Absolutely appalled by Kenneth Eugene Smith's execution

[Haunting10]

Appalled is too soft a word. I feel physically sick and angry.

What a sick world we live in.

I am against the death penalty. One person wrongly convicted and sentenced to death is too many. This particular case sounds like torture, and to use what the Nazis used on millions, its just disturbing on so many levels.

I keep thinking about it. But what can we do? I'm in UK, and expect any activism will be happening in US.

What will happen to the state of Alabama? Surely something must be done. This was not human.

Exactly. My dad was assaulted and luckily survived but had he not? I’d gladly be the hand to pull the trigger to the person who hurt him. I’m sure a lot of people would feel the same if their loved one was murdered.

The manner of his execution was inhumane. I know in many ways he deserved all the pain he suffered and I full empathise with the family feeling that his execution is justified but it just isn't the way a civilised society should work. There is zero evidence that the death penalty acts as any kind of deterrent for those kinds of crimes.

Did you mean to be so patronising?😉

Well yes most people would if their loved one was hurt or killed. But that's not really a good basis for the justice system to operate from. The idea that the state can kill people is truly chilling. And believing that does not mean that you have sympathy for murderers

Yes

I didn’t say it was a good basis for the justice system to operate from. It was a theoretical question.

Makes no difference to me. If someone I loved committed a crime like this beyond all doubt, the I would happily enact their punishment.

Nitrogen is not a poisonous gas. 80% of the air we breathe is nitrogen. This sounds suspiciously like death by suffocation.

I am not in favour of the death penalty, but hanging with a proper drop is the most humane IMHO. It breaks the neck.

(Without a proper drop, the victim strangles to death, as many suicide victims have sadly discovered when they used this method to end their own lives.)

I’m not a supporter of the death penalty, but I will reserve my sympathy for the families of Smith’s victims. They deserve some sympathy, Smith deserves none.

The media coverage which tries to portray a brutal murderer as some sort of victim makes me want to puke.

The media coverage which tries to portray a brutal murderer as some sort of victim makes me want to puke.

Same.

I'm more than delighted that justice finally caught up with him and it's a shame he didn't suffer more or at least as much as his victim did.

I'd see them off, quite happily

I see I've stumbled into the Daily Mail comments page.

It's barbaric and has absolutely no place in a civilised society. We've moved on from 'an eye for an eye' as a means of dispensing justice.

Anyone seen The Green Mile? With the primitive first sort of electric chair?
Barbaric. As I think this method must be as well.

Musing that someone would murder a stranger for just $1000, in a state that has the death penalty. Capital punishment clearly wasn’t a deterrent was it?

He was also on Death Row for 36 years. I'd not want to be in prison that long!

The death penalty is wrong.

Although I'd happily make some exceptions - Wayne Couzens would be top of my list.

But that's exactly why we DON'T have it. It should not be state sponsored revenge.

I find that an unconvincing argument. There are a lot of things that we don’t condone private citizens doing, that the state can do with impunity. You can’t fine your neighbour for speeding, but the state can. You can’t imprison someone if they assault you, but the state can. You can’t decide that your neighbour is mistreating their child and ‘abduct’ them for their own good, but the state can. You can’t declare war on a neighbouring country, but the state can, and if you subsequently kill someone fighting for you country, you aren’t seen as a murderer.

I'm against the death penalty purely because I don't see death as a punishment. I'd much rather die then spend the rest of my life in prison. If someone harmed a member of my family I wouldn't want them to have a quick, painless death. We all die, where is the punishment?

Can't get too worked up about this story though.

It’s possible to think that people deserve to forfeit their life and even hope they suffer, while recognising that the state has no business murdering citizens especially given that it will inevitably end up killing innocent citizens while we rely on humans to produce evidence and a jury to convict. Every case seems “clear cut” with overwhelming evidence - until it doesn’t or new evidence comes to light. And then that one wasn’t clear cut but of course these ones are all clear cut. Until it transpires that one of those want clear cut either. Etc etc

Keeping a prisoner on death row for 36 years is extremely expensive. Prevention is cheaper!

He was supposed to spend a life in prison but it was a judge who deemed him worthy of a death penalty. One man condemned him to death. The state tried to kill him and failed. He spent 30 years in prison? The man who hired him killed himself (got off easily).
One man should be allowed to decide if someone lives or dies. It should be a jury of peers.

I agree with the death penalty on principle because I think it's a proportionate punishment for murder. But I disagree with the death penalty overall because even if only one person is wrongly executed,
that's one too
many.

*one man should not be allowed

@BarelyLiterate

i think the coverage is more asking why a supposed civilised 21st century democracy is doing such medieval shit, rather than sympathy for the killer.

Yeah this is pretty much where I fall on this. I have no moral objections to a murderer being put to death but I don’t support the death penalty because of the logistical issues implementing it.