Is there any evidence that this happened in this case?
They are completely strapped down from head to toe. Once they are strapped in, they aren’t moving their arm. This is a photo from 1999 of the TN gurney.
Have you considered it might be less about retribution and more about helping the family find closure? As far as I know, closure isn’t typically found after an execution, but that doesn’t mean a lot of people don’t believe it might. And, yes, we have a culture of retribution. Justice cannot exist without some form of retribution.
“Closure” doesn’t mean anything other than “finish him”.
Considered and rejected. A fair trial provides closure. The execution provides nothing desirable.
Can you provide any evidence that trials provide closure? As far as I understand it, neither trial nor execution truly provides closure for most families. But if you have other information I’d be happy to learn.
Do they still execute people when their victims don’t have any family?
I can’t really disagree with most of that, although I find the word “closure” to be a slippery euphemism. I think it applies to situations like a missing person, who is finally found, whether dead or alive. It also applies to homicides where the perp has not been captured and is running free. Bringing the perp to justice is a valid form of closure.
But I just think that the death penalty is inherently barbaric and staging it as a semi-public spectacle is reprehensible. I’ll say again that obviously I totally sympathize with the grieving parents of the deceased girl, and yet the idea of them traveling to Tennessee to witness the execution is so morbid that in a way I’m glad that all they got to see was the perp being sedated into a nice nap. Yes, the parents deserve closure. Their closure should be that the perp was captured, convicted, and will never again see the light of day.
If the family of the victim in this case still hasn’t found closure 31 years after their loved one’s murder, and are hoping to find it in the murderer’s execution, then I feel very sorry for them, indeed.
You’re replying to a tangent about people raising money for family members go witness an execution. Your question has nothing to do with that.
I’m not arguing here an execution brings closure to many families as evidence would suggest it isn’t true. Only that a lot of people might believe it does and thus inclined to donate some money to help family travel to witness an execution. i.e. There might be additional motivations behind the donations than, “Let 'em fry!”
I suppose we should be more civilized and lock them in a cage for the rest of their life. Keep in mind, I’m against the death penalty like most everyone else here, but I can’t pretend it’s any more barbaric than caging people like animals. Even if you cage them in ideal conditions it’s still a cage.
Me too. Even after more than forty years, I don’t think my grandparents ever got a sense of closure regarding my uncle’s suicide. Now that I think about it, I wonder if lingering on court proceedings, the trial, and the sentence can exacerbate the pain for families?
We kill millions of cows and pigs, and billions of chickens every year
I’m sure there are occasional temporary failures. But you know what, most of those animals are killed quickly.
Vets kill a lot of animals, too. And they do it painlessly and with a nearly-zero failure rate.
Seriously! The way to find closure is to bury the body, or engage in similar funeral rites. People mourn for a long time after “closure”, but killing someone else doesn’t bring your loved one back, you still gotta mourn.
Yep, I missed the context, and my question was therefore dumb. Apologies.
In some cases that’s true. My understanding is that the US federal supermax prison, ADX Florence, Colorado, is specifically designed to be a horrific experience of isolation like that with no social interaction.
Most prisons aren’t like that, though. It’s a miserable, highly structured existence with very few personal freedoms, but it has a moral justification: it keeps dangerous offenders off the street. There’s no moral justification for killing a fellow human, no matter how vile, and a society that endorses the practice – especially one that stages the execution as a spectacle – is undermining its moral foundation.
Aw, man. By the laws of the internet I think we’re legally obligated to fight, but you’re making it difficult by being so nice and reasonable. Don’t sweat it, there’s a lot going on in the thread and it’s easy to get mixed up. Your courtesy is both appreciated and acknowledged. One of the reasons I like this place.
I have no problem with the death penalty but a life sentence with no parole is cheaper and probably harder on the convicted. Very few people get to drift off into the inevitable in a drug induced sleep. Well except for drug users. A life sentence also offers the chance for the innocent to go free.
I wonder, as well.
AIUI, in most U.S. states which have the death penalty, a death sentence leads to a lengthy appeal and review process – typically on the order of 20-ish years between the sentence, and the execution.
In the case of Christa Pike, she was convicted and sentenced to death in March of 1996.
Have there been any studies on the effects on families of the victims when the wrong person is executed?
I wonder about the moment of transition–the moment state officials decided/declared/whatever that they are switching from trying to kill her to trying to save her. Really awkward! But there was a definite moment----a fraction of a millisecond-- where the state’s desired outcome did about as serious of a 180 that you’ll ever see.
I wonder if they “counted off” for the transition from killing to lifesaving like what EMTs do when they’re moving a patient from say a back board to a gurney.
Prison Big Cheese: “OK now everybody, on the count of three. One, two…”
Prison Small Cheese: “Wait… on the count of three what?”
Prison Big Cheese: “On three take out all the Death tubes and put in all the Life tubes. And don’t get them confused!”
Can I see a cite for that? I always thought it was one gun has a blank.
Sometime in the 90s or early aughts, I saw a documentary on TLC, A&E, or a similar channel back when they still showed educational material. This particular show followed the staff and guards at a death row facility in Texas (I think) in the days leading up to an execution. You could see the psychological toll this was taking on the staff and guards at the prison. One of the many reasons I became (mildly) anti-death penalty was because I don’t think it’s necessary to inflict that kind of stress on guards and staff.