Trump Administration Seeks To Fast Track Executions and Bring Back Firing Squads Before Biden's Inauguration

[Cicada 5]

According to a report from ProPublica, the Justice Department is moving quickly to finalize a rule that would make it possible for executions to be carried out via electrocution and firing squads:

One proposal has raced through the process with little notice but unusual speed — and deadly consequences. This rule could reintroduce firing squads and electrocutions for federal executions, giving the government more options for administering capital punishment as drugs used in lethal injections become unavailable. The Justice Department surfaced the proposal in August and accepted public comments for only 30 days, instead of the usual 60. The rule cleared White House review on Nov. 6, meaning it could be finalized any day. The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.

CNN reports that the rule is being pushed forward by Attorney General William Barr and could go into effect in a little over 30 days despite the fact that a new President will be inaugurated in less than 60 days. President-elect Joe Biden has campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, meaning his entry into the White House would likely cancel out this newly proposed rule to allow more gruesome state-administered killings of people convicted of crimes.

Trump Administration Fast Tracking Executions and Trying to Bring Back Firing Squads Before Biden's Inauguration

Donald Trump’s presidency has been one long nightmare come to life, in part because the administration he built has appeared hellbent on showing they are villains. From kidnapping immigrant children from their parents, to going to court over and over again to make it harder for people to access...

www.theroot.com

 

[Thaluikhain]

Ah, I was wondering if Trump would get some last minute deaths in, but was expecting it to be random overseas people.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

To be fair, firing squads are a lot more painless and effective than lethal injection making them more humane.

If you're intent on executing someone the most efficient way to make sure they are killed as efficiently as possible with no possibility of pain or survival would be a shotgun blast to the head.

Yes it's an icky spectacle, but watching someone have a seizure for 20 minutes after being injected with the wrong drugs and then having them survive and have to start over seems a lot worse.

 

[Thaluikhain]

To be fair, firing squads are a lot more painless and effective than lethal injection making them more humane.

If you're intent on executing someone the most efficient way to make sure they are killed as efficiently as possible with no possibility of pain or survival would be a shotgun blast to the head.

Yes it's an icky spectacle, but watching someone have a seizure for 20 minutes after being injected with the wrong drugs and then having them survive and have to start over seems a lot worse.

Flood the room with an inert, asphyxiating gas such as nitrogen? Might not even know you've done it. Which is which there's a real danger to people playing with nitrogen gas in confined spaces.

 

[Kwak]

What's wrong with good old heroin?

 

[Revnak]

Flood the room with an inert, asphyxiating gas such as nitrogen? Might not even know you've done it. Which is which there's a real danger to people playing with nitrogen gas in confined spaces.

You have to replace the atmosphere of an entire room then safely return it to normal Oxygen levels afterwards so you can get the body out. Nitrogen has big issues being carried out reliably. What almost never fails? Firing squads.

 

[Trunkage]

What's wrong with good old heroin?

I think that would make the drug dealing common folk uncomfortable

 

[Silvanus]

What almost never fails?

Not killing people.

 

[Shadyside]

Bring back the guillotine.

 

[happyninja42]

While I'm against executions, I've never understood why they don't just put them to sleep first and then kill them? I'm not a doctor, but it seems like medically inducing a coma to put them out, and THEN doing the lethal thing while they are under, would be fairly humane, instead of doing it while they are conscious? *shrugs* Once they are out (and thus dead from their own perspective), then you can do whatever method would work without being a problem. But it also isn't causing them harm/pain/etc.

To be fair, firing squads are a lot more painless and effective than lethal injection making them more humane.

Assuming the shot is actually lethal, and not just injuring, because somebody's aim was off due to the stress of being told to shoot someone they don't know to death.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Assuming the shot is actually lethal, and not just injuring, because somebody's aim was off due to the stress of being told to shoot someone they don't know to death.

And not just lethal, but immediately lethal. A lot of lethal bullet wounds are not.

 

[Houseman]

I find it amusing how people are against the death penalty, but are fine with letting people die of old age in prison, as if the latter is more humane. If I had the choice between death and living the rest of my life in prison, I'd probably choose death.

 

[Agema]

I find it amusing how people are against the death penalty, but are fine with letting people die of old age in prison, as if the latter is more humane. If I had the choice between death and living the rest of my life in prison, I'd probably choose death.

The first principle is that removing someone's life is the ultimate removal of their freedom; for those who care about the power of government, the state's power over life and death is the most power it can exercise. Next, if someone is wrongly convicted, at least if they're in prison they can be let out to enjoy some stuff again. Finally, imprisonment offers rehabilitation, where death does not.

And finally, as a very general rule, people are a lot more casual about the idea of preferring death when they don't have to seriously face it: I don't think most people who haven't faced that situation have an opinion worth a lick of spit on the matter, myself included.

