

Executions should be by firing squad, federal appeals court judge says - aaronbrethorst
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-nn-arizona-execution-kozinski-20140723-story.html

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ghouse
We're in surprising company:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_capital_punishment_by_co...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_capital_punishment_by_country)
Studies* show that it doesn't deter crime and isn't cost-effective. What's our
rationale?

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viggity
Does prison time deter murders? I'm guessing no, considering the death penalty
apparently doesn't. Does that mean should we not send murders to prison?

My rationale for supporting the death penalty is justice. If you, with malice
and forethought end the life of another human being, you don't deserve to
live.

In practice, there issues with it, but I don't think it should be written off
completely, just held to the highest burden of proof provided by the law.

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dllthomas
The death penalty does deter murders, just not any more than a long prison
term. And a long prison term doesn't deter crime much more than a medium
length prison term. The thing that deters crime most dramatically is a high
perceived likelihood of being caught. If we moved money away from killing
people and into improved policing, we might wind up with less crime.

Should we send murderers to prison at all? Of course - it deters crime (and
murder is an awfully important kind of crime to deter). Should we send
murderers to prison for so long that the marginal increase in deterrence is
tiny? Maybe, maybe not - that depends on just what the increase _is_ , just
what the costs are, just what the recidivism rate is, and how these things
change over time.

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spiritplumber
If the idea is to prevent pain, there are many simple methods. Heroin
overdose? Carbon monoxide?

I'm theoretically OK with the death penalty for heinous crimes, but in
practice I oppose it -- the chance of a false positive is way above zero with
the current legal system.

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nickff
The only problem with the 'solution' of abolishing the death penalty is that
it makes the real issue (false conviction) easier to ignore, while there will
still be innocent people who have to suffer a horrible fate, (life
imprisonment not substantially better than death,) for a crime they did not
commit.

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joesmo
At least the people wrongfully convicted to life in prison have a chance
(sometimes) to prove their innocence. Such an opportunity is obviously lost if
one is executed. Executions are not helping to reduce false convictions. They
might add a bit more media attention, but should innocent people die for that?
Seems preposterous to me.

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nickff
If what you are saying is true, why do some of the people on trial for heinous
crimes push for a death penalty offense? They say that it is the only way for
them to get a good attorney or an appeal, and avoid a life wasted in prison.
Are they wrong?

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joesmo
What cases are you referring to? I've never heard anything like this. Even if
such cases exist, it still doesn't justify murdering people because the state
is incapable of doling out justice.

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dan_bk
How can a modern society still think it is ok to carry out the death penalty?

Stupidity like this belongs in the Middle Ages, not our times.

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viggity
Read about some of the crimes committed by those on death row. Then look the
victim's families in the face and tell them that the perpetrator deserves to
live.

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jeremysmyth
...and removal of emotion from sentencing is precisely why we have independent
judges and juries in the more civilized parts of the world.

The application of justice must be blind and impartial in order to approach
being just.

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meepmorp
Why not something like a guillotine? Properly designed and maintained, I doubt
you'd get much in the way of botched executions and it's probably the fastest
death you're likely to get. Combine it with some sedation if it's decided that
decapitating a conscious person is cruel and unusual.

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giarc
_" I personally think we should go to the guillotine, but shooting is probably
the right way to go," Kozinski said._

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meepmorp
Yes, I was wondering why the guillotine isn't acceptable.

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a3n
I think some religions object to dismemberment.

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ajbetteridge
And some religions advocate stoning to death. That doesn't make either
position correct. Religion should be left out of these kinds of discussions,
among many others, but sadly isn't. Let's not do anything at all, that way
we'll offend less people.

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koenigdavidmj
A bullet to the heart is going to be as fast of a death as you can get. Only a
few seconds for unconsciousness to hit because of loss of blood pressure, and
with hydrostatic shock[1], it can be even faster.

1:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_shock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_shock)

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nawitus
It's good time to remind Americans that civilized countries don't have the
death penalty.

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koenigdavidmj
Ah yes, the define-civilized-to-exclude-the-US argument.

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joesmo
As far as law goes, that's a quite accurate.

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georgiapeach
I don't understand why any form of execution -- lethal injection, firing
squad, guillotine, or any other -- isn't preceded by a hearty dose of
morphine.

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hadoukenio
Remind me again _why_ execution is a valid punishment? And if you think it's
valid, isn't reducing pain by morphine as you say going against the reasoning
for being a valid punishment?

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georgiapeach
Punishments are about a combination of rehabilitation, disincentivization and
reducing or eliminating harm to society at large. In cases of capital
punishment, the chances of rehabilitation is considered to be effectively
zero, so the other two factors are emphasized.

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hadoukenio
How American.

