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TechnoratiWorld Opinion Condemns the US for a 'Savage' Execution
Around the world and across the US, the firing squad execution in Utah has been met with a wave of criticism from those entirely opposed to the death penalty and those who say that shooting is not the most humane method of killing a prisoner.
![[The execution chamber at the Utah State Prison is seen after Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by a firing squad in Draper June 18, 2010. Four bullet holes are visible in the wood panel behind the chair. Gardner, 49, was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m. Mountain Time (0620 GMT) after being shot in the chest by a five-man firing squad.(Trent Nelson-Salt Lake Tribune/Pool)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/savages.jpg "savages.jpg")
In Salt Lake City, opponents held a multi-faith vigil. "I think we do not prefer to be associated with Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and the other countries who use the death penalty as we have used it," Nancy Appleby, chairwoman of the Utah Episcopal Diocese Peace and Justice Commission.
Rev Tom Goldsmith of the First Unitarian Church agreed: "Murdering the murderer doesn't create justice or settle any score." Bishop John Wester added: "The firing squad is archaic, violent and simply expands on the violence that we already experience from guns as a society."
Civil rights organisations in the US also joined the chorus of opposition. "Gardner's execution was both savage and inhumane and highlights the systemic injustices that plague the entire death penalty system in Utah and the rest of the United States," said John Holdridge, director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Such arbitrary and discriminatory administration of the death penalty is the very definition of a failed system."
The USA has carried out 28 executions so far this year, and 1,216 since resuming judicial killing in 1977. Utah accounts for six of these executions.
Amnesty International, which has long called for a worldwide repeal of the death penalty, said shooting had also been used in China, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Vietnam this past year.
But that may no longer be the case in Vietnam. The day before Gardner was killed, legislators there voted to end the use of firing squad and make lethal injection the only method for executions. The change is due to take effect next year.
Vietnam has long been criticised for the number of death sentences if imposes. About 100 people are executed each year in Vietnam, many for drug-related crimes.
The decision to switch to lethal injection came after a parliamentary committee said it was necessary to find a more humane method.
Amnesty International said it "opposes the death penalty, in all cases and in all countries, regardless of the method used to kill the prisoner, or the nature of the crime for which he or she was sentenced to death."
108 Comments so far
Show AllAh, the myth of American exceptionalism rears its head again: "We don't act barbarously like SOME other countries..." Why don't we just face facts? We are the world's leading killer of other human beings, especially considering our role as one of the leading weapons exporters. I think the firing squad perfectly represents the quality of our national character (that, and stupidity).
[Sarcasm] But, FastEddie, you're missing the point. When we kill people it's different from when non-exceptional people kill. You see, we could blast the earth dead, but as we are exceptional, even our "mistakes" must be FORGIVEN as they were done in innocence.
Don't you understand? We are a priori innocent *because* we are exceptional and we are a priori exceptional *because* we are innocent. [End sarcasm]
Proving, once again, that sarcasm can be a superb way to make a point!
"We [the United States] are the world's leading killer of other human beings, especially considering our role as one of the leading weapons exporters." FastEddie75
It's so true it had to be repeated.
Another story that M$M barely covers, as it would tarnish people's perception of the USA.
Um, I don't mean to pre-empt the Grammar Zealots-- but "'Savage' Execution" is a tautology.
And "humane execution" is an oxymoron...
What is the linguistic link between "execute" and "executive?"
Both the savage and the humane act with feeling.
Executives execute - orders, plans, people, planets - and do so devoid of feeling.
What's being left out of this story is that this method of execution was this prisoners choice off the death from the options offered in utah. Hanging is another.
"I think we do not prefer to be associated with Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and the other countries who use the death penalty as we have used it," Nancy Appleby, chairwoman of the Utah Episcopal Diocese Peace and Justice Commission.
But Nancy this is the country that carpet bombed Iraq into the stone age, used depleted uranium causing over a million children to die of leukemia, and THEN bombed another 1.3 million Iraqi's to death. The United States of America is a country with secret police, concentration camps, where political protesters can disappear or be imprisoned indefinitely.
The myth of America as a land of justice is just that, it's a myth. This execution is completely congruous with what the USA really is.
Very quick way to die. He didn't suffer. What about his victims?
Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders.
Kind of misses the point, doesn't it? The point is, if human life is something precious, you don't step on another human as you would an insect. That is what the death penalty is all about, isn't it?
Not everyone is opposed to the death penalty. If your veiw is that justice is served and you favor its use, the firing squad is a quick method.
