Humane executions: are they possible?

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Humane executions: are they possible?

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Which is the most humane method of execution?

Lethal Injection	44%	44% - 54
Hanging	7%	7% - 9
Firing Squad	21%	21% - 26
Electrocution	5%	5% - 7
Lethal Gas e.g. hydrogen cyanide	5%	5% - 7
Hypoxia through the use of nitrogen	14%	14% - 18
Total: 121

2008-01-16 07:28:29

adam1503: Member; +85|6386|Manchester, UK

The BBC wrote:
In the US all executions by lethal injection have been temporarily halted while experts examine whether it is a "humane" form of execution. How does it compare to other forms, and for supporters of capital punishment, is there a more benign method?

The United States is one of 55 countries that practise the death penalty as the ultimate sanction on convicted criminals. But in the majority of US states the procedure is frozen while the Supreme Court decides whether lethal injection is a "cruel and unusual" form of punishment that violates the constitution.

source

Having just watched a documentary on the debate surrounding the humanity behind different methods of execution, I wanted to know whether the BF2S community thought there was such a thing as a humane execution. I know there is currently a debate in the US about whether death by lethal injection constitutes a "humane" execution, because there is a risk of pain to the prisoner, so d you think there are other, more humane ways to execute prisoners?

I think the best way to do it is through Hypoxia using nitrogen gas which causes the person to feel giddy and drunk. If they inhale nitrogen gas through a face mask, they can be unconscious within 15 seconds, and dead in under a minute. Surely this is the most humane method available?

2008-01-16 07:31:58

adam1503: Member; +85|6386|Manchester, UK

cmon, dont vote without explaining your reasoning! This is D&St after all...

2008-01-16 07:38:06

Noobeater: Northern numpty; +194|6445|Boulder, CO

Personally i think that the inhalation of nitrogen gas or another inert gas is the better method listed there as its not painful and they would go out on a literal high. After that I would say firing squad although thats more inhumane for the shooters instead of the person exectued.

EDIT: I believe focus magazine had an 8 page full guide to all the common means of exectution a couple of months ago which i remember as being quite an interesting read.

Last edited by Noobeater (2008-01-16 07:41:50)

2008-01-16 07:40:47

Stingray24: Proud member of the vast right-wing conspiracy; +1,060|6443|The Land of Scott Walker

Pardon me if I have no sympathy for a killer feeling pain ... sounds like the nitrogen method would be the most humane.

2008-01-16 07:45:02

Sydney: 2λчиэλ; +783|6841|Reykjavík, Iceland.

Carbon monoxide poisoning.

Your cells will simply use the CO instead of O2, you won't feel a thing, you will just pass out and eventually your brain will die, along with your body thereafter.

I base this on the fact that people don't notice if, say their exhaust pipe on the car is leaking into it, they won't notice it and eventually just pass out and die. And I've heard from someone else that it's supposed to be painless.

Of course, it's a slow death, so it might be aggravating to wait for the bitter end.

.50 cal to the head would accomplish the same.

2008-01-16 07:45:11

LaidBackNinja: Pony Slaystation; +343|6707|Charlie One Alpha

Nitrogen sounds the most humane... but I'm no doctor.

"If you want a vision of the future, imagine SecuROM slapping your face with its dick -- forever." -George Orwell

2008-01-16 07:49:05

Noobeater: Northern numpty; +194|6445|Boulder, CO

PBAsydney wrote:
Carbon monoxide poisoning.

Your cells will simply use the CO instead of O2, you won't feel a thing, you will just pass out and eventually your brain will die, along with your body thereafter.

I base this on the fact that people don't notice if, say their exhaust pipe on the car is leaking into it, they won't notice it and eventually just pass out and die. And I've heard from someone else that it's supposed to be painless.

Of course, it's a slow death, so it might be aggravating to wait for the bitter end.

.50 cal to the head would accomplish the same.

Nitrogen works the same was as CO2 as would any noble gas, shooting them puts stress on the person who actually shot them.

2008-01-16 07:52:15

Sydney: 2λчиэλ; +783|6841|Reykjavík, Iceland.

Noobeater wrote:
PBAsydney wrote:
Carbon monoxide poisoning.

Your cells will simply use the CO instead of O2, you won't feel a thing, you will just pass out and eventually your brain will die, along with your body thereafter.

I base this on the fact that people don't notice if, say their exhaust pipe on the car is leaking into it, they won't notice it and eventually just pass out and die. And I've heard from someone else that it's supposed to be painless.

Of course, it's a slow death, so it might be aggravating to wait for the bitter end.

.50 cal to the head would accomplish the same.
Nitrogen works the same was as CO2 as would any noble gas, shooting them puts stress on the person who actually shot them.

Not, CO2, CO.

CO2 would be painful suffocating, since the body recognizes it as waste, while CO is similar to O2 and therefore you won't notice.

