lethal injection...do you feel it's cruel and inhuman

[melanie2]

i was watching a documentary in which this chaplain has presided over at least one hundred executions..and he commented on the fact that he believed lethal injection was cruel and inhuman punishment..in fact i believe the US supreme court has also ruled on that..the chaplain said it has taken up to eleven minutes for the death row inmate to die..

now..although i'm against the death penalty for moral reasons..being that if we put someone to death for a crime, we are no better than the criminal himself/herself..and that it's like playing God..

however..cruel and unusual punishment..?? what about the victims..was their death not cruel and unusual? the children suffering at the hands of these monsters..the pedophiles who rape and kill these children..how long did it take little Jessica to die? buried alive as it were? eleven minutes? and little Danielle..how long did she have to suffer cruel and unusual and inhuman treatment at the hands of David Westerfield before she finally took her last breath?

 

[Mercury1]

I believe any form of Capital Punishment is wrong. "Cruel and unusual" is a completely different matter altogether. It's cruel and unusual to have this person lying on a bed, being watched by who knows how many spectators, as he/she is injected with a slow-working poison. There's something so... Wrong about that. I mean, if the person was a repeat Sex Offender, maybe death by firing squad would be less inhumane.

Not that I'm condoning the action of sexual offence. Nor am I condoning Capital Punishment. Neither should be done. But two wrongs don't make a right. If the person is a sexual deviant, which is inhumane in its own right, that doesn't mean we should also be inhumane by watching the person die with a slow-working poison.

 

[sadi]

That's a pretty subjective answer (fine, the majority may feel one way, but there's no way to appease everyone). Though I don't agree with capital punishment, the main focus would be if the criminal felt any pain while being injected.
I mean, comparatively, it's likely better than many other ways. If someone was beheaded it was hardly ever one, clear, swing. Most times it took many. And sometimes the executioner got tired, thus the swings got weaker, as it took all the evening or dawn.

 

[blackmagicjack1]

There is probably no humane way to kill another human. You guys are just touching on the physical ramifications of execution, what about the emotional trauma that goes along with counting down to your moment of death. So to be very blunt one way is probably as good as another.

I'm in favor of capital punishment - at the moment I do not see a better way. When a person proves that he is incapable of living in society without taking the lives of his fellow human beings, he (or she) needs to be removed from society. Since we don't have penal colonies in space yet, I'm afraid that capital punishment is the expedient answer. If you think locking them up for life is a better answer, I disagree. Man was meant to live free - being locked up for life is cruel.

 

[sadi]

It tends to cost a was of money if one has to be locked up for life. I think a few mill. or so (but not sure :umm🙂. Everyone should always be given another chance, but sometimes, it's just so ingrained in their minds, or their may have chemicals in their mind to make them as such. Then, I don't really know what to do with them.

 

[TyrantRaveAB]

90% of the time im against it. i would be against it 100% but some ppl just really do need to die.

 

[the_jimmy_james]

Can someone start using the gender-neutral pronoun "they"? It's less to type than "he/she" and easier to read.

 

[Loves2Tickle]

I have absolutely no problem with lethal injection! If you have been convicted of premeditated murder by a jury of your peers and all your legal alternatives have been exhausted then hop on the table because you have to go!

In July of 1984 my high school buddy and childhood friend Michael, age 18 was murdered along with his employer by two men posing as detectives. They were driven to the Meadowlands and both shot twice in the face.

18 years later, I arrested and handcuffed the person responsible for shooting Michael and his employer after he retold the story to his co conspirator who became an FBI informant.

A day later, I learned the identity of the man I had arrested. In the FBI transcript he stated "I had no trouble shooting the contract, However I liked the kid and it was ashame I had to shoot him"!

Today the shooter is serving two life sentences and the co conspirator is in the witness protection program.

 

[alf1]

Man was meant to live free - being locked up for life is cruel.

well if someone commits murder, it's far better to see her/him suffer being sentenced for life , than having a death penalty shorting their life in my opinion

now man was meant to be free ... wait it's just utopic, it can't be in real life, there are laws as well , you are not to kill free if i go your way 🙂

 

[melanie2]

Can someone start using the gender-neutral pronoun "they"? It's less to type than "he/she" and easier to read.

i agree with what he/she said...:ggrin: hehe...

actually i forgot i started a thread similar to this about the obese guy in ohio..so i guess it's run it's course...