I absolutely agree. Not everyone is opposed to torture either, or slavery or any number of fine old customs. I think there should be a place where people who favor executions and war and human sacrifice and other forms of institutional homicide could go and be free to live and kill and die and bugger each other to their heart's content, without the onus of being looked upon as vicious or unevolved or mentally ill. Someplace where nobody is denied the satisfaction of pointing a rifle at the heart of a human being tied to a chair and blowing him away for that rush of retributive justice. Someplace far away from the rest of us, please.
Unfortunately, the place will fill up very fast with rednecks who can't hit the broad side of a barn--and nothing will have changed, as they will be cheek to jowl with us, as always.
Most of the rednecks around here are pretty good shots. If a mad dog was mauling one of their grandchildren they have enough sense to put it down. This guy was worse than a mad dog, look him up on wiki. Sometimes people get what they deserve.
I see, we have now a confessed redneck posting in favor of giving folks what they deserve: death.
Fuckin' A!
What a stupid analogy--or non-analogy. If a mad dog were mauling my cat I'd shoot it--assuming I had a gun to hand. I'd certainly shoot a man mauling a child or any other human or animal. You do that to rescue the victim. That's a long way from being analagous to putting the perpetrator through the criminal justice system and then cold-bloodedly having paid government employees execute him long after the damage he did has been done.
You also need to see there are no more victims. Society protects itself from predatory killers. I agree the wheels of justice turn too slowly.
No statistic has yet demonstrated the deterrent effect of capital punishment.
You only have to answer one question to make your comment real, have you ever killed anyone or sentenced them to die?
Perhaps the Sudan. Slavery is still practiced there. They also practice genocide. They execute people at the drop of a hat.
Perhaps the victims family should decide the punishment.
Though I abhor killing, having seen the results of child molestation in many cases, I have to admit I think I'd cheerfully pull the trigger myself on these fiends.
Perhaps its just not that simple. Are there no crimes so horrific that the perpetrator should be eliminated for comitting?
I have very mixed feelings about this either way as a hard and fast rule.
The death penalty is not abhorrent because of what it does to the victim, but because of what it does to us. It coarsens us: coarsens our souls and our sensibilites and makes us less human and much less decent.
"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." John Donne--Devotions XV11.
Are you listening flunkdaddy? It is not about what kind of people the criminals are. It is about what kind of people WE are. Yes, there are horrible people out there. Yes, we have an obligation to protect society from them. Life without parole does that very nicely in this country. When we get out of the business of isolating killers from our midst and into the business of retributive punishment we are on a slippery slope toward becoming what we hate. Everybody who deliberately kills somebody, whether that is an executioner or a jury or a thug robbing a convenience store, is thinking the same thought: "the sonofabitch has it coming." That evil people kill does not license us to be like them. It should demand of us to be the opposite.
We became what we hate a long time ago. Except we pretend that it's different when it comes from us.
Let me ask you a hypothetical, if a 30 year old man raped and sodomized your 6 year old grandaughter, beat her and broke both arms and blinded her in one eye, is it that easy for you to answer the question.
For me it isn't.
Being human, I'd probably find the guy and beat him to death. What's your point?
Thats why I have mixed feelings. When you kill, the memories stay the rest of your life. When you see violence you cannot obliterate those memories, the effects of horrific acts remain in your mind.
Many of these people are less than wild animals and society and the world would be a cleaner place without them, but what if you have to make the decision? Personally make the decision and witness the execution of your decision?
Not such an easy question is it, as you say.
An interesting choice of words. The Turks felt the world would be a cleaner place without the Armenians. Ditto the Germans vis-a-vis the Jews, the Serbs vis-a-vis the Muslims etc. Often the most monstrous acts are perceived as retaliatory, one murder mysteriously cleaning up the blood from a prior murder.
I don't dispute the need to remove dangerous people from society. Segregation of these individuals is something were are entitled, indeed obligated to do. But it is when we set ourselves up as punishers that we breathe life into the nastier regions of our nature. The desire for revenge is difficult to repress in all but saints. But society should be less passionate, an agent of regulation not payback.
I've heard the argument that if we ourselves had to be judge and jury and executioner we would abandon the death penalty. It isn't true of course. Hangings and beheadings have been very popular public entertainments in many parts of the world. Taking delight in somebody else's misery or death comes quite naturally to us. But it is hard to argue that we should encourage that unfortunate aspect of human nature. It might be that mixed feelings is as close as we'll come to a resolution of the problem.
Perhaps NOT Sudan. What you call "Sudan" was once a part of the great continent of Africa, ihabited by beautiful people of many tribes. Then it was colonized first by Egypt, Britain, then both. Since then governments dominated by Muslims in Khartoum have taken turns trying yo run an entity that never should heve been, and never was , a country. The trbal peoples of the southern half of the country have not had enough to eat for the last 20 years.
if you want to send despised rejects someplace, they'll have to go to your own back yard.
