11 ms·

Real question: First they had the electric chair, now exotic mixes of drugs. Whatever happened to the gallows? How come we have to do this (if we do actually ne

by jqm 11y ago

Real question: First they had the electric chair, now exotic mixes of drugs. Whatever happened to the gallows? How come we have to do this (if we do actually need to do this... I don't know about that part) with fancy expensive tech?

rdtsc 11y ago
Because we are a schizophrenic society. We don't know what we want. * We want to rehabilitate but we also want to punish. * We want to be humane but we also want to kill. So we keep switching around our methods until we got to these drug coctails. Which some first paralize the person, so when dosage is off, they could be in a horrible agony, but you know, they are not thrashing around making unpleasant sounds, so the sensibilities of those watching are not disturbed. * We want to set an example, so others think twice about commiting heinous crimes, yet we don't televise or publisize executions. Heck, I am all for fishing or cutting bait. If we are going to be tough on crime and hope to scare the bejesus of future criminals by these harsh punishments, we should put them on evening news. You know, kids come home from school, everyone eats dinner, watch an execution (with frequent commercial breaks -- "Buy Tide! For a cleaner, fresher tomorrow"), and then everyone goes to bed. * We say it is not about revenge and we use euphemisms like "justice" and "closure" instead, but it actually is about revenge.
koenigdavidmj 11y ago
The gallows has too many variables. Too short a rope, and you spend a few minutes asphyxiating. Too long a rope, and your head pops off. If the executioner makes a mistake, it's not humane anymore. If the executioner doesn't like you, he might intentionally "make a mistake". It's theoretically more humane, and harder to screw up, to OD you on happy drugs. (It also looks more peaceful when one of those drugs is a paralytic.) Oklahoma a few months ago introduced nitrogen asphyxiation as their backup plan. We know it's painless because a few people have accidentally entered nitrogen-heavy areas and didn't notice anything was wrong until they dropped unconscious (and were recovered before dying).
anigbrowl 11y ago
Because a) we are squeamish and b) execution is philosophically at odds with the rest of our carceral system. If you are interested in this issue and don't mind circuitous prose, Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish is a long-winded but extremely thought-provoking assessment of how and why penal strategies have shifted in western society over the past several centuries.
tsotha 11y ago
Or just a bullet to the back of the head. Execution in the US is downright odd - the endless delays, the ritual, the use of doctors... it's all sort of macabre.

by jqm 11y ago

rdtsc 11y ago

Because we are a schizophrenic society. We don't know what we want. * We want to rehabilitate but we also want to punish. * We want to be humane but we also want to kill. So we keep switching around our methods until we got to these drug coctails. Which some first paralize the person, so when dosage is off, they could be in a horrible agony, but you know, they are not thrashing around making unpleasant sounds, so the sensibilities of those watching are not disturbed. * We want to set an example, so others think twice about commiting heinous crimes, yet we don't televise or publisize executions. Heck, I am all for fishing or cutting bait. If we are going to be tough on crime and hope to scare the bejesus of future criminals by these harsh punishments, we should put them on evening news. You know, kids come home from school, everyone eats dinner, watch an execution (with frequent commercial breaks -- "Buy Tide! For a cleaner, fresher tomorrow"), and then everyone goes to bed. * We say it is not about revenge and we use euphemisms like "justice" and "closure" instead, but it actually is about revenge.

koenigdavidmj 11y ago

The gallows has too many variables. Too short a rope, and you spend a few minutes asphyxiating. Too long a rope, and your head pops off. If the executioner makes a mistake, it's not humane anymore. If the executioner doesn't like you, he might intentionally "make a mistake". It's theoretically more humane, and harder to screw up, to OD you on happy drugs. (It also looks more peaceful when one of those drugs is a paralytic.) Oklahoma a few months ago introduced nitrogen asphyxiation as their backup plan. We know it's painless because a few people have accidentally entered nitrogen-heavy areas and didn't notice anything was wrong until they dropped unconscious (and were recovered before dying).

anigbrowl 11y ago

Because a) we are squeamish and b) execution is philosophically at odds with the rest of our carceral system. If you are interested in this issue and don't mind circuitous prose, Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish is a long-winded but extremely thought-provoking assessment of how and why penal strategies have shifted in western society over the past several centuries.

tsotha 11y ago

Or just a bullet to the back of the head. Execution in the US is downright odd - the endless delays, the ritual, the use of doctors... it's all sort of macabre.