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Oklahoma plans to start carrying out executions with nitrogen gas, a method that has never been used in the U.S. but that some states have already approved amid difficulties with lethal injections.
At a news conference Wednesday, Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Mike Hunter and Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh said that over the next few months the state would develop a protocol for using nitrogen.
[...] In recent years, Oklahoma and other states have struggled to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections, the most common execution method but one that has increasingly faced scrutiny.
In 2015, a state court put a moratorium on executions in Oklahoma after a series of botched executions, including one in which an inmate convulsed for 43 minutes before dying and another in which the wrong drug was administered.
Oklahoma is poised to become the first state to use nitrogen gas in executions
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 16 2018, @02:45AM (47 children)
The bastard earned a one-way ticket to eternity. I can't care much if he suffers on the way out. It takes a sick individual to torture the dumb bastard, but I can't really care that the prisoner might suffer some. Nitrogen sounds about as good as anything.
Drugs were always stupid. Drugs are expensive, and they grow more and more expensive with all the protests against the death penalty. Why spend all that money, when there are much cheaper methods, which are no more torturous? Or, in this case, less torturous.
It's about time some politicians pulled their collective heads out of their collectivist asses.
(Score: 2, Troll) by KilroySmith on Friday March 16 2018, @03:02AM (2 children)
It's hard to disagree - to my mind, there's a huge gap between "cruel and unusual" and "might cause some discomfort". "Cruel and unususal" is disemboweling an unsedated prisoner and watching them scream in agony until the lose consciousness from blood loss. Discomfort is insertion of an IV needle, or the waiting time after a hood is pulled over their face but before the rifles crack. Even a chemical mix that causes seizures after unconsciousness isn't a problem for me - I don't care what the body is doing once the brain has shut down.
As I said above, I just wish we had the wisdom to only execute the truly guilty, and not the legally guilty (who tend to mostly be black with crappy lawyers). The Innocence Project has some disturbing statistics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence_Project [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @07:46AM
Watch the local news in my area. The racial makeup of the metropolitan area is 14.9% black, yet the murders are about 90% black perpetrators. Is the issue cultural, poverty or familial erosion? I don't know. But it AIN'T crappy lawyers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @08:59AM
You will of course be the one volunteered to test whether the drug really does render you unconscious before the seizure - seeing that we have know way of truly knowing that from the outside.
And no, this can't be tested by just administering the unconsciousness drug without the seizure drug. The seizure drug may be strong enough to override the unconsciousness drug.
(Score: 1) by Acabatag on Friday March 16 2018, @03:08AM (1 child)
I've always thought that an interesting death sentence would be one that is very indeterminate. A capital criminal is told "some morning in the next 365 days when you wake up you will be shot." It would be a little cruel, though not unusual if it became the norm.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @03:36AM
The guilty doesn't find things out until they enter the room with the noose.
(Score: 4, Troll) by LVDOVICVS on Friday March 16 2018, @03:16AM (17 children)
Lifetime imprisonment.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @03:40AM (15 children)
Are you going to feed them and house them for life then? Why not do it to an entire population and call it socialism?
(Score: 4, Touché) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @03:48AM (14 children)
Like it is right now expect you don't pay all the lawyers and judges up to the Supreme Court for 15 years or more [deathpenaltyinfo.org] of appeals while they wait on the death row.
And, man, aren't those law critters expensive if their cost if higher than keeping the convict locked for life?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @04:49AM (10 children)
So you're telling me they need high powered expensive lawyers too, sure I guess you could try to squeeze some money out of a dead man (even though somebody is ultimately paying for it).
Why not just get it over with then? Isn't that the whole point of capital punishment?
(Score: 2) by LVDOVICVS on Friday March 16 2018, @05:06AM (1 child)
The "point" isn't capital punishment. We have a legal system where everyone is entitled to a fair trial with adequate representation and the right to appeal. The "point" is justice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @06:22AM
That would be the trial resulting in capital punishment as the verdict, or are you backing out now after condemning the guilty to death?
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday March 16 2018, @05:14AM (6 children)
Why bother with trials or evidence or proof? For that matter, why even bother with mere accusation? Let's just have cops running around shooting random people. (well, I guess we should say "shooting random people MORE OFTEN.")