I'm simply speaking of what they actually do and are. There is NO excuse for their actions. None. Slavery is a terrible thing in its own right.
Sorry, but Israel isn't far enough away.
Hey Daddy, you flunk.
Apparently you are oblivious to the fact, that innocent people are executed invariably, because the justice system is flawed.
So, you are for killing innocent people.
Is that the best you got? Nobody advocates executing the innocent, this persons guilt was not the issue.
Our humanity is the issue.
How would you know he didn't suffer?
If Ronnie Lee Gardner asked for the firing squad then how could anybody else object to its being used. All executions are barbaric. Lethal injection is less barbaric only to the spectators and to the citizens whose governments do the killing. Let the prisoners choose. There is an advantage in firing squads and guillotines in that their bloodiness might convince a few more people to oppose the death penalty by whatever means.
By lethal injection, by hanging, by guillotine or by firing squad, end it now.
If they are sharp-shooters, why do they need four bullets and one blank?
Why not four blanks and one bullet?
The irony is that most shoooters know when they've fired a blank or a real round. The difference is noticeable. I always thought this whole idea was pretty stupid.
"The irony is that most shoooters know when they've fired a blank or a real round. The difference is noticeable. I always thought this whole idea was pretty stupid."
This reply is a good answer to the question of why four real and one blank instead of the other way around. It may be stupid, but the idea is supposed to leave the shooters with a bit more chance at a clear conscience if they want it,
The death penalty doesn't work and it's as a rule cruel and unusual punishment. Other industrialized countries, and I exclude Israel which is a police state, don't have the death penalty and have lower crime rates.
The lynching though by the president is even worse, which is to say the president's approval of the execution of US citizens abroad is the death sentence carried out without due process, and therefore is lynching by definition-- "thank you Barakus Obombus for this little bit of 'Western civilization," oxymoron that it is.
AD
0 briefly attended Occidental College, known as Oxy to we alumni.
They are currently running a course on stupidity.
Terry Gilliam is also a graduate.
Israel does not have the death penalty except for (and this is pretty theoretical at this date) people like Adolf Eichmann who took an active part in mass killing of Jews in the Shoah.
..and rock throwing Palestinian children.
..and flotilla passengers.
Don't be ridiculous. The subject was "capital punishment," i.e. state mandated killing of its criminals who have been tried and found guilty in a duly appointed court of law. What you and the previous commenter brought up was murder and piracy, themselves crimimal acts not formal executions. Both are evil but "capital punishment" refers only to those acts formally ordered and carried out by the justice system of the state.
Bullshit. Guaranteed impunity for murder by police and army (in the case of the US, for example) and "civilian" lynching mobs (in the case of Israel, additional to the other two) are as real as the ritual human sacrifices by "duly appointed court of law". They are much more frequent and their general chilling effect on society much more widespread.
Your decreeing in your own mind that "capital punishment" will only apply to the latter is your own problem; others are free to use it according to current language and their own logic.
The death penalty doesn't work and it's as a rule cruel and unusual punishment. Other industrialized countries, and I exclude Israel which is a police state, don't have the death penalty and have lower crime rates.
The lynching though by the president is even worse, which is to say the president's approval of the execution of US citizens abroad is the death sentence carried out without due process, and therefore is lynching by definition-- "thank you Barakus Obombus for this little bit of 'Western civilization," oxymoron that it is.
AD
Well, I posted this idea once but it never showed up, so I'm trying again. I apologize if I end up being with two very similar posts.
" 'I think we do not prefer to be associated with Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and the other countries who use the death penalty as we have used it,' Nancy Appleby, chairwoman of the Utah Episcopal Diocese Peace and Justice Commission."
If the other countries that still had the death penalty were England and Norway, I don't believe that her holiness would have put those names in this kind of sentence as it wouldn't rise to the level of distaste and aversion she is seeking. She names non-Western countries, and mostly Muslim ones at that, with which to condemn by association. This is nothing but using racist tactics to try and make her point. I oppose capital punishment under all circumstances, and I am glad that there are others who share that conviction, but I abhor this type of bigotry that is gratuitous to the issue at hand.
I could not agree more!
