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Death penalty debate fueled by 'bad Ohio execution' and firing squad legislation

A shortage of the lethal drugs used to administer the death penalty has re-ignited a battle over capital punishment which has pushed a few states to weigh execution alternatives -- even firing squads.

The battle came to a head last week when Ohio used a new two-drug cocktail to execute an inmate, who had been convicted of raping and murdering a pregnant woman. The execution, though, took roughly 26 minutes and raised concerns about the ability of states to perform executions in a constitutional manner.

While some death penalty foes continue to ramp up their opposition, other states are weighing alternative methods -- even firing squads -- to carry out lethal punishment.

Right now, 32 states allow for lethal injections or other means of capital punishment. But when European pharmaceutical companies last year stopped selling the three-drug mix used for injections on ethical grounds, states began weighing their options.
Those options for Missouri and three other states are pretty "old school."
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One Missouri lawmaker wants to provide an alternative death penalty to lethal injection, allowing a method of execution which hasn’t been used in the United States since 1996. A Harrisonville lawmaker is co-sponsoring a bill that would allow execution by firing squad.

Currently, execution by firing squad is an option in Oklahoma, Utah and Idaho. If a new proposal becomes law, Missouri will be added to the list.

You might say Harrisonville Representative Rick Brattin (R) is on a capital punishment crusade.

“It’s not an easy decision and it’s not fun. We have an obligation to bring justice and put to rest these cases,” Rep. Brattin said.

Rep. Brattin along with a Saint Louis area lawmaker is sponsoring a house bill designed to bring firing squad executions back to Missouri.
What do you think? If European pharmaceutical companies are going to dictate their morality to U.S. states by refusing to sell them the proper drug cocktails for "ethical and painless executions," should we go back to firing squads?
 
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Crabtownboy

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We should eliminate capital punishment. We know there are innocent people on death row. We know this because of the number of people set free from death row the last number of years through DNA testing giving new evidence show those people were innocent.
 

Aaron

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What do you think? If European pharmaceutical companies are going to dictate their morality to U.S. states by refusing to sell them the proper drug cocktails for "ethical and painless executions," should we go back to firing squads?
Hanging works. So does the guillotine.
 
We should eliminate capital punishment. We know there are innocent people on death row.
Prove that statement. Before you make the attempt, it is unproven that innocents have been executed, but it is proven that some have been freed from death row, and even prison, when exculpatory evidence has been found.
We know this because of the number of people set free from death row the last number of years through DNA testing giving new evidence show those people were innocent.
That is a non sequitur. Because it is true that some on death row were found to be innocent, and there are others still on death row, that does not mean there are other innocents on death row.
 

Alcott

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Poor little rapist/murderer may have had the inhuman torment of feeling a lump in his throat upon death 20 years after the crime. How uncivilized can we dare to be!
 

webdog

Active Member
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I think all executions should take a half hour and leave the person gasping for air. Besides leaving their victims in far worse state upon death it allows them to rethink the Gospel they heard at some point in life.
 

righteousdude2

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Sadly ... I AGREE!

I think all executions should take a half hour and leave the person gasping for air. Besides leaving their victims in far worse state upon death it allows them to rethink the Gospel they heard at some point in life.

... I don't mean to come across as a person who has no compassion, but the bleeding-heart liberals who want to abolish the death penalty, based on events like the one in Ohio last week have selectively forgotten the pain and suffering as well as the mental horror and terror the victims must have felt as they faced death at the hands of their killer!

If we'd move along the scheduled executions [get them done and over with] we spend a lot less money on prisons!

No killer deserves to suffer, but if they do, maybe its a form of poetic justice! Afterall, the death penalty has been around for centuries [which doesn't make it right or wrong], and while it is true, innocent folks have died; the truth is, the ratio between those who may have been innocent versus the killers is minuscule, and we need to start putting the bad guys to death, and stop giving them ongoing medical care, dental work and the kind of treatment that some men and women commit the crime for in order to have a place to live life and have medical, dental and vision care plus three hots and a cot! In California alone, 57 have died of natural causes while waiting for execution. Another 21 have taken their own life!

How much money does it cost the taxpayers to hold these killers on death row while we debate the issue? Enough to do a lot of good things throughout our society! For the 23 years of waiting, it totals more than $308 million per inmate in California!

There are very little consequences for crime today. We need a lot more Joe Arpaio/Maricopa County justice and jail services in America, because when we put up that kind of fear in jail time, a lot less people will entertain the evil thoughts of crime. The incentive of doing unto others that which others would never do unto to them, will fade at the thought of a miserable life behind the bars of the grey hotel!

