Apparently, It Has To Be Both Cruel AND Unusual

[Perknose]

In a 5-to-4 decision that revealed fault lines and considerable friction over the use of the death penalty, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a death row inmate in Missouri may be executed by lethal injection notwithstanding a rare medical condition that he says will cause excruciating pain.

When does the execution of a prisoner cross a line and become “cruel and unusual”? In the strange world of the US death penalty, that is an all-important legal question. The US constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishments, but condemned prisoners seeking relief have to prove their executions meet this definition, as opposed to just being “painful”.

This week the US supreme court handed down a ruling that sought to clarify what manner of execution would meet constitutional standards of cruelty and unusualness. The court’s answer? Disembowelling.

^^^ We are an ugly and primitive country.

 

[UNCjigga]

I, for one, am looking forward to public beheadings. I really think it would paint us differently than all these Muslim majority countries we loathe, since our beheadings would be affirmed as not "cruel and unusual" by a duly appointed Supreme Court.

 

[Jaskalas]

Who knew ODing people on a sedative was so impossible, as to require all this hand wringing over how properly and painlessly execute someone.

 

[UNCjigga]

Who knew ODing people on a sedative was so impossible, as to require all this hand wringing over how properly and painlessly execute someone.

I'm sure the Sackler family would be happy to pivot Purdue Pharma into being the exclusive provider of lethal injection drugs for a number of states. Now if only they had a good marketing department...

 

[sdifox]

Why not just morphine od?

 

[Indus]

I, for one, am looking forward to public beheadings. I really think it would paint us differently than all these Muslim majority countries we loathe, since our beheadings would be affirmed as not "cruel and unusual" by a duly appointed Supreme Court.

Oy vey. Beheading if done right is not cruel since it is fast.. example guillotine or the saudi state executioners.

However that is a far cry from reality of how it is done in reality with entities like ISIS.

 

[K1052]

The government should not be entrusted with the ability to impose capital punishment.

 

[dainthomas]

Oy vey. Beheading if done right is not cruel since it is fast.. example guillotine or the saudi state executioners.

However that is a far cry from reality of how it is done in reality with entities like ISIS.

I listened to a podcast once where they were talking about how the brain maintains consciousness for a period of time post-decapitation. Might only have been several seconds, but still pretty crazy.

 

[whm1974]

Why not just morphine od?

Yes seriously. Executions should be rare, quick, and painless.

 

[blackangst1]

We need to get rid of this barbaric "punishment".

 

[herm0016]

seems like they are applying caselaw and history as its written. its up to congress to change the laws, not the court.

 

[WelshBloke]

Why not just morphine od?

Yeah, or just use nitrogen in a gas chamber.
Or both. Knock them out with opiates then give them pure nitrogen to breath until all brain activity has stopped.

That's cheap, painless and gives an absolutely certain outcome.

 

[Moonbeam]

seems like they are applying caselaw and history as its written. its up to congress to change the laws, not the court.

If so then it's hard to explain how that goes one way in the case of a Muslim and a different way in the case of a Buddhist.

In my opinion the so called judicial temperament where cases are decided impartially is a fiction. The Supreme Court became the Supreme Coup with it ruled for Bush over Gore. There is no doubt in my mind that the majority in that election went to the poles to vote for Gore over Bush. They, and their vote for money is speech and corporations are people, killed our democracy and sent the world against us.

 

[Indus]

I listened to a podcast once where they were talking about how the brain maintains consciousness for a period of time post-decapitation. Might only have been several seconds, but still pretty crazy.

Yes, but a few seconds is way better than writhing in pain and feeling your insides burning for minutes with lethal injection or bleeding out after execution by gunshot.

 

[brycejones]

seems like they are applying caselaw and history as its written. its up to congress to change the laws, not the court.

Deciding what is cruel and unusual punishment is solely the courts purview since it is interpreting the constitution.

 

[Moonbeam]

I see the death penalty issue very much like I see the 'what to do about conservatives' issue. Are they evil because they are inherently evil or are they evil due to ignorance and exposure to violence as children? Can they be redeemed or are they irreparable? Do enough people really care?

Most people have the mental acumen to understand they don't want to be murdered, but not so many can see that societies can die from ideological insanity. This is why, I think, there is more sympathy for the death penalty for murders than for political extremism.

So what to do about murder which had ancient historical roots. You have to prevent further abuse and in a primitive society, one with insufficient social organization to pay taxes and have jails, execution is the obvious and proper ticket. You can't let murderers run abound lose who enjoy killing people, ergo, bye bye.

But in a modern society like our own, with all our backward traditions still with us and God only knows why, because we certainly don't have the sense to fix them we really no longer need the death penalty. We can separate dangerous people from society, and those that can be redeemed will do so in relation to the opportunity offered for that to happen. The rest will stay in jail.

With the murder issue solved by social isolation, we can move on to another kind of redemption. What do we do with conservatives who threaten to put reason and logic to bed when they vote. Same issue. We can't allow the mentally disturbed to run around and create chaos and misery for healthy people. And they need to be careful too, because they are the ones that love the traditions of executions. Best we let go of that bag of tools, eh?

 

[Moonbeam]

Deciding what is cruel and unusual punishment is solely the courts purview since is interpreting the constitution.

The problem I see is that with ordinary people, cruel is what I'd call usual. There's not much unusual about it.

 

[umbrella39]

I, for one, am looking forward to public beheadings. I really think it would paint us differently than all these Muslim majority countries we loathe, since our beheadings would be affirmed as not "cruel and unusual" by a duly appointed Supreme Court.

Too barbaric. We are better than that. Fusillade is the way to go. Blindfold. Cigarette. Whole 9 yards. Start with the HMIC to send a message to America hating fucks in this country... The supreme punishment for treason... Sotomayer has it right in Arthur v. Dunn ...

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

In before the "pro lifers" condemn the death penalty.

 

[brycejones]

In before the "pro lifers" condemn the death penalty.

Any minute now they will be posting.

 

[UglyCasanova]

I’ve come to disagree with the concept of capital punishment more and more as I grow older simply because I recognize our judicial system as being corrupt and that our government is incompetent at damned near anything it tries to do so mistakes are inevitable. But if we are going to execute people I don’t understand why it has to be this damned complicated. A firing squad works nor is it cruel or unusual. Or strap explosives to them and blow them up. No pain and instant death, instead our incompetent government comes up with a cocktail of drugs they have a hard time acquiring and it becomes this insane ordeal. If you are going to kill them, then simply kill them.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Heh. I wonder how opinions might change here the moment you have something happen personally like a daughter being raped + murdered.

Something tells me people here might start backtracking awfully quick.

 

[UglyCasanova]

I get it, and if my daughter was murdered they wouldn’t even get a trial because I’d kill the perp myself and just deal with whatever consequences there might be. And if we can absolutely be sure the person is guilty then I’m fine with it.

 

[Indus]

Heh. I wonder how opinions might change here the moment you have something happen personally like a daughter being raped + murdered.

Something tells me people here might start backtracking awfully quick.

Idiot. Trying to Dukakis peeps?

 

[UglyCasanova]

Idiot.

Is that necessary?