# Televised execution **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 12, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786 "2026-10-12T18:59:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/21 "2026-10-13T00:34:04Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > In the last four years, the only public killings documented by Amnesty were in Iran and Afghanistan. _Saturday Night Live_ in their most recent “Weekend Update” segment last weekend said that it was the first public execution shown on television in the United States for at least two weeks, and then showed an infographic of ICE officers. And they kind of had a point there. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/22 "2026-10-13T07:26:36Z")
> [@](#): > > You know, we’ve got to think through the policy implications of all that. I wouldn’t be watching it if it was aired. Mike? The policy implications are why you should be forced to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/23 "2026-10-13T11:23:00Z")
I’ll point out we’ve had a similar convo going on in a different thread for the last week-ish and the last 100-plus posts. Different categories, and that thread’s convo is more about executions in general than the televised part, but there’s been plenty of vitriol about that outrageous idea too. See here if interested: > [@Multiple Shootings At Fort Hood](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/316): > > Firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan scheduled for December The acting secretary of the U.S. Army said Tuesday that the man convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 [shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas,](https://apnews.com/article/trump-nadal-hasan-fort-hood-execution-6ab1d9cfb936d00d17c02105ea0a0ead) will be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3. In a post on social media, acting Secretary Adam Telle said the execution of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan will take place at Fort Hood. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell had said Monday that President Donald Trump had approved t… ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/24 "2026-10-13T14:27:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’ll point out we’ve had a similar convo going on in a different thread for the last week-ish and the last 100-plus posts. If you’re linking that thread anyways, I’ll point out that @The_Other_Waldo_Pepper is either _extremely_ stupid or trolling. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/25 "2026-10-13T16:26:15Z")
I think Hesgeth is trying to make the Fort Hood shooter an Example. An Example to Muslims, specifically. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/26 "2026-10-13T16:36:52Z")
I’d say somebody standing on very Libertarian principles. While carefully not thinking an inch beyond his own nose. Those folks always come off real doctrinaire and usually stupid when trying to justify their 5yo-level thinking in public. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/27 "2026-10-13T16:43:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’d say somebody standing on very Libertarian principles. While carefully not thinking an inch beyond his own nose. I’m pretty sure libertarian principles involve limiting the government’s ability to violate anyone’s rights, which is why I made the libertarian argument to him. No, the government should not restrict your rights by arbitrarily preventing him from watching the execution; but neither should it violate the rights of the condemned by broadcasting the execution. The government has the limited authority to punish him in specifically prescribed ways. In this case, that’s death, a very harsh penalty. But it doesn’t mean you get to violate every other right he has, like his right to privacy. That’s not what he was sentenced to. It’s not very libertarian to say that the government should violate rights like that. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/28 "2026-10-13T16:43:24Z")
It is in Trump’s paws now. If he says no, he will blame some enemies for even suggesting it.. If he says yes, he will declare it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread shot full of holes. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/29 "2026-10-13T16:45:01Z")
This is what happens when you put Percy Wetmore in charge of DOD. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/30 "2026-10-13T16:51:05Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > …but neither should it violate the rights of the condemned by broadcasting the execution. How is broadcasting violating anyone’s rights? Does the condemned have a privacy right for their execution? To be clear…I find the whole notion awful. Just not sure there is a rights complaint to be made. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/31 "2026-10-13T16:51:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Does the condemned have a privacy right for their execution? Yes? Why wouldn’t they? If someone jumps out of a bush and shoots the condemned on their way to the electric chair, isn’t that person guilty of murder? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/32 "2026-10-13T16:56:08Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Does the condemned have a privacy right for their execution? _Everyone (including the lawfully convicted)_ has a right to _not be executed_. Everywhere. This has been true since the dawn of time. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/33 "2026-10-13T17:01:16Z")
If everyone was forced to watch the execution would support for it go up, or down? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/34 "2026-10-13T17:03:12Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > If someone jumps out of a bush and shoots the condemned on their way to the electric chair, isn’t that person guilty of murder? I have a ‘right’ to not be murdered (I guess… I admit that the definition and application of rights gets a bit fuzzy to me) regardless of any other context. I don’t have a right to not be filmed in all contexts. It’s not a given, I suppose, that ‘while being executed’ is definitionally a place where I am assured privacy. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/35 "2026-10-13T17:04:29Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Yes? Why wouldn’t they? What law covers this? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/36 "2026-10-13T17:10:38Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > _Everyone (including the lawfully convicted)_ has a right to _not be executed_. > > Everywhere. This has been true since the dawn of time. Pretty sure you are very wrong about that. Loads of people have been legally executed since the dawn of time. That said, I do not disagree with your notion but the law is whatever the government says it is and it does not always comport with our sensibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/37 "2026-10-13T17:15:16Z")
Let’s make sure that we differentiate between moral and legal rights. They are definitely not the same; the law is often not moral (which is why legal reform is necessary). I’m in agreement with the abolishment of the death penalty on moral grounds, but at the moment it’s legal (at least on the national level). I also wondered about the legality of broadcasting a person’s death in the US, and found that generally as long as the killing itself is legal, there is nothing illegal about broadcasting it. Which seems totally wrong to me. What we’d often call “snuff films” can be totally legal depending on the circumstances of the death. The law only tries to discourage broadcasting illegal killings in order to disincentivize murder. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/38 "2026-10-13T17:18:39Z")
Well, it would be “unusual”. But I’m not sure if that document matters anymore. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/39 "2026-10-13T17:20:48Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Pretty sure you are very wrong about that. Loads of people have been legally executed since the dawn of time. Sorry to have implied that executions have ever been illegal. But they have _always_ been _ **WRONG** _. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/40 "2026-10-13T17:23:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’d say somebody standing on very Libertarian principles. While carefully not thinking an inch beyond his own nose. Except they’re claiming to not understand what everyone else is objecting to. Which if true reads to me that a chunk of the brain is just not functioning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786.md?page=3)