Countries and territories that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes:
Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe
Countries that have abolished the death penalty since 1976
1976: Portugal abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1978: Denmark abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1979: Luxembourg, Nicaragua and Norway abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Brazil, Fiji and Peru abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1981: France and Cape Verde abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1982: The Netherlands abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1983: Cyprus and El Salvador abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1984: Argentina abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1985: Australia abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1987: Haiti, Liechtenstein and the German Democratic Republic (1) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1989: Cambodia, New Zealand, Romania and Slovenia (2) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1990: Andorra, Croatia (2), the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (3), Hungary, Ireland, Mozambique, Namibia and Sao Tomé and Príncipe abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1992: Angola, Paraguay and Switzerland abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1993: Guninea-Bissau, Hong Kong (4) and Seychelles abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1994: Italy abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1995: Djibouti, Mauritius, Moldova and Spain abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1996: Belgium abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1997: Georgia, Nepal, Poland and South Africa abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Bolivia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1998: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania and the United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1999: East Timor, Turkmenistan and Ukraine abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Latvia (5) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2000 : Cote D'Ivoire and Malta abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Albania (6) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2001: Bosnia-Herzegovina (7) abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Chile abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2002: Cyprus and Yugoslavia (now two states Serbia and Montenegro (9)) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2003: Armenia abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2004: Bhutan, Greece, Samoa, Senegal and Turkey abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2005: Liberia (8) and Mexico abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2006: Philippines abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2007: Albania (6), Cook Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Rwanda abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2008: Uzbekistan and Argentina abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
2009: Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
Notes:
(1) In 1990 the German Democratic Republic became unified with the Federal Republic of Germany, where the death penalty had been abolished in 1949.
(2) Slovenia and Croatia abolished the death penalty while they were still republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The two republics became independent in 1991.
(3) In 1993 the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic divided into two states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
(4) In 1997 Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule as a special administrative region of China. Since then Hong Kong has remained abolitionist.
(5) In 1999 the Latvian parliament voted to ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty for peacetime offences.
(6) In 2007 Albania ratified Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty in all circumstances. In 2000 it had ratified Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty for peacetime offences.
(7) In 2001 Bosnia-Herzegovina ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.
(8) In 2005 Liberia ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.
(9) Montenegro had already abolished the death penalty in 2002 when it was part of a state union with Serbia. It became an independent member state of the United Nations on 28 June 2006. Its ratification of Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty in all circumstances, came into effect on 6 June 2006.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries#retentionist
Thanks very much for this posting.
The UK might have abolished the death penalty only in 1998 (I wasn't aware of it) but they had abolished it de-facto decades earlier. The same is true of the other Western European countries on your list.
The UK and Norway do not execute their criminals. The last execution in the UK was about half a century ago.
"but I abhor this type of bigotry that is gratuitous to the issue at hand."
It's not bigotry...it's calling out CP countries, of which the ones mentioned have standards of justice and human rights that are even worse than ours. Would you have felt better if she mentioned Japan which has CP but is a "first world" nation?
The fact that England and Norway did away with capital punishment has much to do with why they didn't get brought up.
NM abolished capital punishment last year. I still recall that the majority of my HS students complained that ending the death penalty in NM was the wrong thing to do, that our murder rate would increase, that they objected to spending so much of our tax dollars to house and care for prisoners. This obviously echoed the sentiments of their parents. Incidentally, the majority of these individuals consider themselves "pro life."
Firing squad is barbaric. Let's bring back the guillotine so plain folks can really be appalled. All executions for whatever crime are barbaric. It's just that some offend us more than others.
Killing people who kill people to prove that killing people is wrong--and illogical.
Stop the death penalty in America.
It's by no means certain that plain folks are capable of being appalled by capital punishment, including decapitation, which may be what you meant.
I presume it's common knowledge that state-sanctioned outdoor hangings, like less formal lynchings, were a quasi-recreational activity considered wholesome and edifying fun for the whole family.
As I accidently learned while watching a "History Detectives" rerun, thirty-eight Dakota were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota on December 26, 1862, in the largest one-day execution in American history. Afterwards, various souvenir items were made to "commemorate" this event-- including boxes allegedly trimmed with skin taken from the hanged prisoners.
The "History Detectives" episode featured a decorative medallion depicting this infamous atrocity.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_War_of_1862
If an Amerikan execution were televised live and uncensored (pardon the irony), ratings would probably go through the roof.
Even CD attracts commenters who'd be screwed to their Barcaloungers with a cold six-pack to watch the show from pre-game through post-game. And they'd buy the DVD afterwards, just to be able to take advantage of zoom, slow-motion, and freeze-frame.
Only because they believe in Justice, of course.
We are a sick nation. And the ghouls who party in front of prisons when an execution is taking place are the best reason of all for abolishing executions.
Yep, they would probably make it the half time show at the super bowl. We can't be having wardrobe malfunctions, thats disgusting. But, a real live honest to goodness execution, well now, thats wholesome american family entertainment.