In California the average time on death row is 23+ years - http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Death-penalty-delays-built-into-system-3925714.php

We currenty have more than 700 waiting on death row to die, and because it takes at least 23 years to execute a murderer, the cost to the taxpayer is now more than $308 million per death row inmate - http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/20/news/economy/california_death_penalty/

Is it any wonder the Golden State is tarnished and no longer golden? :type:
 

preachinjesus

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For many of us who oppose the death penalty, the reasons go far beyond the limited scope of FoxNews' piece above.

With every exoneration through DNA evidence there is a recognition that our system is deeply flawed.

The massive over-representation of low class and minority convicts should give us pause. If justice is bought by those with the resources, and sentences are tempered for the well off, we need to examine how we go about administering this ritual.

Realizing that the death penalty is the final dispensation of justice on this side of the world should be tempered with the reality that our system is flawed.

Likewise, many of us believe that Jesus, for Christians, effectively ended the death penalty as a means of recourse for earthly hurts and crimes. We are called to a higher mark.

Violence begets violence.

Though there are maddening cases which try our souls, on all levels, we realize that we need more participation by believers in all facets of life, if for no other reason than turning the tide of evil.

I oppose the death penalty, but not just the limited reasons of a FoxNews piece.
 

church mouse guy

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For many of us who oppose the death penalty, the reasons go far beyond the limited scope of FoxNews' piece above.

With every exoneration through DNA evidence there is a recognition that our system is deeply flawed.

The massive over-representation of low class and minority convicts should give us pause. If justice is bought by those with the resources, and sentences are tempered for the well off, we need to examine how we go about administering this ritual.

Realizing that the death penalty is the final dispensation of justice on this side of the world should be tempered with the reality that our system is flawed.

Likewise, many of us believe that Jesus, for Christians, effectively ended the death penalty as a means of recourse for earthly hurts and crimes. We are called to a higher mark.

Violence begets violence.

Though there are maddening cases which try our souls, on all levels, we realize that we need more participation by believers in all facets of life, if for no other reason than turning the tide of evil.

I oppose the death penalty, but not just the limited reasons of a FoxNews piece.

I would like to know just what Scripture that you use to say that Jesus ended the death penalty. Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law, not overthrow it. The commandment was given to Noah, long before Moses, to put murderers to death. Nowhere does it say that Jesus overthrew what He told Noah to do in Genesis 9.

Furthermore, it is time to stop doing sociological surveys on murderers and just execute them upon conviction.
 

Revmitchell

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Maybe, just maybe the massive over-representation of low class and minority convicts is a result of people with the mentality and character that has caused all their problems.
 

Aaron

Member
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I think all executions should take a half hour and leave the person gasping for air. . . . it allows them to rethink the Gospel they heard at some point in life.
This reasoning was used to justify the Inquisition.
 
With every exoneration through DNA evidence there is a recognition that our system is deeply flawed.
Bogus. For the same reason I called CTB on it. It's a non sequitur. Because innocents were on death row and freed, and because there remain inmates on death row, it does not follow that any of them are innocent.
The massive over-representation of low class and minority convicts should give us pause.
Why? Whether you like it or not, it is the "low class and minority" from which most criminals come. Claiming it is discrimination because they are more likely to commit a violent crime is anathema to the facts. It is precisely because they are more likely to be violent that they are more likely to be executed.
If justice is bought by those with the resources, and sentences are tempered for the well off, we need to examine how we go about administering this ritual.
When 60% of the top one percent are arrested for violent crimes, as is the case with the bottom 10%, then you'll have a point. Until then, it isn't germane to the argument.
Realizing that the death penalty is the final dispensation of justice on this side of the world should be tempered with the reality that our system is flawed.
No system is perfect. But it is also a proven fact that, despite three decades of trying, the liberal social justice mongers have been absolutely unable to prove that an innocent man has been put to death in this country in the last 100 years.
Likewise, many of us believe that Jesus, for Christians, effectively ended the death penalty as a means of recourse for earthly hurts and crimes. We are called to a higher mark.
Show me the verses that prove He ended the death penalty as a criminal punishment. Please.
Violence begets violence.
So murders are happening because we kill murderers? Do you really want to go with that argument?
Though there are maddening cases which try our souls, on all levels, we realize that we need more participation by believers in all facets of life, if for no other reason than turning the tide of evil.
God Himself prescribed the death penalty for extreme cases. Until you can show me those verses I asked for, I can't accept that, for the tiny portion of criminals who actually are put to death, it isn't justice.
I oppose the death penalty, but not just the limited reasons of a FoxNews piece.
You're free to do so. But you haven't provided very strong arguments to sway most of us.
 

