Utah's state House votes 39-34 to reinstitute execution by firing squad

[they don't love you like i love you]

You have to think, what type of person would actually volunteer to serve on a firing squad? Yech.

I think I've said before that one of the many reasons why I oppose the death penalty is I'd never be willing to carry out an execution myself, so it'd be kind of hypocritical to ask the state to do it anyway.

[© tweed]

You have to think, what type of person would actually volunteer to serve on a firing squad? Yech.

I'm sure it's a paid position.  perhaps even a union job ("correctional officer" and executioner are synonyms, we all know that).  though you could probably get a few John Birch types to volunteer for such a job.

[Indy Texas]

Far more humane than lethal injection.

they should use opiates for lethal injection.  shoot 3 grams of heroin into a dude.

I've never understood why lethal injection is so "hard."

People manage to kill themselves with heroin and various opiates and barbituates every day. If you're going to kill someone, why not just give them a bottle of Darvon/Percocet/Vicodin/etc and a Long Island Iced Tea and let what happens happen?

[they don't love you like i love you]

You have to think, what type of person would actually volunteer to serve on a firing squad? Yech.

I'm sure it's a paid position.  perhaps even a union job ("correctional officer" and executioner are synonyms, we all know that).  though you could probably get a few John Birch types to volunteer for such a job.

Well like all executions it's not frequent enough that "execution" through any means can be a full time job. So it's probably some other role one can take if they work in the prison system, and you can imagine the lawsuits and controversies that'd arise if a guard was ever told "execute this person or be fired". So I'd imagine all employees who serve on such a role are volunteers.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Far more humane than lethal injection.

they should use opiates for lethal injection.  shoot 3 grams of heroin into a dude.

I've never understood why lethal injection is so "hard."

People manage to kill themselves with heroin and various opiates and barbituates every day. If you're going to kill someone, why not just give them a bottle of Darvon/Percocet/Vicodin/etc and a Long Island Iced Tea and let what happens happen?

The goal is to make it virtually painless and free of complications. Obviously not a guarantee with a standard drug overdose. Though obviously not a guarantee with the way lethal injections are currently done either.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I think an even more effective execution(and deterrent method) would be the guillotine.

Riiight...

[SteveRogers]

This is obviously comparing very bad against very bad but

Far more humane than lethal injection.

[Citation Needed]

In what way is it far more humane than lethal injection? I get that a properly placed bullet through the brain is swift and relatively painless, but I'm pretty sure a botched firing squad death has the potential to be way worse than a botched lethal injection death. There are plenty of horror stories from back in the day of people surviving firing squads.

[Badger]

"correctional officer" and executioner are synonyms, we all know that.

Godd to know Tweed is around to offer consistently awful opinions. Awful, but at least consistent.

[Insula Dei]

When firing squads were still fairly regular fixtures on the American execution scene, who did make up the squads? Were they employees of the penitentiary system or soldiers? Either would seem at least a little awkward to me.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

When firing squads were still fairly regular fixtures on the American execution scene, who did make up the squads? Were they employees of the penitentiary system or soldiers? Either would seem at least a little awkward to me.

State troopers, I believe. One of the guns has a blank in it so each shooter has a 20% chance of being blameless in the execution.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

When firing squads were still fairly regular fixtures on the American execution scene, who did make up the squads? Were they employees of the penitentiary system or soldiers? Either would seem at least a little awkward to me.

State troopers, I believe. One of the guns has a blank in it so each shooter has a 20% chance of being blameless in the execution.

That sounds inverted. I thought all guns but one had a blank.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

When firing squads were still fairly regular fixtures on the American execution scene, who did make up the squads? Were they employees of the penitentiary system or soldiers? Either would seem at least a little awkward to me.

State troopers, I believe. One of the guns has a blank in it so each shooter has a 20% chance of being blameless in the execution.

State troopers are indeed employed in Utah, though the protocol may be diffrent in other states.

Interestingly, the only execution by shooting ever carried in Nevada (1913) was performed by a specially commissioned "shooting machine", after the warned was unable to find five volunteers to form a firing squad (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andriza_Mircovich).

Anyway, I could never quite understood a rationale behind the blank bullet practice. I imagine every one of the execution squad members keeps wondering, for the rest of their lives, what was that he fired. Was the one "blameless"? Or it was his bullet that killed the prisoner?

[Badger]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

State troopers, I believe. One of the guns has a blank in it so each shooter has a 20% chance of being blameless in the execution.

State troopers are indeed employed in Utah, though the protocol may be diffrent in other states.

Interestingly, the only execution by shooting ever carried in Nevada (1913) was performed by a specially commissioned "shooting machine", after the warned was unable to find five volunteers to form a firing squad (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andriza_Mircovich).

