to not understand why it is so difficult to kill a human being humanely

[ReallyTired]

Animals are put to sleep or slaughtered for food every day. They do not suffer like this poor American did. People go under general anesthetic every day for major operations without mishap. Surely an excecution is easier to carry out than complex heart surgery.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27220406

I don't want to discuss the pro and cons of captical punishment, but surely if the state is going to kill someone it can be done quickly and simply. Why is killing a person more complicated than killing a cow or a pig? I see no excuse for botched executions.

[SelectAUserName]

I see no excuse for executions, full stop. Do away with the death sentence, you do away with the botched attempts at it.

[sharonthewaspandthewineywall]

To be fair its not something you hear about often...

[Tiredmumno1]

I thought it had something to do with the companies, not wanting to provide the materials needed to kill a person. So they have had to find another way to go about it. Well that was my understanding anyway.

[bigdeal]

good riddance.

[ReallyTired]

How do vets manage to kill large animals humanely? Many large dogs are bigger than people yet vets manage to give them a peaceful end. I think the excuse about a lack of drugs is a bit of red herring.

Personally I would prefer if the death penalty didn't exist.

[bragmatic]

I know! I was thinking the same thing when I read the article. It can't be that hard, surely.

[bragmatic]

I think they use some sort of bolt to the skull, ReallyTired. So not via IV. Assisted suicide is legal in some countries. You'd think that'd be the first place to go for advice.

[LoveSardines]

My mum always said that human beings are actually quite big and hard to kill easily just with drugs - she was an anaesthetist.

We generally kill animals ie cows pigs etc in other ways - knock unconscious / or not and then cut throat etc.

There are (as i said on the other thread) other methods that are cheaper & quicker & more reliable - eg hanging is v quick and effective if done right, same goes for guillotine & firing squad. The reason the US don't use these methods is because it would make it too obvious what they are doing ie killing someone, they like to try and distract from that by makign it seem "clean". Pathetic. They love guns, what's wrong with a firing squad FGS. Honest, quick, reliable.

I am against the death penalty anyway.

[bobberdobber]

This 'poor American' shot a nineteen year old girl and watched as his friends buried her alive.

I'll save my sympathy for someone who deserves it.

[LoveSardines]

Irrelevant.

State sanctioned torture and murder are never OK.

[Thurlow]

Because unless the individual concerned chooses that they want to die, there is no 'humane' way to kill another human being. Unless they have decided they want to die, it is murder.

[LaurieFairyCake]

No, it is something that happens a lot - about half a dozen times in last couple of years.

It's because people are arseholes and not content with killing someone humanely (because depriving them of life isn't enough) but instead want to torture them publicly.

The very least we can do if we're to kill people is to do it in private with the same drugs we use for animals.

But that will never be enough for the twisted, scum bag fuckers who believe in torture.

[pebblyshit]

www.scientificamerican.com/article/lete28099s-stop-pretending-the-death-penalty-is-a-medical-procedure-editorial/

This article explains it.

[Woobeedoo]

I'd heard that this execution was botched as the mans vein collapsed meaning the drug combination couldn't work correctly so not the fault of the drugs company but there should be back-up plans in place to prevent a reccurance.

Not wanting to be flippant but in the UK, cows and pigs are slaughtered by firstly an electric shock to incapacitate, followed by either a shot to the head or hung upside down and have their throat cut.

[ReallyTired]

"This 'poor American' shot a nineteen year old girl and watched as his friends buried her alive."

Irrespective of his crime he did not deserve to be tortured to death. Torturing someone brings you down to their level.

The Americans have mastered the knocking the person unconcious. I think a captive bolt to the back of the skull would finish the person off efficently.

I imagine that countries like Holland with euthanasia have less of an issue getting hold of the drugs. Prehaps those countries don't want to share expertise as they only want to help those willing to die.

[Fenton]

I'm finding it hard to get past your 'poor American', when you read what his victim had to endure before she died.

[Andro]

People go under general anesthetic every day for major operations without mishap. Surely an excecution is easier to carry out than complex heart surgery.

Heart surgery (or any other op done under GA) has an anesthetist in charge of sedating the patient; meds are calibrated to the size/weight of the patient in question and there is a great deal of attention to detail. Even with all that, it sometimes doesn't work and the patient remains aware of what is happening and in horrific pain.

Executions are botch jobs (in my opinion) - they can get neither the drugs nor the medical supervision - doctors are banned under AMA guidelines form participating directly or indirectly - to do the job 'properly'. A bullet straight between the eyes or into the brain stem would be more humane than an untried drug cocktail.

With all that said, I am completely against the death penalty and believe it should be abolished world wide.

[Woobeedoo]

But then surely it could be argued that the person who administers the bolt to the back of the prisoners head is by default a murderer?

[FrankelandFilly]

The issue with shooting someone is the trauma to the person pulling the trigger. Isn't that one of the reasons the Nazi's came up with the gas chambers, because the soldiers were psychologically affected by shooting people? I could be wrong of course.

[ToffeeMoon]

I'm not in favour of capital punishment at all. But when you read what he did to his victim, it's kind of hard to care.

[PostHocErgoPropterHoc]

I think it's more the drug companies won't sell to them because they don't agree with the death penalty. The drugs are available for other uses.

[LaurieFairyCake]

I think the very fact that ordinary civil servants don't want to kill people at close range shows us that we shouldn't.

Only someone suffering from sociopathy could live with killing another human easily (unless trained like the army)

Which is another reason we do it so shit, we're not killers.

[ReallyTired]

Fenton

The punishement of the death penalty is ending that person's life. Surely you aren't in favour of torture? Do you want people burnt at the stake or hung drawn and quartered. Or should people be stoned to death like Iran?

If you are going to use the death penalty then surely it should be quick and humane. The punishment is the person losing their life, its not being made to suffer extreme pain.

I would prefer if the US didn't have the death penalty, but they are a democracy and its their right to punish felons as they see fit.

[Woobeedoo]

No, it was so they could murder large numbers of people quickly.

[IdkickJilliansAss]

I'm very uncomfortable with the idea of the death penalty but can't be sure that I wouldnt have been pleased he suffered if he'd done what he did to my child, hopefully i'll never have cause to know for sure