Crabtownboy

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Bogus. For the same reason I called CTB on it. It's a non sequitur. Because innocents were on death row and freed, and because there remain inmates on death row, it does not follow that any of them are innocent.Why? Whether you like it or not, it is the "low class and minority" from which most criminals come. Claiming it is discrimination because they are more likely to commit a violent crime is anathema to the facts. It is precisely because they are more likely to be violent that they are more likely to be executed.When 60% of the top one percent are arrested for violent crimes, as is the case with the bottom 10%, then you'll have a point. Until then, it isn't germane to the argument.No system is perfect. But it is also a proven fact that, despite three decades of trying, the liberal social justice mongers have been absolutely unable to prove that an innocent man has been put to death in this country in the last 100 years.Show me the verses that prove He ended the death penalty as a criminal punishment. Please.So murders are happening because we kill murderers? Do you really want to go with that argument?God Himself prescribed the death penalty for extreme cases. Until you can show me those verses I asked for, I can't accept that, for the tiny portion of criminals who actually are put to death, it isn't justice.You're free to do so. But you haven't provided very strong arguments to sway most of us.

There are still innocent people on death row and some will be fortunate enough that their innocence will be proven by DNA in the future.

How many innocent deaths are acceptable to you?
 
There are still innocent people on death row ...
As I told you before, non sequitur. And yet you keep using it.
... and some will be fortunate enough that their innocence will be proven by DNA in the future.
Given that virtually every governor in the country has quietly directed DNA evidence to be investigated, particularly in the oldest cases, you're quite pessimistic. If there are innocents remaining, they will be identified. Don't hold your breath. Most of those found guilty, actually are.
How many innocent deaths are acceptable to you?
None. But I don't worry about it, because neither you nor anyone else can point to an innocent person actually having been executed in this country in the last 100 years. Oh, I know the people you read and believe claim to have "proof" of some, but they don't. The stories of the one or two cases they can somewhat call into question are spun by them, leaving out facts or making wild-hair guesses as to truth that can't really be known. The one truly questionable case was the result of racial bias, but even that one can't be shown beyond a shadow of a doubt to have been a case of innocent men being executed.

DNA evidence will prove a man innocent, providing he actually is innocent. But you're running out of inmates on death row who don't have the security of DNA evidence. The longest-living death row inmate has been awaiting execution for 23 years. That was 1991. DNA testing has been valid evidence since the early 80s, and has been perfected to the point that you soon won't have an argument, because of the many that have been tested nearly as many have been found to be guilty as have been released. But you'll think of another one, I'm sure.
 
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kyredneck

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I think all executions should take a half hour and leave the person gasping for air. Besides leaving their victims in far worse state upon death it allows them to rethink the Gospel they heard at some point in life.

Imagine public crucifixions.
 

church mouse guy

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Indiana University Professor E. Stephen Bloomfield, author of Meeting Today's Wise Men: Conversations with Penniless Street People and the best-seller Nothing Is Too Good For the American Taxpayer has announced through the office of the President of Indiana Universtiy in Bloomington, Indiana, that he has received a grant from the US government stimulus program for shovel-ready academic projects to study the rate of recidivism worldwide among those administered the death penalty. Professor Bloomfield noted that this study would only be a first step into a complicated subject that will require a great deal more tax money to complete and several years of work. Professor Bloomfield remarked that only the US government has the means necessary to bring this worthwhile and necessary project to fruition by mid-century.
 

kyredneck

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Indiana University Professor E. Stephen Bloomfield, author of Meeting Today's Wise Men: Conversations with Penniless Street People and the best-seller Nothing Is Too Good For the American Taxpayer has announced through the office of the President of Indiana Universtiy in Bloomington, Indiana, that he has received a grant from the US government stimulus program for shovel-ready academic projects to study the rate of recidivism worldwide among those administered the death penalty. Professor Bloomfield noted that this study would only be a first step into a complicated subject that will require a great deal more tax money to complete and several years of work. Professor Bloomfield remarked that only the US government has the means necessary to bring this worthwhile and necessary project to fruition by mid-century.

ROFGUFFAWING! It's been said that capital punishment doesn't work as a deterrent, it is however a very effective form of incapacitation.
 
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