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @06:20AM (5 children)
Nice try, but there was already a trial, it resulted in capital punishment.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @07:06AM (4 children)
Have you ever heard of appeals?
If positive, do you think the appeals serve no purpose in your idea of society?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @07:25AM (3 children)
Why would there be any appeal at all? You have just condemned a person to death as punishment. Do you think capital punishments are given willy-nilly?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @07:30AM (1 child)
In enough many case, yes.
Doesn't happen in the universe you live in?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @08:04AM
No, teenagers, women and tourists all face the death equally if convicted of a serious crime with capital punishment, with no possibility of appeal even if it raises a diplomatic row.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 16 2018, @01:59PM
Actually, Willy, yes. Sometimes they are. I'm with you, so far as your valid point goes. We waste an awful lot of time and effort on the appeals processes. It often seems there are to many appeals, and to many people have nothing better to do, than dream up new appeals. Sumbitch raped and butchered a little girl who hadn't even tasted puberty yet - he shouldn't be alive twenty years later. But - there really are proper appeals. And, sometimes, it is discovered that the cops got the wrong man. I've never bothered to try real hard figuring out how often they get the wrong man - but it does happen.
We need appeals, because overzealous cops and prosecutors, if for no other reason.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @05:31AM
Most of them would receive judicial assistance on a pro-bono basis - many big law firms take such cases.
This doesn't mean that the adversarial party argues pro-bono as well - on the contrary, because the stakes are high. And neither the judges.
And, oh man, if the verdict is over-turned, those pro-bono lawyer will take the skin and some more from the prosecution (in a different case) - rightly so if the individual was wrongly convicted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0, Troll) by jmorris on Friday March 16 2018, @07:28AM (1 child)
Solve the endless appeals on bullcrap grounds by disbarring lawyers who file several of them. Lawfare works because there is no penalty. Discourage the convicts from filing by making them pay a price. Take the sentence and you get a nice quick execution. Delay it a year or more with frivolous appeals and lose and you get the messy exit. Quit once the average wait time is low and the average cost of getting to execution gets reasonable again.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @07:33AM
I wish you be convicted to 10 years in prison just-because without the ability to appeal.
Maybe this way you'll learn that cheap!=fair.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @10:17AM
s/expect/except/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday March 16 2018, @08:41AM
Rare mod!
https://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001000 [procon.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 16 2018, @04:33AM (23 children)
A .44 hollowpoint to the head is pretty inexpensive and more or less instant. No expensive apparatus, no suffering, just a loud noise that you may not even get the chance to hear.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday March 16 2018, @05:51AM (2 children)
Well, that's reasonable if you can make certain to hit where you intend. And the guillotine was also quick and (nearly) painless. For that matter, ODing on heroin is also supposed to be painless...at least according the the people who didn't quite OD. And apparently its not difficult to get fentanyl on the grey market...and according to the news overdosing to death is so easy that it's hard to avoid.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 16 2018, @10:58AM
Put the barrel to their forehead and it's pretty difficult to miss.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:28AM
They're talking about using fentanyl for the executions, that's great. And we can talk about executing the fentanyl dealers. In Singapore they hang the drug dealers. No opioid crisis in Singapore!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @07:13AM (15 children)
Do you volunteer to do it, then?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @08:29AM (3 children)
If you wouldn't, what is wrong with you? Eh, perhaps you are excused if female.
The guys in Saudi Arabia who chop off heads with swords are proud of their work.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @08:48AM (2 children)
If you admire them, maybe immigrate there? If nothing else, it'll bring you closer to your role models.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @04:55PM (1 child)
emigrate
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @11:44PM
emirate
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 16 2018, @11:04AM (10 children)
No. I'm a capitalist. I need to be paid to do work. At least enough to cover gas, ammo, dry cleaning or a raincoat, and however many hours of my time are taken up. If you want it done for free, fine, but you'll need to bring the gun, ammo, and criminal to my house then wait for me to take a smoke break from whatever I'm doing.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @12:07PM (1 child)
Capitalists belong in the GULAG, just saying.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 16 2018, @12:53PM
Sigh, you make me briefly wish we had a -1 Boring mod.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 16 2018, @01:20PM (7 children)
So you are saying: if you are paid, you'd have no qualms in acting as an executioner, it would be just like any other job for you.
