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Very short article. Japan hasn’t executed anyone in two years. The practice is to notify the person to be executed a few hours before the execution. The claim
by adolph 5y ago
Very short article. Japan hasn’t executed anyone in two years.
The practice is to notify the person to be executed a few hours before the execution. The claim behind the practice is so that prisoners aren’t counting down the days. The counterclaim is that surprises aren’t nice.
My guess is that there are some people who like surprises and some who don’t. Maybe they should conduct a psychological profile or just ask prisoners if they want to know or not. I suspect that the non-announcement is useful for legal system logistics as far as setting and resetting dates due to various filings.
- SiempreViernes 5y agoI suspect there are not that many people who thinks "today you'll die" is a surprise that can be enjoyed. Definitely seems like a post hoc justification of a practice established for the convenience of the authorities.
- adolph 5y agoYeah, from an announcement logistics perspective it makes sense. Nobody wants to look like a dummy saying “Ok, at long last, tomorrow you die” and then the hangman calls in sick the next day and you gotta go back to the cell and say “oops, my bad, we gotta reschedule to later in the week.”
- unstatusthequo 5y agoThis all made me up think of the Johnny Cash song “25 Minutes to Go,” though in my head it was sang as the cover by Eddie Vedder.
- pell 5y agoNot knowing if today will be the day your life will end is not a question over niceties. It's a form of torture. The critiques from human rights associations and the U.N. committee against Torture here aren't exactly new.
- imgabe 5y agoKnowing exactly the day your life will be over and being left to stew over it could also be a form of torture. Maybe the kindest option would be to tell them they’re only getting life in prison, then kill them quickly and unexpectedly without them ever realizing it. Or, you know, just don’t execute people.
- ARandomerDude 5y agoMaybe the death-row inmates should have thought of that before murdering someone. These aren't people plucked at random. They've cruelly and unjustly deprived someone of their lives, and a family of a loved one.
- tharkun__ 5y agoFor consideration on the absoluteness of your statement: https://stories.avvo.com/crime/murder/8-people-who-were-executed-and-later-found-innocent.html https://stories.avvo.com/crime/murder/8-people-who-were-exec...
- davidjytang 5y agoYes. That's why they are to be executed. But they are not contending the part of being execute itself, are they?
- pseudo0 5y agoIsn't another school of thought that life imprisonment is also a form of torture? Being confined for up to 60-70 years with no hope of release is also a quite bleak future.
- ekianjo 5y ago> Not knowing if today will be the day your life will end is not a question over niceties. It's a form of torture. So... just like everyone else?
- arp242 5y ago> Not knowing if today will be the day your life will end is not a question over niceties. It's a form of torture. If I were on death row then this is what I'd prefer: some random day a guard comes and says "Martin, your time's now, let's go". At this point maybe I'll arrange some last affairs or send out a letter I have previously prepared, and that's it I would consider "Martin, your time will be in a month's time" considerably more torturous. That month will be horrible. Other people may want to prefer that month's notice; fair enough. Both methods have their own upsides and downsides, but to call one "torture" seems to be going a bit too far. Ideally, prisoners should be allowed to choose. This seems like a small effort on the part of the prison system/government.