Shame that everyone else is not "enlightened" and brilliant as we are. Perhaos it would be better not to assume such Godlike heights in reference to everyone else.
When claims are made that everyone else has feet of clay, I start using the smell test. And this is bnot a personal comment limited to your post.
In other countries by the way, executions do draw crowds.
do they offer Smorgasbord as a last meal?
Death by firing squad was a specifically Mormon concession to Church Doctrine, which holds (or held) that it was necessary for the murderer's blood be spilt upon the ground in order to make full atonement for the crime of murder. It was offered as an alternative to judicial hanging to accommodate Church members.
John D. Lee, one of the leaders of the Mountain Meadows Massacre execution scheme, in which around a hundred and twenty innocent men, women, and children were murdered through treachery and deception -- and the only participant to be brought to justice -- was executed by firing squad so he could go the Heaven, which I'm sure was a great comfort to him.
It surprises me that so many people around the world believe the myth that the US stands for democracy, civil rights, human rights, and peace. People should not be shocked at all.
The USA is a violent, nationalistic, racist, imperialist and elitist country. We have the largest number of prisoners in the world, very high violent crime rates, very large disparities in income and wealth.
The US spends more on military and related activities (including military aid to criminal states like Israel), espionage, "homeland security", etc. than the rest of the world combined.
The US is one of the most socially unjust nations on earth, and the #1 state-sponsored muderer in the world.
What's the big deal?
After 30 years in the US I moved back to my native Norway. Here I have gained an Iranian friend, and find that we both agree that the death penalty ends up killing many innocent people in our respective former countries, and are therefore opposed to it. I have to say though, that there is a back side to the medal here in Norway where the death penalty is illegal. Here you can be convicted for killing somebody in self-defense who enters your house and attacks you (so the question becomes, how controlled can you be while panicking and defending yourself at the same time? and if you only hurt the guy, he might get more violent...), while violent crimes like rape get little more than a slap on the wrist in punishment, if anything, leaving victims without justice. Maximum imprisonment here is 20 years, so a sadistic murderer who gets convicted at the maximum at age 20 can still get out at 40 years of age.
Such is the price for american exceptionalism...kinda makes you want to puke.
Shameful!
Also disturbing was the news article that printed minute details of the prisoner's death. Clearly this killing involved elaborate ritual.
It is sickening that "someone" manufactured the chair for this purpose.
END the death penalty!
NOT Proud To Be An American
"NOT Proud To Be An American" -- donnalou
I agree -- on more issues than I can count.
In 1994, when I was still living in Nebraska, the state -- with Ben Nelson, now senator, as governor -- executed a man. As I recall, the execution was the first in Nebraska since 1976. That evening, I was working, but the TV carried the story, showing the large crowds of people outside the penitentiary drinking and cheering and counting down. It was like a big party for some of the people. I was completely sickened by the sight. This executed man had murdered a woman, and the crime was very brutal. However, I have never supported the death penalty. I was stunned to discover that some of my friends did.
A couple of years later, before I moved to NYC, I had some serious arguments with a couple of my friends about George W. Bush and the death penalty in Texas. At that time, there were some serious questions about whether the man was guilty, or NOT. One of my female friends thought it was just fine to execute the man -- regardless. Ultimately, our friendship fell apart. I just can't understand people with such rigid views, especially when there are serious questions about the case.
For years now I've been puzzled by the moralizing that inevitably comes along with a death penalty story.
Could all you folks not realize that we, collectively, make decisions every day that result in awful suffering and death.
I'll only raise one area. Last years "debate" and decision not to provide health care for all citizens regardless of ability to pay will result in many deaths...most of them prolonged and involving suffering. And those people who suffer this fate didn't do anything wrong...certainly didn't commit a heinous crime. They just don't have enough money.
How is allowing/accepting that decision made collectively by all of us morally superior?
Of course, one could say that those decisions were made by our leaders, not by us...but isn't that just a rationalization? If it really mattered to us we wouldn't accept it...we would do what people like Donna Smith call for. But we don't. We passively accept it.
Also, note tainted foods, mine safety, bogus medicines, etc, etc.
Killing is perhaps the most cowardly of acts. And for a state to kill is beyond cowardice but indicates a pathological connecting of organization with destruction. When that's justified, then ANYTHING GOES, no meaningful line is drawn - anywhere.
The USA still claims to hold an honorable place in the world community but you could count on one hand the number of states that agree. The world is changing, maturing, and the USA has been "left behind" in medieval times.
Killing at a distance can be considered cowardly.
To kill someone up close and personal, with a blade or bludgeon in your hand, takes training and nerve.
