Why are all the methods of capital punishment so.......weird?

Factual Questions
41

In another thread a year or two ago, it was discussed that having a person walk into a big room (or chamber or whatever) filled with nitrogen or helium or some other inert gas would quickly cause lightheadedness, then unconsciousness, and then death, all without the feeling of dyspnea or “air hunger” that you get when suffocating, because that’s caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide rather than a lack of oxygen.

I wonder how suffering-free an execution method that (or just administration via tank and mask) would be.

42

How about, we’re supposed to be the better persons? It makes us no better than the criminal.

I’ve also seen much of the pain that violent criminals have inflicted. Does that make up for it? Does that take away the pain that has been caused? No, it just adds even more.

Back to the OP: what about beheading?

43

Anyone who has had major surgery will have had an injection to knock you out. after a matter of second you’re out cold.

So why not inject the condemned with that drug and while he/she is out then inject the killer drug/s.

Easy?

44

Suggested alternatives to the conventional death penalty:

Lock him in a room filled with poisonous snakes.

Order him and another condemned prisoner to fight to the death - the winner gets life imprisonment instead of death.

Tie him in a sack with a pig, a dog, a viper, a cock and an ape, and toss sack into a river.

Take 10 death-row prisoners and have them race in specially-built cars equipped with blades, rotating saws, and cannons. Winner of the race gets life imprisonment.

45

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46

You just described lethal injection. Except that the killer drugs are, arguably, horribly painful even to someone who is unconscious.

47

What about a bullet to the back of the head, followed by a second just to be sure?

I believe this is the method used in China (one bullet anyway, I don’t know about the second) and so far I haven’t heard of anyone suffering or lingering as a result.

48

I read somewhere that this mode of execution was used, not so long ago, by the Russians. No date for the affair was set. Then, one day, the prisoner would be taken from his cell, handcuffed (in at least one prison) to a structure of some sort, and a bullet was fired into the man’s head.

And if you want that documentary,** Mr. Death: **The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. recommended by Stranger on a Train, you can get it at Netflix. Roger Ebert gave it 5 stars.

49

Yes, because general anesthesia never fails to render the patient unconscious.

Stranger

50

Who needs an MD to administer general anesthesia? If techies can inject poison into a felon’s vein, who will quibble about some asshole willing to kill with an anesthetic?

51

You need DEA and state licenses in order to acquire the drugs and have them in your possession. I assume that the prisons have licenses that let them acquire the drugs legally (plus they do have doctors on staff), and have allowed some technicians to administer the drug (probably because they’re under supervision of a licensed physician).

52

I disagree. The bad guy inflicted pain and suffering on people who had done nothing wrong. We are inflicting pain and suffering on someone who deserves it.

I never claimed it did, but in any case I am not entirely sure that this question is meaningful.

I never claimed it did, but actually, since you ask, yes, I have known a lot of people who would find this process very cathartic, even if they were not participating but just knew it had happened.

For the record, whenever these debates arise, I am thinking of two cases (both far more famous here in the UK than elsewhere). The first is that of the Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who tortured, killed and buried young children. Given where and when they operated, I could well have been one of their victims. They terrorised all of Lancashire, and scandalised the entire country. For the life of me, when there are good, decent people who are hungry or cold, I can’t see why the taxpayer ever wasted a penny providing any facilities at all for these appalling, evil people. And I knew (and know) as many men (fathers) as you could ask for who would have loved just ten minutes along in a room with the pair of them. Hindley has died, but Brady is still around. It’s not too late. And Brady actually wants to die, so where’s the loss?

The second is the case of Peter Sutcliffe, the so-called Yorkshire Ripper. I was based in Yorkshire when he was terrorising an entire county, and when literally every woman in his preferred target age range was living in more or less perpetual fear. It wasn’t just a case of being afraid to go out at night - they didn’t even feel safe in their homes. They used to put pots and pans balanced on the inside window ledges, as an improvised ‘alarm’ should he try to break in through a window. Again, I ca’t see the point in keeping him fed and clothed when there are so many people who deserve taxpayer’s money more than he does. I’m quite sure that even now, many years after he was caught, a single advert in the Yorkshire Post would bring forth plenty of volunteers who, given ten minutes alone with Sutcliffe, would enthusiastically relieve the taxpayer of the burden.

Apologies for the hijack.

53

No I did not. I described the administration of a drug to render one unconcious.

Then I asked why a “killer” drug couldn’t be injected after the person was “out”.

AFAIAA no pain would be felt when in a state of unconciousness

54

Then why do they give strong painkillers (fentanyl etc) after they have induced general anaesthesia during surgical procedures? The painkillers aren’t for post-operative pain.

55

You do realise that they wouldn’t have been executed even if we still had capital punishment, don’t you? Brady and Sutcliffe are both mentally ill. They are in Broadmoor, a mental hospital, not prison. Even 100 years ago they didn’t hang people like that.

56

Anybody happen to know what kind of rifles were used to execute Gary Gilmore?

57

Most sites indicate .30-30 Caliber rifle.

58

Although Sutcliffe tried to plead guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility the judge- via consultation with the Attorney-General and others- tried and convicted him of murder.So he actually spent time in a normal prison.

Brady too spent time in a normal prison, about 20 years, before being committed to Broadmoor.

So in theory they could both have been executed before being declared insane if the death penalty was still in force.

59

So are you saying that even if I’m out like a light I can still feel pain.

If someone kicked me in the nads while unconcious I’d only know about it when I came to…wouldn’t I?

60

The prisons frequently have practices in place that allow the prison healh care staff to absolve themselves of participation in executions; the guys who actually do the deed don’t have any nurses or doctors among them. A physician may (or may not) be present, but doesn’t participate in the execution.

The manner of getting the drugs is sort of controversial. There was some litigation that the drugs being used are being obtained illegally under federal law because they’re obtained directly by non-medical personnel for purposes outside their medical use, to put it mildly. The Supreme Court basically shrugged its shoulders and said if federal law is being violated, it was up to the FDA or the AG to do something about it. The case was Heckler v. Chaney, 470 U.S. 821 (1985).

There was a flap a few years back when a pharmaceutical company wouldn’t supply the New Mexico Secretary of Health with the lethal injection drugs because he wasn’t a physician, so the Govenor ordered the State’s Chief Medical Officer to obtain the drugs. Watchdog groups caught wind of it and pressured the State Board of Medical Examiners to yank his license for violation the State’s medical practices act and ethical violations. The drugs were returned and bought from a different pharmaceutical supply company without a physician’s involvement. Texas does something similar; the drugs are bought at a pharmacy in Austin and driven 100 miles to Huntsville. Here’s a previous thread on the subject, although many of the links are dead:

No prescription needed to execute?