Anyway, I could never quite understood a rationale behind the blank bullet practice. I imagine every one of the execution squad members keeps wondering, for the rest of their lives, what was that he fired. Was the one "blameless"? Or it was his bullet that killed the prisoner?
[/quote]

Not to mention anyone familiar with firearms (I.e. cops) would know instantly from the recoil (or lack thereof) whether their guns fired an actual round or not.

[DemPGH]

What's really nuts is the number of execution methods that have been instituted with the intent of being "merciful" or "humane" or whatever. Guillotine, then we found out oxygen stays in the brain, it's gruesome, and there's nothing remotely humane about it. Electrocution? Awful, painful, etc. Lethal injection? The same plus often botched. I look for states governed by these sadistic kind of people to start cycling through hanging and electrocution and the like, should lethal injection chemicals be too difficult to obtain, until we can get rid of capital punishment.

[ElectionsGuy]

I don't understand why we need violent ways of capital punishment.

[ag]

Great news! It is both more humane and much harder for foreign powers to interfere with than lethal injection.

I see you have the affinity for the traditional Soviet method.  Proper Communist upbringing!

Well, you know, you can take the boy out of the Soviet Union, but...

[ag]

Far more humane than the lethal injection. Death comes pretty fast. It's also fairly painless if you do it right.

Why assume that it would be "done right"? That's at odds with the frequent mistakes that American executioners make while using other methods to kill people.

Well I'm assuming the firing squad will be made of people with military training, or another type of background that entails learning to shoot straight.

The most efficient way involves the executioner walking the condemned in front of him and then blowing his brains out point blank. That is how Comrade Stalin liked it. That is how they, most likely, did my great grand father. June 2, 1939 Butovo cemetery.

[Goldwater]

I don't understand why we need violent ways of capital punishment.

...As opposed to non-violent ways of killing people?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

What's really nuts is the number of execution methods that have been instituted with the intent of being "merciful" or "humane" or whatever. Guillotine, then we found out oxygen stays in the brain, it's gruesome, and there's nothing remotely humane about it. Electrocution? Awful, painful, etc. Lethal injection? The same plus often botched. I look for states governed by these sadistic kind of people to start cycling through hanging and electrocution and the like, should lethal injection chemicals be too difficult to obtain, until we can get rid of capital punishment.

We just needed to drop state-sponsored revenge killing.

[The_Doctor]

I don't understand why we need violent ways of capital punishment.

...As opposed to non-violent ways of killing people?

We tried. Then Europe got upset about it. I think one reason they're considering this is because European drug manufacturers are refusing to export to the United States sodium thiopental and other lethal-injection drugs.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I don't understand why we need violent ways of capital punishment.

...As opposed to non-violent ways of killing people?

We tried. Then Europe got upset about it. I think one reason they're considering this is because European drug manufacturers are refusing to export to the United States sodium thiopental and other lethal-injection drugs.

Lethal injection was "non-violent" in name only with really disturbing number of botched executions and other incidents, way before the European embargo. It was flawed from the beginning, just like other American ways of "humane killing" (chair, gas chamber).

Beside, I reject the notion Europeans are responsible for current mess. You are the one who wants to practice death penalty. Why should the EU help you in something it fundamentally opposes?

[ag]

I don't understand why we need violent ways of capital punishment.

...As opposed to non-violent ways of killing people?

We tried. Then Europe got upset about it. I think one reason they're considering this is because European drug manufacturers are refusing to export to the United States sodium thiopental and other lethal-injection drugs.

I did not realize US had no pharmaceutical industry of its own. We now know the full-proof way Europe can make US succumb to its demands: ban Tylenol exports.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I don't understand why we need violent ways of capital punishment.

...As opposed to non-violent ways of killing people?

We tried. Then Europe got upset about it. I think one reason they're considering this is because European drug manufacturers are refusing to export to the United States sodium thiopental and other lethal-injection drugs.

I did not realize US had no pharmaceutical industry of its own. We now know the full-proof way Europe can make US succumb to its demands: ban Tylenol exports.

Big pharma is multinational and for tax reasons is usually incorporated in a low tax European state such as Ireland.  But even if it weren't, the desire to sell in European markets would keep them from wanted to sell their drugs for executions.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Meh we might as well do public stonings too.

[King]

I think the condemned should be able to choose how he goes out, provided that whatever method he chooses doesn't harm others. Like, if he wants to take a bottle of Xanax and get thrown out of an airplane without a parachute over the Pacific rim. Let it be.

If it ends up being extremely unpleasant for the executed, then, well, it was his choice. The state has washed its hands of moral responsibility in the matter.