Look up the concept of the 'intimacy of violence'. One psychologist presented the idea that distance make killing easier, less personal.
If that is true, then those who operate the US's killer drones sleep best of all murderers.
What is even more revolting than judicial human sacrifice is this:
In the US, there is no need for a judgment.
Any dumb cop is empowered to be judge, jury and executioner rolled in one. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of such executions take place every year. Anyone who contests this better bring proof. Don't hold your breath in the Mehserle case either.
The murderers' unions and the "parties" won't let anyone who criticizes these murders even be elected dog-catcher.
It's different in civilized countries. All Greece burned for two months after a police shooting. We don't even notice.
Bring back the Gladiator Games. At least, trial by order gives some fairness to the judicial process.
Obama, and Bush have ended a fair legal system.
We should not abolish the death penalty until Buch, Chenney and Obama are executed after a fair trial for War Crimes.
I think you meant 'Trail by Ordeal'. Which actually means undergoing extreme physical duress, such as holding a red hot iron bar and not being burned if you are innocent.
I think you possibly meant 'Trail by Combat'. Which again is completely different from gladiatorial games. Gladiators were professionals who fought for the adulation of the crowd, and killed condemned prisoners in severely unmatched warm up bouts. 'Trial by Combat' entailed the two adversaries joining in a duel to either maiming or death, with the victor being judged innocent. It was not unheardof for one of the accused or aggrieved to hire a professional to advance their case.
It does not surprise me that there are those who seek a return to the mob mentality of 'Bread and Circuses'. Trial by Ordeal or Combat does not ensure fairness. It merely publicly displays the Empires callous bloodthirst.
Thanks for the correction. I should not write while tired.
But, is that not what we have now, public display of our Empires callous blood-thirst?
I would just hope that our criminal leadership get the same "compassion" as they did give the poor and weak in this society.
The ultimate, laughable, sick "Trial by Ordeal," portrayed in numerous movies over the years, most notably in the 1939 "Hunchback of Notre Dame," where after confessing under torture, the king, taking pity on Esmeralda, subjected her to trial by ordeal, wherein two daggers -- the murder weapon and the king's dagger -- were placed in front of her. She was then blindfolded, the knives then switched in position (of course), and if she touched the murder weapon she would hang, if she touched the king's dagger she was innocent. Well, of course, you know how that went. Esmeralda and her accomplice, the goat were sentenced to hang.
I totally read this headline wrong, "World Opinion Condemns the US for a 'Savage' Execution", reading it as "World Opinion Condemns US TO a 'Savage' Execution'.
And I thought, "I don't wonder. I'm amazed the rest of the world hasn't joined forces and blown us out of the water already"!
Electric chair has to be the worst.
Free Mumia...
Law is politics by other means.
For me , personally, what is really ironic and hypocritical is that the USA attaches its very existence and "right" to do what it wants in the world with the "CULTURE" of "christianity"...
even more so than any other "christian nation" --it even pays SPECIAL emphasis on the MAN himself....Jesus Christ....as "my personal lord and savior" ....and in contrast with say:
"Godless china, russia, vietnam" etc...
stands right up there with them in its State-culture sanctioned Commission of MURDER...under its so-called justice system.
and THAT's not even speaking of its WARs.
how Americans have found using CHRIST and being "christian" as justification for having a process that leads to state-sanctioned murder is really quite beyond me....
it's like a national insanity.
were it based as a society only on the "old testament" and all its bloodletting and murderousness and torture...it might be understandable how a society can find "one-ness" with such things.
but having a JESUS CHRIST? as its "lord and saviour?"
"THE INNOCENT LAMB that was slaughtered to wash away all sins?"
and THEN to use the "american hand" of "justice" to SLAUGHTER? in the NAME of Jesus Christ the Crucified?.
my "god" -- what kind of society is that? or any society for that matter that uses JESUS CHRIST as its Symbol?.
I think we have more than enough evidence to prove that american chrisitans don't believe in all of that crap they tell you they believe in.
teddy; interesting take and true.Tony
Actually, I thought letting the prisoner choose his method of execution was relatively humane, given the general inhumanity of our justice system. Lethal injection sounds far more ghastly.
Some one mentioned Slavery. Well we have that already, it is called Credit.
As for this Firing Squad idea, I suspect that something is very very ill going on in the consciousness of those making law in Utah. In 2010 they suddenly come out with this !!! What gives? I am sure they are NOT smoking pot.
The firing squad is not new to Utah. They killed Joe Hill that way. It's because of the Mormons' belief in "blood atonement."
