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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: Firing Squad
deathpenaltyinfo.org ^ | 2006

Posted on 12/16/2006 6:41:03 PM PST by doug from upland

Firing Squad

Firing squad still remains a method of execution in Idaho, although lethal injection as an alternative method is allowed. The most recent execution by this method was that of John Albert Taylor. By his own choosing, Taylor was executed by firing squad in Utah on January 26, 1996. For execution by this method, the inmate is typically bound to a chair with leather straps across his waist and head, in front of an oval-shaped canvas wall. The chair is surrounded by sandbags to absorb the inmate's blood. A black hood is pulled over the inmate's head. A doctor locates the inmate's heart with a stethoscope and pins a circular white cloth target over it. Standing in an enclosure 20 feet away, five shooters are armed with .30 caliber rifles loaded with single rounds. One of the shooters is given blank rounds. Each of the shooters aims his rifle through a slot in the canvas and fires at the inmate. (Weisberg, 1991) The prisoner dies as a result of blood loss caused by rupture of the heart or a large blood vessel, or tearing of the lungs. The person shot loses consciousness when shock causes a fall in the supply of blood to the brain. If the shooters miss the heart, by accident or intention, the prisoner bleeds to death slowly. (Hillman, 1992 and Weisberg, 1991)


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KEYWORDS: deathpenalty; firingsquad
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To: dalereed
Definitely quicker than 10 seconds, from initial impact to total loss of awareness.
41 posted on 12/16/2006 7:35:30 PM PST by ThePythonicCow (We are but Seekers of Truth, not the Source.)
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To: doug from upland

Let me just say this: There are few problems that can't be solved through the judicious application of high explosives.


42 posted on 12/16/2006 7:45:25 PM PST by RichInOC (BOOM!)
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To: CWOJackson

Are you reading "Six Frigates"???

LC


43 posted on 12/16/2006 7:47:32 PM PST by LoneConservative (PEACE... Through SUPERIOR FIREPOWER!!!)
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To: doug from upland

Heart, schmart. Shoot 'em in the face.


44 posted on 12/16/2006 7:48:13 PM PST by Solamente (Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out...)
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To: Porterville
Why not use one of these?


45 posted on 12/16/2006 7:48:23 PM PST by Cobra64 (Why is the War on Terror being managed by the DEFENSE Department?)
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To: doc1019
I disagree. Granted, expressions of concern for the suffering are being used as cover, for efforts to abolish the death penalty.

I'd treat capital punishment the same as I would putting down an animal. It is going down, when I decide it is going down. That matter is not in dispute. I'd pick the means from those available to me, avoiding unnecessary cruelty.

If it were an animal I was fond of, I'd give it a good last meal, and a loving pat, first.

I abhor the bleeding heart liberals efforts to remove all vestige of traditional justice from the public square.

Justice should be swift, and done with respect for the dignity of others, even when that means their death, and even when they have not earned any vestige of that respect.

46 posted on 12/16/2006 7:51:16 PM PST by ThePythonicCow (We are but Seekers of Truth, not the Source.)
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To: doug from upland
This seems like the simplest, most efficient, quickest method.


47 posted on 12/16/2006 7:51:46 PM PST by Alouette (Psalms of the Day: 119 1:96)
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To: LoneConservative
LOL! I just spent a few minutes looking for the user "Six Frigates."

No but I will add it to my list. I was a listed as a naval historian for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service/Revenue Marine and Bering Sea Patrol (sail and early steam period) for a few years.

Although that field is fairly exclusive I've naturally read a bit on other eras; in fact my wife has a fair knowledge of Nelson's Navy through association. I remember when we went to see "Master and Commander" she was critiquing some things to me after the movie.

48 posted on 12/16/2006 7:51:49 PM PST by CWOJackson
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To: ThePythonicCow

Viewed from 10,000 feet, I think we are saying about the same thing. Only point of contention, I don’t care about the suffering of the criminal … unlike a pet, who has done nothing wrong, perhaps, other then get old, most on death row have caused death and usually with some suffering to the victim.