 

[happyninja42]

I find it amusing how people are against the death penalty, but are fine with letting people die of old age in prison, as if the latter is more humane. If I had the choice between death and living the rest of my life in prison, I'd probably choose death.

Nice assuming those two things without actually fucking asking someone. I personally think the correctional system in the US is fucked from the ground up, and just locking people away for the rest of their lives isn't a very good strategy either. Ideally we'd have a system that works well at rehabilitating people that have aberrant behavior that is harmful to society, and reintroduce them in a way that is beneficial to everyone. But we don't live in an ideal world, so we work with what we've got.

I think the US would benefit greatly from adopting correctional systems that have been shown to work well in other countries, but that's another topic.

Also, while it's not something that works for everyone, a lot of people are able to have relatively rewarding lives while in prison. Through programs that let them find connections with things outside, do things that help them learn a new skill set, and feel like they are helping. For example several prisons have implemented an animal foster program for some inmates, where they are tasked with caring for the dogs/cats that are rescued by shelters in the area, and then eventually adopted. And the results, for both the animals and inmates is pretty impressive.

 

[Adam Jensen]

fairly humane

There is nothing humane about an execution. Executing people is not and cannot be described as humane, regardless of the method of execution.

There is one humane solution - commute the death sentence into a prison sentence.
And yes, sometimes you have to keep people in prison for life. It's not the same or worse than death. Do you think someone like Ted Bundy could ever have been released?

 

[Worgen]

I find it amusing how people are against the death penalty, but are fine with letting people die of old age in prison, as if the latter is more humane. If I had the choice between death and living the rest of my life in prison, I'd probably choose death.

Generally people who are against the death penalty are also in favor of self termination for old age/disease etc.

To be fair, firing squads are a lot more painless and effective than lethal injection making them more humane.

Depends on the shots and its also apparently pretty hard on the people doing the shooting. Cause you might be shooting a bad guy but you are still shooting someone who is defenseless. Most people aren't really ok with that.

 

[happyninja42]

There is nothing humane about an execution. Executing people is not and cannot be described as humane, regardless of the method of execution.

There is one humane solution - commute the death sentence into a prison sentence.
And yes, sometimes you have to keep people in prison for life. It's not the same or worse than death. Do you think someone like Ted Bundy could ever have been released?

I didn't say anything about it being worse than death. As for someone like Ted Bundy, I have no clue if it's possible for him to be rehabilitated or not, I'm not a criminal psychologist so I'm not going to speculate on if he was a doomed case or not. As I said in my other post, I would prefer they didn't do the death penalty at all, and that they found ways to reintroduce people to society at a much higher rate than the current "lock them in a hole and forget about them" strategy that we seem to be using.

And yes, there are going to be people that will likely always have to be restrained from society, I never said that wasn't something. I'm not sure where the direction of your response to me is coming from, as you seem to be replying to what someone else said. I'm not a fan of the death penalty at all, but on the subject of "if we're going to do it, how can we do it where it doesn't torture/harm the subject?" I think there are ways that it can be done, that are less horrific than others. Where they aren't writhing in pain for half an hour or similar issues.

 

[Adam Jensen]

As for someone like Ted Bundy, I have no clue if it's possible for him to be rehabilitated or not

It isn't. Not yet, anyway.

Second part of my post wasn't a reply to you.

 

[happyninja42]

It isn't. Not yet, anyway.

There is no single good answer to things like rehabilitation/punishment. From my personal experience, with my brother who is suffering from schizophrenia, and very likely did a lot of criminal things, it took him fucking THIRTY years to finally get his shit straight enough to not have to live under CONSTANT supervision by the government. Keep in mind, he's still going to be living under limited supervision for his entire life, because he's just not capable of living entirely on his own, without being a risk to society. But he is able to live in a single person apartment, owned by the state as part of a group home for mental patients with criminal histories. And he's able to go do things, see movies, etc. But he has to check in regularly with the facility manager, I think 2-3 times daily. So he has some limited freedom, but also significantly more control and oversight than a regular citizen.

I have no clue the success rate of people with mental issues like Bundy, because a lot of it boils down to the individual WANTING to improve, and acknowledging they did something wrong (this being an issue my brother had for decades). And part of the problem for people like Ted, as I understand it, is not thinking they did anything wrong in the first place. So you have a big hurdle right at the start. But do I think it might be possible to let people like Bundy live, and still be helpful to society in some way? *shrugs* Maybe? Each issue is different so it's hard to say.

 

[ObsidianJones]

People are dying at unprecedented numbers due to Covid. Getting infected and missing work. Our Medical field is at their breaking point. People lost jobs, are filing for unemployment, and more than 13 million people have the unfortunate possibility of losing their employment by the end of December.

And this is the focus that is necessary? Anything other than righting this ship or fixing the damn planet is a laughable waste of time.

How does executions actually help the American People in anyway other than those who have a revenge boner and want to be the Punisher?