Some states look at reviving firing squads amid shortage of execution drugs

NBC News ^ | 1/17/14 | M. Alex Johnson

[Libloather]

**SNIP**

Firing squads have all but disappeared from the U.S. While Oklahoma law provides for them if lethal injection is ever ruled unconstitutional, only Utah actually continues to use them, and then only for inmates convicted before 2004 as it seeks to phase them out. But the shortage of pentobarbitol has some lawmakers reconsidering.

State Sen. Bruce Burns filed a similar bill (.pdf) Monday in Wyoming, saying the state would have to do something soon before it runs out of approved drugs for lethal injections.

[Libloather]

"I'm from Texas and in Texas we have the death penalty and we use it. That's right, if you come to Texas and kill somebody, we will kill you back. That's our policy. Right now there's a bill in the Texas legislature that would speed up the execution process of those convicted of a heinous crime with more than three credible witnesses. If more than three people saw you do what you did you don't sit on death row for 15 years Jack, you go straight to the front of the line. Other states are trying to abolish the death penalty. My state's puttin in an express lane."

Ron White- Blue Collar Comedy Tour

[Little Pig]

Hanging would be more efficient, and cost-effective. There are even online calculators now to help the executioner get the drop length correct.

I would imagine the Gallows would be a more effective deterrent than a bunch of rifles in a locker somewhere.

[Crazieman]

How about ol’ Sparky?

[DH]

I think the solution to the problem is to execute the animals in the same manner they killed their victims and draw it out for as long as it took the animal to kill the victim.

The executions should be held outside the prison on a special platform so that the public could watch.

After the execution, the body should be disposed of in a tree limb shredder, the remains placed in a trash can and sent to their parents.

[Yorlik803]

Why don’t they give these animals a hot shot of Heroin?
we have all heard stories of Junkies dying with the needle still in their arm.

[Little Pig]

Probably two reasons: one, it involves “illegal” drugs, which the gov cannot be seen to condone at any cost (note sarcasm), and two, it is too pleasant (based on testimony I’ve read from people who nearly went all the way); it is by definition painless, of course, but I think it also would take too long. Even a big OD would still probably take more than an hour to shut someone down all the way.

[Politically Correct]

A tank of Nitrogen and a mask.
Cheap, painless and a plentiful supply all around us.

[OldPossum]

How about ol’ Sparky?

Indeed. One of the funniest cartoons I ever saw was one I came across in the 1950s. It showed the condemned man walking into what is obviously the room where the electric chair is. Above the door is written: "You can be sure if it's Westinghouse."

The reference for those not living then is that that was the heavily-advertised slogan of The Westinghouse Corporation.

[Jonty30]

Guillotines are the most efficient, effective, and humane way to kill somebody.

[Jonty30]

Then there would be no more death penalties.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The therapeutic index of heroin is rather high (it takes a lot to kill you), and where would you get it? The same suppliers who refuse to sell pentobarbitol would refuse to produce heroin to be used as a killing agent. Pentobarbitol is not used in lethal doses in death penalty cases, btw. It is used to “safely” put the convict to sleep prior to the administration of lethal drugs. The effects of the lethal drugs may be painful (for a while), but the convict is too sedated to exhibit pain.

Personally, I would prefer to execute prisoners by nitrogen asphyxiation, which is how many pounds kill unwanted stray animals.

[Yorlik803]

Getting the drug is easy....just go to any highschool. And the plus side is after the pusher sells it you can arrest him for dealing.
But your way sounds a lot easier.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

With hanging there is a trade-off between insuring that the drop breaks the neck (causing a quicker death) and snapping the head off. Some obese convicts might have to hang around for a while, since it might not be possible to execute them quickly without causing a mess. The drawback to hanging has always been that if the prisoner is not killed quickly, the death can be prolonged and ghastly. I really have no problem with hanging, it is as humane as any form of execution, simple and foolproof, and safe for all but the intended victim.

[usmcobra]

Hangin too good for them?

[Artie]

“After the execution, the body should be disposed of in a tree limb shredder, the remains placed in a trash can and sent to their parents.”

Along with a bill for time and materials.

[Pollster1]

The far left wants those drugs used to kill unwanted grandparents. They can't spare a few doses a year for murderers.

Dennis McGuire was convicted in 1994 of the rape and murder of 22-year-old Joy Stewart, who was seven months pregnant.

Four decades after kidnapping a Bay Harbor Islands couple and shooting them execution-style in the woods of South Miami-Dade, Thomas Knight will be put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday night . . . for a third murder: the 1980 fatal stabbing of Death Row state corrections Officer Richard Burke.

Michael Wilson, 38, was executed shortly after 6 p.m. at the state penitentiary in McAlester . . . beat 30-year-old store manager, Richard Yost, to death with a metal baseball bat. The beating, which took place inside the store's cooler, was captured on surveillance video. Police arrested four men, including Wilson. All four were convicted of murder. Three of the men were sentenced to death. Wilson was the last of the men to be executed.

Steve Smith, 46, was executed by lethal injection at the state prison in Lucasville in southern Ohio for the 1998 killing of his live-in girlfriend's 6-month-old daughter as he raped her.

"Granny" (representative pic, not an actual victim - yet). A sweet, innocent woman whose medical care would require money that could be used instead for sex change operations or redistributed to those with connections.

Liberals disapprove of all but one of the executions on this list. I find their enthusiasm for the death of innocents disturbing.

[SeminoleCounty]

Nothing is as immoral as showing more concern for a criminal’s passing than that of an innocent victim.

I miss Sparky, Florida’s Electric Chair. It worked. Never saw a criminal walk away after sitting in it

If the Criminal Rights NutJobs are concerned about innocent people being executed, they should look to fix our justice system. Note that none of the folks protesting the Death Penalty ever protest the incompetent justice system

[Gen.Blather]

Several people at a plant I worked at were killed by a nitrogen leak. Nitrogen filled the room, displaced the oxygen and they all died, unaware there was a problem. Do pain, no mess, cheap as dirt.

[gusty]

The clean up afterwards would be a little rough for the custodial staff.

[amigatec]

I still prefer the Old West method.

Have the undertaker measure the condemned for a coffin.

Have the executioner weigh them to get the gallows set correctly.

And make sure the condemned can hear the carpenters sawing the wood and hammering in the nail for the gallows, right outside the jail.

Then have a public announcement and invite the townsfolk to witness the hanging.

Than after there dead, let them swing for about a week until they start to stink, cut ‘em loose and call the family to come get ‘em.

If the family don’t want him, dump him out in the woods for the buzzards and worms to eat.

Problem solved.