Death penalties

[mirrorshard]

I note with - well, morbid amusement, I suppose - the case of Michael Morales' cancelled execution on California, after a judge ordered that the process needed qualified professionals, who quite rightly refused.

This article gives quite a disturbing view of the usual Keystone Cops procedure. We all knew about the interminable and expensive time it takes in the States, but all this fumbling around and botchery is just... pathetic, really.

I'm not convinced that the death penalty is a bad thing in principle - although calling it a 'penalty' is a bit rich, really, when the only effect is to take the condemned person out of the game entirely - but I also don't think that the principles can be safely applied when the courts are so fallible.

Besides, it offends my professional sensibilities to see it done so clumsily and barbarically. Years of waiting to die? That's cruel and unusual punishment right there. Assuming anaesthetics will work, even on someone in that situation? Nonsense. They fail during routine hospital procedures, and stress makes that more likely (I've had that happen myself in the past, in fact). And inducing a heart attack? Terribly reminiscent of 1950s medical-science-can-do-everything ideology.

[Other point I was originally going to make, about why some people support the death penalty so strongly, excised because I can't yet find a way to put it that doesn't turn into a sneer.]

Comments

[glassstrider.livejournal.com]

I'm fully in favour of the death penalty. What better way to stop anyone reofending, and what a powerful statement to make about your system - "Our society will not stand for this. If you do this, we will end your life. No if's or but's. You have placed yourself so far beyond what we consider acceptable behaviour and shown so little disregard for the lives of others that we believe you have surrenderred your rights to live".

Of couse, what I - and I'm sure I'm not alone - distrust in the system is the people making the decisions: there are too many biases there for me to feel entirely comfortable that they legitimitly believe they have the right criminal, and not simply the right skin colour, ethnicity or belief system. That problem is linked into a huge amount of other things slightly out of the scope of this entry and comment.

I don't consider any of those unreasonable statements to make, I am interested in hearing what you hadtocut from this entry though :)

[claudacity.livejournal.com]

what a powerful statement to make about your system
living in a society where said powerful statement is made at one of the highest rates in the world, it becomes less a judgement against the offender and more an exercise of the power of government. which I am decidedly uncomfortable with.

I would not compel countries to become abolitionist in principle, but in practice, yes. I agree with why you're in favour of capital punishment to the extent that it remains a principled argument. does that make sense?

heh, I was thinking of making a post on capital punishment earlier this year. and I am also interested in hearing what mirrorshard excised!

[shuripentu.livejournal.com]

IMO, the death penalty is one of those policies (along with things such as exams for prospective parents) that I would be in very much in favour of in an ideal world.

But this is not an ideal world. The system will never be perfect. There will always be mistakes. And that means that there will always be innocent people being executed. That I'm not happy with at all.

[vashti.livejournal.com]

While I'm very, very against the death penalty, I do feel that this man (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4743354.stm) needs to die.

Killing People

[(Anonymous)]

I am not sure why smart people have a problem with this one. Killing people is bad - it is really that simple. It doesn't matter whether it is the state doing it or some psycho with an axe. If nothing else, it sets a precedent for devaluing life.