Utah Attorney General Announces Firing Squad Execution via Twitter

[Shazam]

Certainly beats watching Sex and the City 2.

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Certainly beats watching Sex and the City 2.

Getting a vasectomy with a spork beats watching Sex and the City 2.

[BloodFetish]

Keeping him incarcerated for 25 years before executing him seems silly. I know there probably was some due process of law involved, but wouldn't it have been better for everyone concerned to execute him way back when? How much money did it cost the tax payers to house him?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

Keeping him incarcerated for 25 years before executing him seems silly. I know there probably was some due process of law involved, but wouldn't it have been better for everyone concerned to execute him way back when? How much money did it cost the tax payers to house him?

The death penalty in general always costs more than life inprisonment. After the whole appeals process is accounted for it is usually cheaper just to lock them up forever.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Well Miley Cyrus said she hated twitter on Letterman last night, so expect that communication avenue to go the way of the VHS recorder.

Miley said that?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Please explain.

Lethal injection and the electric chair have higher failure rates than the firing squad.

A bullet to the heart is the quickest and probably the least painful way to die if.

The only reason lethal injection and the electric chair were introduced was because our 'moral' society tried to make the death penalty more 'humane.'

Either way the government having the power to execute citizens isn't something I support.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by GGG

The death penalty in general always costs more than life inprisonment. After the whole appeals process is accounted for it is usually cheaper just to lock them up forever.

Only because it takes so long before they actually get executed.

Which I guess is a good thing considering how many have been pardoned since DNA came onto the scene.

But again, the long process seems more like something our 'moral' society wants because it eases our guilt of killing our fellow citizen.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by Azure

Lethal injection and the electric chair have higher failure rates than the firing squad.

A bullet to the heart is the quickest and probably the least painful way to die if.

The only reason lethal injection and the electric chair were introduced was because our 'moral' society tried to make the death penalty more 'humane.'

Either way the government having the power to execute citizens isn't something I support.

Has anyone actually been able to ask a person if he felt pain after being shot to death? I didn't think so.

Either way I don't see it as a humane way to kill someone, but then again killing someone isn't the most humane thing to do regardless of how it's done.

I don't agree with the death penalty either, but it must be be great relief to the families of his victims. I'd probably sing another tune about the death penalty if someone I knew was the victim.

[RougeUnderoos]

The religious bit he tacked on was a nice touch.

"I've decided that we will be going ahead with the plan to tie this man to a chair and shoot him. May God have mercy on his soul".

On the other hand, aren't they not supposed to do this? This is a state official making literally "life and death" judgements, and he's proudly, publicly declaring that his own personal superstitions were part of the decision process.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Has anyone actually been able to ask a person if he felt pain after being shot to death? I didn't think so.

Either way I don't see it as a humane way to kill someone, but then again killing someone isn't the most humane thing to do regardless of how it's done.

I don't agree with the death penalty either, but it must be be great relief to the families of his victims. I'd probably sing another tune about the death penalty if someone I knew was the victim.

I wouldn't.

The death penalty has never been 'wrong' to me as far as the fact being that some people just need killing.

My opposition lies in the idea that no government should have the power to actually be able to KILL that person.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Azure

Only because it takes so long before they actually get executed.

Which I guess is a good thing considering how many have been pardoned since DNA came onto the scene.

But again, the long process seems more like something our 'moral' society wants because it eases our guilt of killing our fellow citizen.

It has nothing to do with our morals and everything to do with the length of time appeal upon appeal takes. From the time of sentencing there are multiple channels of appeal. each taking at least a couple of years to run their course.

I'm all for that process. I'd rather see 1000 guilty men tax the system for decades than one innocent man be put to death.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by valo403

It has nothing to do with our morals and everything to do with the length of time appeal upon appeal takes. From the time of sentencing there are multiple channels of appeal. each taking at least a couple of years to run their course.

I'm all for that process. I'd rather see 1000 guilty men tax the system for decades than one innocent man be put to death.