 

[ILove2Tickle1]

Not to stir up a flame fest, but I think capital punishment is not only not inhuman, but a good deterant for criminals. Yes, it's kinda like playing God. But then again, the guy was playing the devil to what he's earned for his punishment.

Personally, I think they need to make it cruel & unusual. The more henious the crime, the more cruel the death penalty is. Seriously, think about it. If someone guns down a bunch of people to rob a bank with multiple deaths. So he gets shot the same ammount shots he inflicted on others. I don't know about you, but that kind of capitol punishment would make me think more than twice before I did something really stupid.

And try this one out for size. For those who have recieved the life sentance without parole, and all appeals are gone. We destroy the old Alkatraz, and rebuild. Put all the lifers there. Lowjack the lot of 'em, but with a powerful shock collar (or other location) when they get beyond the walls - say about 1.5x more powerful than the normal tazer. Also with a milder shock when they get to close to the guards or other employees, but can be disabled when they need to put cuffs on them or something. Say nomal tazer strength. I know that sounds more than a little cruel, but then so were they when they did the crime(s).

 

[The_Kev1]

If the Chaplin meant that capital punishment was, in and of its self, cruel and unusual then I would have to agree.

If he meant that the means by which the condemned were being executed (lethal injection) was cruel and unusual, then his meaning escapes me. He couldn’t possibly be arguing that there exists a form of capital punishment that is not cruel or unusual, (based on his view in general)

 

[melanie2]

^ he meant lethal injection being cruel and unusual punishment..

 

[Mercury1]

Using the term "They" to describe only one person is bad grammar, Jimmy. That's why most people don't do that. Now, if we were talking about more than one person getting lethal injection at once, then we could say "They".

I agree with IL2T to a small degree. I believe that a punishment should fit the crime. I just think there should be more humane methods of doing so. For example, if your rebellious child was playing with matches and burned someone, delibertly or otherwise, would you punish him or her the same way? I doubt it. And since the function of a government is to both protect and provide for its people, that sort of makes it like our parent. If your child burned someone, you would find a better, more humane punishment that would be just as effective as the "eye for an eye" punishment.

Just the same, our "parent", the government, should find a better way than killing someone for killing someone else. That's why rehibilitation is so important. One cannot learn if one is dead.

 

[blackmagicjack1]

*Cringes at the thought of his government being his parent*

 

[Featherdemon]

I agree with Capital punishment. I also wish there was another way. Until such that as a society we can highlight and remove the need for such terrible deeds as rape, murder...etc...we need a way to deal with it. The State, which takes our protection in its hands, is responsible for ensuring that those who commit such attrocities suffer the penalty. Life in prison may be appropriate for some, but sadly I do feel there are those who are too much a threat to people. If we are unable to determine and treat the causes for the extreme crimes, and if the death penalty is to be used, may it be swift and painless. But we should exhause ALL other avenues first and constantly seek to further our understanding of the reasons of the crime.

 

[blackmagicjack1]

Not to derail Izzy's thread, but do you guys (and gals) think that brainwashing felons to be model citizens is moral? It's one of those things I wonder about when you watch too much sci-fi.

 

[ILove2Tickle1]

Not to derail Izzy's thread, but do you guys (and gals) think that brainwashing felons to be model citizens is moral? It's one of those things I wonder about when you watch too much sci-fi.

Nooooooo thank you very much. I've read 1984, and seen Clockwork Orange. I'll definately take a pass on that possability.