49 posted on 12/16/2006 8:02:28 PM PST by doc1019
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To: Alouette

Ole' Sharpie?


50 posted on 12/16/2006 8:09:08 PM PST by bubbacluck
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To: doug from upland

Let's test it on Saddam Hussein. Is tomorrow too soon?


51 posted on 12/16/2006 8:11:52 PM PST by Tall_Texan (NO McCain, Rudy, Romney, Hillary, Kerry, Obama or Gore in 2008!)
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To: doug from upland

"I don't think the Supreme Court would ever allow strangulation with a telephone cord."

My choices for the court would!!!


52 posted on 12/16/2006 8:13:14 PM PST by lawdude (2006: The elections we will live to die for!)
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To: doug from upland
If the shooters miss the heart, by accident or intention, the prisoner bleeds to death slowly. (Hillman, 1992 and Weisberg, 1991)

20 shooters would probably mitigate this outcome
53 posted on 12/16/2006 8:15:44 PM PST by kvanbrunt2
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To: Cobra64

Because bullets cost money. A retractable bolt is good for a very long time.


54 posted on 12/16/2006 8:16:43 PM PST by Porterville (Fight without rules. Fight until only one side stands.)
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To: ThePythonicCow


the concussion of the bullet hitting the spine and the spinal chord appers to cause 'dont know what hit em' - at least in deer.


55 posted on 12/16/2006 8:21:25 PM PST by spanalot
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To: doc1019
Yes - even so, given the otherwise even choice between two methods, I'd pick the one less painful.

And the damn judge should keep his nose out of the details.

56 posted on 12/16/2006 8:23:17 PM PST by ThePythonicCow (We are but Seekers of Truth, not the Source.)
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To: The Spirit Of Allegiance
Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotine was commissioned by the French Government to create the most *egalitarian* and humane form of execution. Prior to his creation, beheadings were typically performed by paid executioners, the most famous being the Sanson family (because they were very effective and the executioner of choice among nobility).

Because nobility could chose a fine blade, while peasants were beheaded with a less efficient axe (sometimes requiring two to three chops if one were clumsy or did not possess the required strength), this method was deemed inhumane and unfair. The guillotine was efficient for everyone.

The advance of STD and blood-related diseases would make clean up after a beheading a messy business, indeed. The upside though is that it is economical (requiring no electricity, and other expensive precautions - only sharpening after every execution to ensure a clean cut the first time down). Furthermore, the prisoner need not even be conscious throughout (which would prevent the shocked look of horror on the face, as the brain retains at least enough blood for conscious thought for up to a minute afterwards before dying from blood loss).

(If I've freaked you out, don't fret! I studied this topic for a book of mine, so I know more than the average person does on it).

57 posted on 12/16/2006 8:24:27 PM PST by TheWriterTX (Proud Retrosexual Wife of 13 Years)
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To: ThePythonicCow

You are correct.


58 posted on 12/16/2006 8:26:07 PM PST by TheWriterTX (Proud Retrosexual Wife of 13 Years)
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To: CWOJackson
You wrote, "...it should be whatever means of execution the killer used on his victim(s)."

I am an advocate of the death penalty but think what you're suggesting clearly constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, hence unconstitutional on its face. Besides, I've known a few prison guards--hardworking, decent, dedicated men. Could you honestly demand that correctional officers execute someone like Lawrence Bittaker using the killer's modus operandi, which--in Bittaker's case--consisted of torturing his victims to death with pliers?

Personally, I think the Chinese method, a bullet to the brain, is sufficient: quick, probably painless, and inexpensive.
59 posted on 12/16/2006 8:27:26 PM PST by Rembrandt_fan
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To: spanalot
Yeah - they might be totally brain dead yet, but they probably aren't much worried about the difference.
60 posted on 12/16/2006 8:27:35 PM PST by ThePythonicCow (We are but Seekers of Truth, not the Source.)
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