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-Lurid Crime Tales-
US judge: Use firing squad for death row inmates
2014-07-25
[Iran Press TV] US Judge Alex Kozinski has called for firing squad as the primary method of executing death row inmates instead of lethal injection.

The chief judge of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals urged states to abandon the injection following a recent string of botched lethal injections.

In an opinion, he labeled the lethal injection method as a dishonest attempt to disguise the brutal nature of capital punishment.

The opinion came after the botched lethal injection of Arizona death row inmate Joseph Wood took almost two hours on Wednesday. Wood was set to die July 23 for the 1989 murders of his estranged girlfriend and her father.

"Whatever happens to Wood, the attacks will not stop and for a simple reason: The enterprise is flawed. Using drugs meant for individuals with medical needs to carry out executions is a misguided effort to mask the brutality of executions by making them look serene and peaceful—like something any one of us might experience in our final moments. But executions are, in fact, nothing like that. They are brutal, savage events, and nothing the state tries to do can mask that reality. Nor should it," he wrote.

The judge insists that firing squads would never be troubled by a lack of guns or ammunition, adding that the guillotine is probably the best method, but seems inconsistent with national ethos.

"The firing squad strikes me as the most promising. Eight or ten large-caliber rifle bullets fired at close range can inflict massive damage, causing instant death every time. There are plenty of people employed by the state who can pull the trigger and have the training to aim true," Kozinski said.

"Sure, firing squads can be messy, but if we are willing to carry out executions, we should not shield ourselves from the reality that we are shedding human blood."
Posted by:Fred

#23  Mr.Smith has more power than the state.

Read Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It's the constant killing, vendetta, between the two families that was normal in his time. It took the state hundreds of years to establish the monopoly on death promising it would deliver justice. Now the ruling caste can't bring itself to fulfill its part of that bargain. The power will revert back to the people and already has in places like Chicago.

There is no perfect. However, the number of people that have been sitting on death row for decades is significantly smaller than the murders, that is properly, executions that occur annually in our neighborhoods, streets, business, streets, homes and schools. Who wields the real power?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-07-25 20:28  

#22  For those unalterably opposed to the death penalty, I offer two words: Lemuel Smith. Look him up in Wikipedia. He was serving a life sentence when he killed a female prison guard. He was sentenced to death, but his lawyers got the law declared unconstitutional. Instead, he was sentenced to life without parole.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2014-07-25 16:47  

#21  I have not. There are a lot of vehemently anti-abortion Catholics who are likewise opposed to the death penalty

I used to be anti-death penalty. Then I heard opn serial killers being released and killing again. Neing released becasue "otherwise with nothing to lose they would be very dangerous for the guards"
Posted by: JFM   2014-07-25 16:26  

#20  Some definitions:

Capital Crimes:
One for the punishment of which death is inflicted, which punishment is called capital punishment.


Capitol Crimes:
Crimes and malfeasance down to or toward the public by the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government. These crimes are very difficult to convict as the problem is so far up the organizational chart that the ones committing these crimes are the ones investigating them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2014-07-25 16:16  

#19  I also think cyanide would work better in the dessert rather than the desert where the scorpions are gonna eat it.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2014-07-25 15:01  

#18  I'm catholic. Strongly pro life. Opposed to the death penalty, except in very specific circumstances, and with very high standard of proof. Higher than proof needed for conviction. For Capitol crimes, perhaps there should be a completely different trial after the conviction, just for sentencing: life with possibility of parole after a statutory minimum of say 25 years, life no parole, and execution.

And I was only half joking with my execution method. Execution should be quick, effective beyond the shadow of a doubt, relatively painless, and terrible to behold, to act as a deterrent as well as a just punishment. Let's be very clear what we are doing as a society. I am loathe to praise the soviets but the pistol shot to the back of the head was effective and quick - and could likely be automated to where no human hand is directly involved.
Posted by: OldSpook   2014-07-25 14:45  

#17  Cyanide in the desert of their last meal. Don't even tell them the procedure has changed.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2014-07-25 14:43  

#16  Nah, let's drop them alive into vats of molten glass, let it cool, then put it in the public square with details about their crimes. Nice visible view of criminals potential future.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2014-07-25 14:35  

#15  Just be Damned sure.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2014-07-25 14:11  

#14  Sign me up, I've seen to many animals go free.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2014-07-25 14:10  

#13  I am Catholic. I vehemently oppose abortion. On the other hand, I respectfully disagree with my bishops on the issue of the death penalty. They're against it, I favor it in some cases.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2014-07-25 12:36  

#12  JohnQC: No, I have not. There are a lot of vehemently anti-abortion Catholics who are likewise opposed to the death penalty. Last time I stuck my head in the Corner over at National Review, either a plurality or possibly a bare majority of the writers over there were opposed to the death penalty on ideological grounds.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2014-07-25 12:07  

#11  JohnQC says: Have you noticed that many of the people who are anti-death penalty are the same people who are pro-abortion?

Also notice that the same people believe marriage is an obsolete institution, unless it is between two homosexuals?
Posted by: bigjim-CA   2014-07-25 11:26  

#10  What's wrong with a rope and a short drop?

Or we can be all multicultural and use a crane like the Iranians do.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2014-07-25 10:17  

#9  Have you noticed that many of the people who are anti-death penalty are the same people who are pro-abortion?
Posted by: JohnQC   2014-07-25 10:13  

#8  I'm not concerned whether execution is slow or fast or painful or painless. And I agree that lethal injection is an attempt to make the process seem 'cleaner.' But really, why such a big deal about what drugs to inject? There's a lot of heroin confiscated, and a lot more available cheap, direct from the growers, and a lot of people OD on the stuff by accident, even with known risks, so it must have some desirable characteristics. So, just pop these guys with a serious megadose of heroin and let them go out high and happy, and cheaply.
Posted by: Glenmore   2014-07-25 10:12  

#7  Holy overkill, OS. A 2 second burst at 4200 rpm is 140 rounds of 30 mm.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2014-07-25 09:53  

#6  Need not even be a firing squad. Hook up a GAU8, bore sight it. Fill the prisoner with sedatives to the point of unconsciousness, strap them to a board, prop them up where the gun is zeroed.

Have a computer fire off the relay based on a pressure plate and a timer. Run for 2 second burst.

Guaranteed no human hand directly kills the inmate, and guaranteed dead as a doornail.
Posted by: OldSpook   2014-07-25 09:22  

#5  Ever notice the warnings plastered over plastic bags to keep them out of the hands of children. That's because when they put their heads in them and fresh air is not coming in, they slowly fall asleep from the ever increasing inhalation of their own exhaled CO2. There is no natural panic or alarm. They just shuffle off and die. Tragic, but as a means of execution, relatively humane, simple (no FDA requirements), and cheap.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-07-25 09:11  

#4  We can't come up with a high tech reliable guillotine?

With the durability and long life of our machines, e.g. cars, lawn mowers, saws, etc., we can't come up with one to reliably off some punk scum?
Posted by: AlanC   2014-07-25 08:08  

#3  To be on the safe side, I recommend 'buck & ball.'
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-07-25 06:50  

#2  So be it. It is more Humane.
Posted by: newc   2014-07-25 01:52  

#1  I'm all for firing squads. Quick, easy and cheap.
Posted by: DarthVader   2014-07-25 00:53  

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