 

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

It's no worse then putting a dog to sleep.Which would you rather:The vaginal/anal pear,Iron Maiden,The Stocks,Judas Cradle,The thumb screw,Being crucified,Burned at The Stake,The Electric CHair,Chair with spikes,Gas chamber,etc.,Or Lethal Injection?
You know at some point or another we have to draw a line they must be punished for their merciless crime.We can't just slap them on the wrist like a two year old and put them in time out.Do you really think they learn anything in jail?I will tell you right now they learn something but it isn't what you think they learn;Heck,most of the time they are happy to go to jail because it's like a badge of honor to them.We have to do something to punish them and it really isn't playing God when you are sending them to God to be punished.I don't see what other ''humane'' choice we have to get rid of ass-hats like David Parker Ray who are sadistic,hardened criminals.Do you guys want to tie them up to a bondage table and tickle them for a month straight,I mean come on there has to be a line drawn somewhere that says,''You can no longer do terrible,heartless,cruel acts without suffering a little pain yourself.Guys do you realize if you did some of theese crimes in other countries you would be sentenced to death and hung if not tortured?I think the US is pretty humane compared to what it was.

 

[Duke Diablo]

Coming from a country which, unfortunately, has no death penalty, I must say I'd pretty like the idea of injection being brought here. Or any other type of death penalty. I'd suggest impalement, since the impaled one can die for 3 days if pierced properly, all the while in horrible pain. But in any case, no, I don't think that lethal injection, or any other form of execution is too cruel and inhuman. Why? Because those people are there for a reason. And no, we're not the same as them nor are we playing God. Saying killing criminals is equal to killing non-criminals is the same as saying killing soldiers is equal to killing civilians in time of war. And it's not. By putting out a criminal whose crimes were so heinous that he ended up on a death row, you save people in the street that might become his victims. Prisoners can escape. When they're dead they can't. It's all about making the world safer for people who haven't committed crimes.

Also, a small digression, sorry for it. Wouldn't the world be better if law like this was brought down: anyone who commits murder willingly and without reason (so, self-defense isn't included) can be killed on sight by anyone, and that guy's killer wouldn't get penalized in any way. Even their fellow criminals wouldn't be trialed if they killed him (they would still be trialed for other crimes). After all, if you took someone's life away on a whim, it's only fair that you loose your. Would make people think twice about killing.

 

[Wade1]

It's no worse then putting a dog to sleep.

Actually part of the controversy surrounding lethal injection is that it uses a different, less reliable, potentially more painful cocktail of chemicals than veterinarians do when euthanizing animals.

Guys do you realize if you did some of theese crimes in other countries you would be sentenced to death and hung if not tortured?

True, but consider also that most of the other countries in the world that have the death penalty aren't ones that the USA typically would like to be categorized alongside.

 

[chicag0]

I have my reasons for being for the death penalty. Child molesters, killers, people with no remorse for taking someone's life are just a waste of space and tax dollars while they rot in jail.

I don't like knowing that my tax money is going to giving some child killer three meals a day, no matter how meager they may be.

 

[RedMan01]

I myself am against Capital Punishment

But there is one case I wasn't. the Charlie Manson thing. He killed a pregnant women and all her friends and then killed a happy man and woman for his "Helter Skelter" race war. Still to this day he thinks he is innocent.

They should have given him the firing squad.

 

[taxwaxus]

Support capital punishment in certain cases. I think some people definitly deserve to die, particularly the sickos that torture their victims. Guys like BTK deserve being thrown into a pit of wolves. However, I think its a credit to our civilization that we are able to show some restraint in punishment.

My only two concerns-

1) There have been several recent cases in the media where DNA evidence has absolved people of murders they did not commit. Death is irreversible. Lock the wrong person up for a few decades and at least they can still be released and compensated. Therefore, I don't think "reasonable doubt" is enough to mandate death unless the evidence is overwhelmingly convincing.

2) Death penalty for treason is kind of sketchy. Raises the question of acceptable dissent as a right and the political agendas of those in power. Doesn't come into play very often in the US. Bigger issue in places like China and Middle East.

 

[BigNorm]

i not only believe in capital punishment, i believe there should be a Microwave Chamber.

if you don't want a painful death, then don't be a multiple murder/pedophile/ etc.

these murderers that make their victims die agonizing deaths, they should get quick, easy deaths? the hell with that.

that's why i nominate a Microwave Chamber. getting rid of capital punishent will make murders and rapes skyrocket.

in medieval times, you know how incredibly low the murder rate was? those devices of death struck fear in the hearts of would be murders.