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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   26736 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 22, 2024

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From reading news reports, it seems that the execution did not use sedation in conjunction with the nitrogen hypoxia, which is the recommended method when euthanising large animals by this method.

I think if they did use sedation, that would do away with the thrashing/attempts to hold breath. On the other hand, they did have the guy in prison for 35 years already, and I don't see what the problem is with keeping him locked up for another 20 or 30 years. If you're going to execute someone, you should do it within a year or two of the sentence being passed. I know appeals drag it out, but if everyone knows this is how it works, then it's pointless to go through the rigmarole of keeping someone in jail for 30 or 40 years until you can execute them. At that point, you may as well convert the sentence to life in jail without parole.

On the other hand, they did have the guy in prison for 35 years already, and I don't see what the problem is with keeping him locked up for another 20 or 30 years.

Likewise, I don't see the problem with providing justice for the victim's families by killing him within a few weeks of conviction. This wasn't exactly historically uncommon and due process doesn't suggest providing endless avenues for dishonest attorneys to drag out proceedings and waste time and money.

That's like saying "if you were going to let the Nazis occupy France, you may as well let them occupy England too". The fact that the death penalty takes decades to apply is the result of action by its opponents, defended against mostly unsuccessfully by its proponents.

  1. What concerns me about the death penalty is the finality of it all. What if you made a mistake and new evidence comes to light?

  2. Given that, I’m not a big fan of rushing execution.

Do you think there are examples where this isn't much of a concern? A recent example that comes to mind is the 2022 Buffalo shooting. This was a straightforward massacre of innocents, livestreamed by the perpetrator. My perspective is that any system that has left him alive in 2024 has become unmoored from the purpose of a justice system.

Yeah — something like that or certain political leaders too dangerous to leave alive (eg I would’ve executed Hitler in short order)

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