There was a pirate who killed people in the following manner. He would have the guy standing next to the mast, cut his belly open just a bit, pull out the gut and nail it to the mast. Then put a torch to the guy’s ass and watch him run as his gut came out of his belly. Great laughter for all those watching.
I’m thinking that there’s a chance this method of execution might cause some pain. Though I don’t mind that, being a proponent of execution by steamroller (presuming deterrence is the primary goal), there might be a few other people around here who might find fault with this approach on those grounds.
What I find odd is the notion that use of the guillotine would be more likely to be done in public than lethal injection is now - I would expect this to be less so, in fact, because of the aforesaid messiness.
Yes, it seems to me to be a rather quick and minimally painful process, for the reasons described above.
As I mentioned, I first began the practice of various martial arts, mostly judo, when I was eleven, and I am now fifty-three. I am rather familiar with techniques in judo that produce unconsciousness thru creating a sudden drop in blood pressure - the “sleeper” holds I mentioned above. Based on that, and a layman’s understanding of the physiology of the structures and functions of the neck, and brain, I would expect that decapitation is a quick and relatively painless death - much quicker, in fact, than a death from natural causes such as cancer or heart attack is likely to be.
Perhaps I am a bit sensitive on the subject - my sister’s mother-in-law recently died of cancer. She was a lovely woman, and her last hours were very, very unpleasant. Compare the fact that she died almost literally screaming to (for instance) Amnesty International or the ACLU’s whining about how tough some convicted murderer has it because his heroin habit made it hard to start an IV, and they had to stick him five times, and gee, isn’t that just so barbaric, and perhaps you see that I am not likely to fall down weeping about execution.
Sure - cyanide has been used. Anesthetic gasses, carbon dioxide or monoxide - even hypobaric chambers have been suggested.
My dad was a vet - the number of pets he euthanized by what amounts to lethal injection must number in the low thousands. It never or seldom produced any visible suffering that I ever saw.
Depends on your goals, I suppose.
If a public spectacle is desired, as you seem to do, lethal injection is not much of a show. If that is no object, then fine by me.
I prefer private execution, as is now the case. But my main criteria for judging are that the method chosen be quick, and relatively painless. Decapitation seems to fit that bill. So also do things like lethal injection.
A useful method might be ask what method you would prefer, if the unfortunately necessity of executing you were to arise.
If they asked me, decapitation would be preferable to hanging or cyanide gas, as it seems to be quicker, and it is more certain than the firing squad. As compared to lethal injection, it seems to be a toss-up - I am not afraid of needles, nor of sleeper holds.
Of course, if they gave me my choice, perhaps I could drink myself to death. I seem to have made a good start already.
Regards,
Shodan
I’m not really seeing any arguments made for beheading being better than lethal injection that aren’t either to do with spectacle or vindictiveness. Presuming that we want to avoid vindictiveness in our legal system where possible, the only reason I can see to go to the time and expense of installing guillotines would be for the spectacle of it.
Of course, I only see spectacle as useful if you’re hoping to use it for deterrence. At that point, of course, the goals of humaneness and deterrence become at odds, and one supposes that beheading might possibly be the optimal approach to maximize both (by being nearly painless but not really looking it). This argument for beheading relies on spectacle, of course.
I didn’t ask if it was quick and minimally painful - I asked whether you supposed it was an optimal method of executing people painlessly. That puts them at odds with other painless methods - including non-messy ones, and asks you why you would not reject decapitation in favor of superior alternatives.
And given that I support execution by steamroller (presuming humaneness is of no importance and deterrence is primary), you might be able to guess that I’m not all that concerned about the barbarism of sticking a convicted murderer five times. 
So, which goals favor decapitation over gassing, and why?
Hey, I support public spectacle in the singular specific case where deterrence is a primary secondary goal of execution. (The primary goal should be to actually off the guy, of course.) If deterrence is not a primary secondary goal, then spectacle is of no benefit and probably counterproductive. And if we’re not desiring spectacle, then we have to wonder what benefits decapitation has over the less-messy alternatives of lethal injection and gassing.
Right. So why pick the messy alternative over the messless ones?
I want to die painlessly in my sleep. Gas me. (Plus it leaves a less pluralized corpse for the family to mourn over.)
Then you haven’t been reading very carefully, have you? I have mentioned the difficulty of starting an IV on some prisoners, twice at least, and linked to a site where Amnesty International says the same thing.
So you didn’t ask if it was minimally painful - you asked if it was a method of executing someone painlessly.
Good luck with that.
So you are claiming that you are a proponent of the death penalty via steam roller?
I don’t believe you.
Regards,
Shodan
Given that both you and I have explictly stated that we don’t care how hard it is to start an IV on some prisoners, I don’t see how that can possibly be a credible argument for lethal injection being worse. Should I apologize for dismissing arguments that we’re both going to laugh off?
I mean, I suppose we could make an argument that some prisons are likely going to be lax about keeping the blade sharp, too, making it less painless. Does that blow away beheading as an option?
I’m stll not really seeing any credible arguments made for beheading being better than lethal injection that aren’t either to do with spectacle or vindictiveness.
Perhaps you should read more carefully - or learn the definition of the word “optimal”. It means, roughly, “most best”, and as I explicitly pointed out, compares the method in question with other methods.
So no, I wasn’t even slightly asking if it was painless. I was, quite clearly, asking if it better than other minimally painful methods. Like, for example, lethal injection and gassing. Or others - feel free to compare any you think of. Death by gigantic weight falling at terminal velocity has been mentioned, I believe.
Reading comprehension is your friend. If we are totally devoted to deterring criminials, and utterly disinterested in our methods of execution being humane, I say scare the crap out of the criminals with demonstrations of a truly horrific death awaiting them. It only makes sense, assuming those particular priorities - but only if those preconditions apply.
This is honestly a position I hold to be true. Obviously true, even.