Someone earlier posted that, nations such as Russia, China and other are godless !
gimme a @#@#@@ break like we in the USA god so well ha ?
we rape nations in the name of democracy, destroy others who don't agree with our views, add to this the internal turmoil that we have about many issues, and you should see that were light years away from god !
I posted that it is IRONIC that GOD-Loving, God-fearing, JESUS is my Saviour USA that points fingers at "godless russia, USSR, CHINA, barbaric Iran, Barbaric this and that"
executes more people in more years than those countries, most likely...and does so "BY THE WILL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST"
by way of having a PRIEST , or PASTOR actually give the LAST RITES as part of the "oh woe is ME for having such SATANIC criminals in OUR Wonderful , law abiding, MORAL , KINDLY, NATION -- one Nation Under GOD (the christian one , of course)"
theatre , complete with FAmilies , community leaders, all wailing in their hearts at the "injustice of it all and MAY GOD SAVE HIS/HER SOUL...and NOW let's GET ON with the KILLING, darnit, i have a Christening to ATTEND!!! coz we gotta bring up a GOOD UPSTANDING AMERICAN CHRISTIAN citizen who will DEFEND OUR FREEDOMS and CHRISTIAN way of life against thsoe INFIDELS and GODLESS people --- over there --- in afghanistan and china!!!!!!"
in one fell swoop american society goes down the depths of HELL ITSELF - and calls it HEAVENLY.
SICK , SICK society.
You'll feel a lot better, teddy, when you realize what you are speaking of is actually the "Religion of Hypocrisy". The U.S., as the land of the salesperson, has sanctified hypocrisy for the benefit of "sales", whether we are speaking of deodorant or of Empire. The moral teachings of Jesus are reversed because the core principle of the religion is hypocrisy.
This pervasive reversal would at one time have been referred to by non-hypocritical Christians as "selling our souls to the Devil". But, being hypocritical (as it must be in the Religion of Hypocrisy), it is called finding Jesus or "building a Christian nation".
You see, selling your soul to the Devil/Hypocrisy opens up huge vistas of wealth. You don't have to worry about things like "do unto others..." and the basics of moral behavior. It's a great revelation. "We can smile a lot, we can say we are moral, we can say we are good, we can say anything and it doesn't make any difference in what we do if we don't mean it; and, being acolytes of Hypocrisy, we *can't* really mean it. We can create a whole new pantheon of branded gods and still call ourselves Christians! We can do anything with no old fogy restrictions! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!"
But the Devil is collecting now.
It is more than ever necessary that some spiritual/political leader must climb Mount Sinai a la Moses and ask God what he meant by "thou shalt not kill". That person must not forget to take along a stone tablet and a chisel.
What else would you expect from a country so in love with guns. Christ, I'm surprised we haven't sent our imperial army to bomb the shit out of the massive oil leak in the Gulf. That'll teach them oil people a lesson.
What really takes the cake is the reason the state carried out the execution by firing squad....at the request of a convicted murderer. Why don't we just go to every murdrer and ask them what the Hell they want...and give it to them.
When the end of the journey comes to this country, I will feel no pain. I will be too busy looking out my door yard and laughing my ass off.
You all do know that Utah no longer provides the option of firing squad? It was abolished several years ago, but this guy had made his choice whilst it was still law. When provided an alternative, he declined.
From accounts at the execution, it was over in seconds. There was a short movement just after the bullets hit and then nothing. Compare that with the minutes sometimes tens of minutes that it takes for someone to die from injection. Often in pain.
I have witnessed an execution by firing squad. It was so fast the victim had no chance to do/think/feel a thing.
If you want to criticize capital punishment in general, I'm with you. I agree totally. Criticizing this method in particular is counter productive. If I were in the situation, I would pay any amount to be shot rather than any other method of execution.
Anyway.... Why is world opinion important anyway? It doesn't have a dollars and cents impact on the US. Tourism is up except for Europeans whose currency is dropping like a rock. Trade is still good. Why does it matter at all what someone in Germany or Thailand thinks about us?
The only people that matter to US policy at all, and maybe not much at that, are US citizens who vote. If you aren't part of that, then your opinion is just that, your opinion and of value only to you and your friends.
I couldn't have said it any better.
erase all of the other comments. this says it all. i am also against capital punishment, but the guy requested to be shot. as horrible as it is, he wanted it. end of story.
Firing squad was the death choice of Gary Gilmore- read "Executioner's Song" by Norman Mailer - - also "Shot in the Heart" by Mikal Gilmore.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I was living in Illinois in July 1966 when that MF named Richard Speck murdered 8 student nurses living together in a Chicago townhouse - see Wikipedia. Speck was tried and found guilty of 8 counts of murder. On 15 April 1967, the jury sentenced him to death. It is our obligation to imagine the feelings of the loved ones and their acquaintances when that sentence was handed down. Did they perhaps feel immense relief and that "There is some justice in the world"?
