not like “apples” would be “ringotachi” or anything like that.
Of course, there are still counters, indications of how many of what there are and words that describe “some”, etc. Your point stands: There are ways of expressing plurals in Japanese, they just form them differently than we’re used to in English.
Heh, looks like I AM wrong. I can find several references in Google to “ringotachi” being translated as “apples”. Learn something new every day. 
I think the Russians also kill death-sentenced felons similarly. In a TV Documentary, there was a guy who was dispatched like this.
Without warning, the guards swooped into his cell, took him down the corridor and through a door where something like a small Jungle Jim was set up. They handcuffed him to it, and Bang! Put bullet in his head.
[QUOTE=CC]
Yes it was sarcasm. I was reacting to the post by groman I quoted.
However it was misplaced in view of the forum, the fact that the death penalty is such an emotive subject and it may have hijacked the thread.
Only hanging is used.
I’ve heard from a Japanese co-worker that they have the electric chair. Was he just mistaken?
[QUOTE=CC]
[Ron White] If you come to Texas and kill someone, we will kill you back[/RW]
Texas. Now there’s a paragon of virtue.
Perhaps what the web-site means is that it’s not mandatory to appeal death sentences? Isn’t that the case in some US jurisdictions, that death sentences must be appealed, whether or not the accused wants to? Perhaps in the Japanese system the accused, once convicted and sentenced, can choose not to appeal the decision?
I believe he was. The Japanese wikipedia article on the death penalty and other sites I found made no mention of the electric chair, just hanging.
Was this meant to be an obscure joke in reference to the Unexpected Hanging Paradox?