Is that right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 16 2018, @05:41PM (1 child)
I'm surprised he even wants paid, frankly...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 17 2018, @03:24AM
I don't have any personal desire to execute anyone. I simply have the willingness to put my money where my mouth is. Anyone who believes in the death penalty should be willing to carry it out themselves or they have no business taking part in discussions on the matter.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @08:20PM (1 child)
It's a filthy job, like cleaning out restrooms or washing dogs. It's irregular work. If you use a gun, it's as noisy as stamping auto body parts.
On the other hand, it is a feel-good job. It's sort of like voting or serving on a jury or picking up road debris or serving in the military or helping an accident victim. It would be sort of patriotic, honorable, and so on. I'd feel that I was doing my duty, serving my country or community.
I suspect it could get frustrating, because you'd be bound by silly rules. There would be people who ought to be slowly killed in a painful and demeaning manner, but probably that would be forbidden. I think, if I could get a chance with the guys who burned 3 women to death in their home in Connecticut, I'd bend the rules at least a little.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 17 2018, @03:19AM
I wouldn't. Nobody would be better off for giving them what they deserve. Just end them so they're unable to ever cause harm again and be done with it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 17 2018, @03:21AM
So long as every reasonable effort was made to verify their guilt, no, I would have not qualm one. Some people the world would just be better off without and if I'm willing to allow myself to believe that, I should have the courage of my convictions and be willing to carry it out myself.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday March 17 2018, @04:23PM (1 child)
For the record - sometimes dirty jobs have to be done. The toilet backs up, you get the plunger out, or pay a plumber. Dude needs to be killed, you kill him, or hire someone who will. If you're to good to do a dirty job, you'll pay. It's really that simple.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday March 17 2018, @04:38PM
Are you trying to address something in what I asked? Because, if so, I don't get exactly what.
Context:
1. I only asked TMB a direct personal question, the "could you act as an executioner?" one, no moral or other value judgement implied or expressed.
2. I disagree with the equivalence of "Death penalty is as inevitable as a toilet backing up" - many countries don't use the death penalty, as such the "executioner job" is not "a dirty job that needs to be done" by someone in that country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @10:40AM (3 children)
I had to have my 18 year-old cat put down recently. She threw a clot that blocked the blood to half her body, vet said there was no other option. He put a catheter in her leg, with a needle in it, and said "did you want to say goodbye". I scratched her under the chin and said I don't want her in pain, just do it. He pushed the needle and she died so fast she didn't even blink. It was like flicking a light switch off.
If you are going to execute people, why can't you meet the standard we have for animals.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 16 2018, @11:11AM (1 child)
Exactly what I'm saying about a bullet to the head. It's not pretty but it's even quicker free of pain than a needle full of something instantly deadly. Which is why I put my animals down myself when it's necessary. Killing a beloved pet to save it pain hurts like hell even when necessary. Killing a human being that thinks harming innocents for fun and profit is perfectly okay wouldn't even register by comparison.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @11:25AM
Yeah. I go fishing, and occasionally I go rabbiting with guys who are semi-pros at it. Killing a fish, or wringing an injured rabbits neck bothers me more than putting down some of those assholes would.
(Score: 1) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday March 18 2018, @01:58AM
Our doctors know how to kill without pain, or not much pain, like all you'd feel is a pin prick. When they do the mercy killings like they did to your cat, very little pain. But our death penalty isn't mercy killing. It's supposed to be VERY PAINFUL. We don't torture animals. Usually, we don't torture them. But we torture criminals. It's called a DETERRENT. The lethal injections are VERY SPECIAL formulas that are very painful. There's an hour, a little more than an hour, of pain and then the guy dies. Usually he dies. And people see that, they think, "oh, that guy was in a lot of pain, I won't do crimes." They get scared. It works very well. You take away the pain, it won't work so well. Because nobody is afraid of a quick & painless death.
What would be great would be cancer research. Where we have our scientists look into, how can we give people cancer. And many people say that our CIA has done that, that they gave cancer to some troublemakers. And maybe they do that in China. But it's just a rumor. I think if people knew that, if you do a crime -- and I mean a major crime -- and you get caught, we're going to give you a pill or an injection, maybe a ray, and you'll get cancer. And you'll be in pain, a lot of pain, for months. And then maybe you'll die. If you're lucky you'll die. I think that would stop so much crime.