But- wait a minute - Richard Speck had "eaten a Twinkie" and was not responsible for killing 8 people because he could not remember anything after the last bite. So began a roller coaster process of sequential Appeals, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is our obligation to imagine the feelings of the loved ones and acquaintances all during this roller coaster ride. How did they feel, each year, when signing and filing their tax returns to the American government?
"On June 29, 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional, so the Illinois Supreme Court's only option was to order Speck re-sentenced to prison by the original Cook County court. On November 21, 1972, in Peoria, Judge Richard Fitzgerald re-sentenced Speck to 400 to 1,200 years in prison (8 consecutive sentences of 50 to 150 years)." Does anybody think that the loved ones and acquaintances of the 8 murdered nurses were mollified by this?
Having cheated punishment by death, in prison Richard Speck managed to obtain a sufficient supply of female hormones to grow large breasts. While we paid for his room and board, his 19 years of jail time was characterized by his own daily orgasms, in addition to those he happily produced for other inmates. Out of the families of the 8 nurses, I am prepared to wager that the psychological consequences of the murder, plus the legal process took a major permanent toll upon their enjoyment of sex.
-30-
bligh4
The guy murdered someone, then-in open court- shot a man (an attorney and a father) in the face while he tried to hide behind a door.
Boo-hoo. I'll save my sympathy for someone that actually deserves it.
Also shanked an inmate in prison.
There is no rational for killing. There is no rational for the death penalty. Being against it isn't necessarily sympathizing with a cold blooded killer. Using your rational, an eye for an eye, for every Iraqi citizen killed we should line up a gringo and splatter his brains all over a cinder block wall. That would take care of about 2 million jack-ass, ignorant gringos. Don't you think?
With your vicious attitude, I suggest you save your sympathy for yourself: you're gonna need it, buckaroo.
Capital punishment is not about justice - (how does killing one human bring justice to the victim of a capital crime?) - it's about the State taking the opportunity to demonstrate once again its claim to the exclusive legally justified franchise on deadly violence. You will notice that it is the State that brings charges in criminal cases, not the families of the victims. A rationale for this is that a respected 'justice' system is necessary for any healthy political system. The problem is that sometimes justice and the 'legal' system are often at odds with each other.
Cannot fail to take into consideration the 4 poor blokes who fired at Gardner. Whether or not it's top of mind for them, they'll be affected by their actions as executioners for the rest of their lives.
We are such hypocrites. We supposedly cherish life and then extinguish it. We say we have respect for free will,so the state of Utah let Gardner wrangle it into a deeper compromise of so-called "christian" values than already existed with the use of capital punishment. Not only are we as a country blighted by the very act of capital punishment, we let Gardner impose a particularly onerous method of doing so by honoring his wish. I think he got the last laugh.
In the old days janeeliz,one of the members of the firing squad would be given a blank round.This was a shell with no Bullet.That way every man had the chance for deniability.In a four man squad there would be a 25% chance that your rifle did not fire a lethal round.This is a form of "humane delusion" for the benefit of executioners.
In lethal injection the person making the injection is definitely involved in the "Karma and Guilt" aspects of the execution.Maybe some day this will all be completely automated,eliminating the human guilt factor completely from our consciousness.The technical problem is no one has designed a machine that can start an intravenous line.The first part of the Hypocratic Oath says, "first do no harm"how can a health care worker start a I.V.for an execution without violating it?
I think that a firing squad is more humane than lethal injection,if the obligatory last cigarette was a joint,even more humane!That said as a Quaker i oppose the death penalty and if convicted of a Capitol offense want to be fu@ked to death by a nymphomaniac.
peace
The United States: A nation of degenerate, ignorant barbarians.
f'ing hypocrites! all the "shat" talk about other countries and human rights records. how can the american public be so f'ing ignorant to think that the US even closely represents the best of the free world. here in costa rica i come across idiot gringos every day who still believe in that ridiculous myth.
With tobacco taxes having proven insufficient to finance two wars and the bankster bailout, we may soon see a needy government offering "pay per view". If it catches on, death chambers will proliferate like casinos. Proceeds promised, as usual, to children's health and education.
Court TV and dozens of porn sites have dawn meetings scheduled with their K Street lobby firms.
"I think we do not prefer to be associated with Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and the other countries who use the death penalty as we have used it,"
O! dear Nancy Appleby:loaded beneath your righteousness is nought but! impeial arrogance. so you ain't; part of the solution but...