I'd rather see 1000 guilty men put to death than one innocent man tax the system!

Dont tax the system, bandwidth aint cheap!

[NBC]

Originally Posted by valo403

It has nothing to do with our morals and everything to do with the length of time appeal upon appeal takes. From the time of sentencing there are multiple channels of appeal. each taking at least a couple of years to run their course.

I'm all for that process. I'd rather see 1000 guilty men tax the system for decades than one innocent man be put to death.

Except in Texas where the appeals process is short and the routes are limited.

I'd agree about the tragedy of executing an innocent person, absolutely. This was a cut-and-dry case and therefore many people have little problem seeing a monster like this put to death.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by NBC

Except in Texas where the appeals process is short and the routes are limited.

I'd agree about the tragedy of executing an innocent person, absolutely. This was a cut-and-dry case and therefore many people have little problem seeing a monster like this put to death.

My main opposition to the death penalty is that it precludes any possibility (however remote) of reform. People can change. Not saying it's likely. Just that there is 0% chance now.

I like that this person (if they had to die) was killed in an unusual fashion. It will raise awareness that the government regularly puts people down like animals. Texas kills something like 200 people a year - mostly uneducated minorities with poor legal representation at their trials. Nobody even notices because it's out of sight out of mind.

If a society is going to endorse taking human life, it's not too much to ask that everyone is aware of it and is forced to consider it each time it happens.

I'm not saying it should be televised... but that might bring home what capital punishment actually is.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

My main opposition to the death penalty is that it precludes any possibility (however remote) of reform. People can change. Not saying it's likely. Just that there is 0% chance now.

I like that this person (if they had to die) was killed in an unusual fashion. It will raise awareness that the government regularly puts people down like animals. Texas kills something like 200 people a year - mostly uneducated minorities with poor legal representation at their trials. Nobody even notices because it's out of sight out of mind.

If a society is going to endorse taking human life, it's not too much to ask that everyone is aware of it and is forced to consider it each time it happens.

I'm not saying it should be televised... but that might bring home what capital punishment actually is.

Where was there any glimpse of being able to reform this man, there were three separate incidents, two of which were cold blooded murders one for profit, and one to escape from any prison.

This man was a cold blooded killer. There's nothing bad about him being removed from this planet.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by NBC

Except in Texas where the appeals process is short and the routes are limited.

I'd agree about the tragedy of executing an innocent person, absolutely. This was a cut-and-dry case and therefore many people have little problem seeing a monster like this put to death.

The issue is that you can't have a system that deviates for each case. The appeal process has to be the same for 'cut and dry' cases and those where there are unanswered questions. Even many seemingly cut and dry cases are far from 100%.

When it comes to the government taking lives there should be a thorough process of appeals to guarantee that any doubts of guilt are removed. That's certainly not the case with the system in Texas.

[NBC]

And it sounds like it was the case here. His appeals failed and he was put to death. There were no doubts whatsoever regarding guilt or innocence here and all questions were answered.

Not sure if anyone is advocating a Texas-style judicial system. I'm certainly not.

[narbeZ]

^^ I am. I believe in the death penalty. It's good he went out somewhat honorable for all the despicable acts he played a part in. To me, that's "reform". Being man enough to know what you did, and accepting the consequences for your actions.

I feel a bit proud every time one of these goes down. I can't wait for the ignorant from Red Deer that is currently on death row in Montana gets his just deserts.

[Mr.Coffee]

It's ridiculous that an Attorney General is using Twitter as a platform for communicating an execution. I think there are some things that people don't "need to know" by the second it happens. I also don't really "get" capital punishment, just the logic of it. What are we trying to achieve... justice... okay... by doing the exact same thing this person did though? Two wrongs make a right? It's murder, isn't it?

The USA has to be the most hypocritical place, on so many levels it's not even funny.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by GGG

The death penalty in general always costs more than life inprisonment. After the whole appeals process is accounted for it is usually cheaper just to lock them up forever.

Not disagreeing with your general point, but life in prison sentences are subject to the same appeals process.