The NY Times has an article about the discussion around the current method of execution employed by most of the United States. It seems the current method of lethal injection may cause quite a bit of suffering when not administered correctly, yet it is quick and peaceful. The most straightforward way to do the job, on the other hand, would take longer and be less convenient and pleasant for observers.
Ah, the ethical dilemmas! Like that of doctors and nurses who refuse to take part in executions and leave the job to unqualified people that botch executions and cause the suffering. Hmm.
It'd be easier, less costly and more ethical to just do away with the death penalty. In our modern age of high-tech prisons it's unnecessary and I fail to see why we spend millions of dollars prosecuting death penalty cases so that victims can get some kind of supposed "closure". (It costs less to house a criminal for life.) How about exchanging some "closure" for some effort towards preventing future crime? I can think of a lot of better ways to spend the money.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Making executions painless
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Personally, I fail to see the point of modern day executions. It used to be that when a person was executed, they strung them up in public as a deterrent to other would-be riffraff. But now, we worry about whether or not they are suffering too much as their life is ended... Huh? Once they're dead, I don't think they're going to mind how much it hurt. Is it cruel? Yeah, maybe, but then again, we ARE killing them. Is THAT cruel? I don't buy the whole "closure" thing. It's too easy.
As you mentioned, they should either do away with the whole death penalty thing, or make it instant and stop worrying about whether it hurts. If they're found guilty, they are taken out in back of the courthouse THAT DAY and shot. In public. It costs a couple of bucks for ammo and cleanup. It sounds harsh, but if we're willing to kill a man for a crime, then we should do it for the right reasons. If it doesn't have a point, then don't consider it in the first place.
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