Execution: Still Has Some Growing Up To Do

Saddam Hussein has been executed; he hanged for his crimes. You may look to the Middle East and think how outdated hanging is. If you do, then it may surprise you to know that in the USA hanging and death by firing squad is still permissible in the states of New Hampshire, Washington, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Utah. While all of these states also offer lethal injection, there have been a few executions by firing squad and hanging since 1976.

Capital Punishment has evolved throughout the ages. Coming from a time of torture and public display it has evolved to more “humane” practices in most of the United States and other countries around the world. I personally do not understand a “humane execution”, seems like an oxy moron to me.

What really amazes me is how close our violent past is. After all Nebraska still requires the use of the electric chair, and anyone who’s ever seen “The Green Mile” could certainly say that electrocution is not a humane way to die. By the way, have you ever wondered why you hate going to the dentist so much? Maybe it’s because a dentist invented the electric chair!

If you’re interested in learning more about various types of execution wikipedia provides a long list of methods. Learn about the horrors of the brazen bull, flaying, the gas chamber or even the snake pit; and be glad you haven’t committed any crimes in the ancient world or today.

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Thanks djbtol! There

Submitted by Muse on Wed, 2007-01-03 10:44.

Thanks djbtol! There certainly are cheaper methods of execution- but "hanging" is not considered to be the most "humane" method. While some states do have the option of hanging- it's not the standard. And we won't be seeing hanging or cheaper methods of execution replacing lethal injection. We'd just be barbaric then, wouldn't we?

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Nice post :) But I have to

Submitted by bdwick on Sat, 2006-12-30 10:15.

Nice post :) But I have to voice my support for the death sentence, too. Especially in cases like this. Being hanged is more humane with the new advances in the type of rope - it's quick. When they first started hanging people, they would hang for awhile before dying, which I also have no problem with.

I, for one, wished they would've televised Saddam's execution here. I would've had my Tivo ready to go. My wife got mad at me and said, "You should never rejoice at the death of others." Sorry...but I think there are a few deaths that call for some rejoicing. I read that the U.S. is guarding his body to make sure people don't desecrate it like they have others in the past...and we held on to custody of Saddam until just before he was executed to make sure he wouldn't be put up for public humiliation.

As a sidenote, I still don't understand why they sterilize needles before a lethal injection.

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about your side note-

Submitted by Muse on Sat, 2006-12-30 10:42.

about your side note- neither do i!

I understand that most people support the death penalty. Personally I don't disagree with it strongly enough to go out and protest or anything. I do feel that in the future (however distant) the dealth penalty will not exist anymore.

Further more, Saddam was insulted to die by hanging instead of firing squad. He said death by firing squad was the "right way" to execute a military leader. What about locking a military leader up in a cage for the rest of his life? There's no honor in that. I honestly think life in prison is a greater punishment than death in most cases.

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Sometimes it is

Submitted by imaauthor on Sat, 2006-12-30 14:59.

but in some states death row inmates enjoy their life. They have many ammenities and they have a lifetime of appeals. Too bad their victims didn't.

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and in some states -

Submitted by djbtol on Tue, 2007-01-02 23:52.

getting sent to death row means adding 15 to 20 years to the life of the criminal.

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I agree. I'm not all about

Submitted by bdwick on Sat, 2006-12-30 15:47.

I agree. I'm not all about executing everybody on death row. But in cases like Saddam - get rid of him. There's no point in keeping him around. And it was the Iraqi government that put him to death, not us. We just caught him.

Also, I couldn't care less if he was disgraced or not. If he chose firing squad, I'd hang him just to spite him. I'm sure the thousands of people he killed didn't have the choice either.

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I guess

Submitted by imaauthor on Sat, 2006-12-30 15:03.

I sound vehement about the subject. It's just the lack of comassion I see for the victim and the victim's family that gets to me. The families have to live with the horror of what what done to their loved one. It is something from which they never recover. While the murderer lives on, albeit in prison, they still get visits from their friends and family, get mail, and in some places have tv and a job.

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the key word there is some.

Submitted by Muse on Sat, 2006-12-30 15:45.

the key word there is some. In a maximum security prison inmates are kept in their cells 23 hours a day. In federal pen, there's no work release and living in prison is no life. No amount of mail, friends or tv- which is all very limited will make a life in prison seem like a life at all. Can you imagine only seeing your family or friends in a locked room with police guards?

Murders and people who commit horrible crimes do not get thrown into the county jail.
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I say, "Kill 'em all and let

Submitted by bdwick on Sat, 2006-12-30 15:58.

I say, "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out."

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The victims are long forgotten

Submitted by imaauthor on Sat, 2006-12-30 06:28.

while the focus is on the perpretrator. Too many of them get off easy and then go out and commit another crime. The death sentence insures it won't happen again. I don't understand all of the sympathy and pity for the criminal instead of the victims in the crime. Sadam Hussein put people through a woodchipper while they were still alive and there is pity for him because he was hanged for those atrocities?

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I certainly have no pity for

Submitted by Muse on Sat, 2006-12-30 11:00.

I certainly have no pity for the man. My post was not intended to say that Saddam should not have been executed. It's what his people sentenced him to, and frankly- it's their business. My purpose was to show the evolution of the death penalty and point out some things I found interesting. I realize I slipped in there that I personally do not agree with the use of capital punishment, it's true, I don't, but that doesn't mean I'll cry over Saddam's hanging.

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The issue of executions will be discussed

Submitted by Elly on Sat, 2006-12-30 00:58.

freely again around the world. I think many of us have difficulty dealing with the whole issue. If someone commits heinous crimes, and it can be proven without reasonable doubt that he/she is guilty, I think that some form of death sentence is fair. I wonder at the high cost of keeping these people locked up for long periods or forever? I wonder at the point of keeping them alive? At the same time, I wonder at the brutality of killing someone for whatever reason.

Elly
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I've done a good amount of

Submitted by Muse on Sat, 2006-12-30 10:52.

I've done a good amount of research on that exact question in the past Elly. It would certainly interest most people to know that executing individuals for crimes actually costs more than it would to keep one in prison for life (assuming an average life span and a life sentance without parole). I've provided the two links below if you're intersted in the figures.
The Economics of Capital Punishment
The Cost of Capital Punishment

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Muse -

Submitted by djbtol on Tue, 2007-01-02 23:55.

that may very well be true, but it tells me we are using the wrong method of execution then. Storing prisoners is not cheap, so there should be a way to make execution much less costly.

Tough subject you tackled. Good job.

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