2008-01-16 07:57:51

KylieTastic: Games, Girls, Guinness; +85|6450|Cambridge, UK

A "Lethal Injection" as being given a mask to breath from that you know will kill you I would think would just instill panic and make pople hold there breath....

If there is an issue with the injection causeing pain then that should be fixed, no reason why they cant give 1 injection to drug you up and knock you out, and then the killer stuff.

2008-01-16 08:00:04

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6151|what

Lethal Injection: Well, it could be painful. There's no way you can ask the deceased, but I think it is the most humane.

Hanging will always have problems. If your neck doesn't break you will then choke to death. And even that is not a certainty. When hanged 3 times, without success, it would be customary to let the prisoner free for fear that God intends the man to live. (doubt thats still in practice now however)

Firing Squad may be painless, but does cause the man who has to fire the guilt of killing. There are plenty of people who will have trouble shooting a blindfolded person, criminal or not. That is why the bullets handed out to the shooters include blanks. The reason being, that the shooter can beleive they have simply fired a blank, and it was another shot which was lethal. Its believed to reduce flinching by individual members of the firing squad, making the execution process more reliable.

Electrocution: watch the Green Mile. Not all electocutions go as planned, and there are cases of very painful deaths.

Lethal Gas or Hypoxia I couldn't comment on though.

One of the methods of execution not mentioned above was that of beheading. If you are unaware of Mary I of Scotlands execution you should read the following:

In Lady Antonia Fraser's biography, Mary Queen of Scots, the author writes that it took two strikes to decapitate Mary: the first blow missed her neck and struck the back of her head, at which point the queen's lips moved (her servants reported they thought she had whispered the words "Sweet Jesus"). The second blow severed the neck, all but a small bit of sinew which the executioner severed by using the axe as a saw.

One Robert Wynkfield recorded a detailed account of the moments leading up to Mary's execution, also describing that it took two strikes to behead the queen. Afterward, the executioner held her head aloft and declared, "God save the Queen." At that moment, the auburn tresses in his hand came apart and the head fell to the ground, revealing that Mary had very short, grey hair.

It has been suggested that it took three strikes to decapitate Mary instead of two.

Another account of the execution thought to be true is that, when the executioner picked up the severed head to show it to those present, it was discovered that Mary was wearing a wig. The headsman was left holding the wig, while the late queen's head rolled on the floor.

2008-01-16 08:01:05

oug: Calmer than you are.; +380|6517|Πάϊ

Wouldn't know. Only tried the firing squad till now.

_ƒ³

2008-01-16 08:01:10

RDMC: Enemy Wheelbarrow Spotted..!!; +736|6563|Area 51

Bullet, he will never see it coming

2008-01-16 08:07:00

Sydney: 2λчиэλ; +783|6841|Reykjavík, Iceland.

TheAussieReaper wrote:
In Lady Antonia Fraser's biography, Mary Queen of Scots, the author writes that it took two strikes to decapitate Mary: the first blow missed her neck and struck the back of her head, at which point the queen's lips moved (her servants reported they thought she had whispered the words "Sweet Jesus"). The second blow severed the neck, all but a small bit of sinew which the executioner severed by using the axe as a saw.

You think that's bad? When Iceland's last catholic bishop was beheaded in 1550 it was such a dull axe that it took multiple swings to get through the neck. He is told to have said "Is it not over yet?" in the middle of the process.

Here's a fictional one I thought of once: Turbocharged car compressed. It squishes you so fast you won't feel a thing.

Last edited by PBAsydney (2008-01-16 08:08:00)

2008-01-16 08:08:46

GunSlinger OIF II: Banned.; +1,860|6642

"humane killing"

lol

2008-01-16 08:12:13

mikeyb118: Evil Overlord; +76|6597|S.C.

Last night I watched the same program. Indeed nitrogen gas is the most efficient method, it causes no suffering to the prisoner and nothing can go wrong. However this is irrelevant to many in the pro Execution lobby. They wish for the convict to suffer as much as possible before death, as long as the method escapes the widespread tag of torture.

2008-01-16 08:18:57

Magpie: international welder....Douchebag Dude, <3 ur mom; +257|6524|Milkystania, yurop

wwjd!

2008-01-16 08:19:50

Sydney: 2λчиэλ; +783|6841|Reykjavík, Iceland.

Magpie wrote:
wwjd!

M60 tbh.

2008-01-16 08:19:58

S3v3N: lolwut?; +685|6516|Montucky

GunSlinger OIF II wrote:
"humane killing"

lol

Tell me about it.

Why should we be humane to somebody that murdered a whole family then ate them (hypothetical)

2008-01-16 08:26:16

Paco_the_Insane: Phorum Phantom; +244|6643|Ohio

Some kind of gas chamber would clearly be the best.

2008-01-16 08:45:02

konfusion: mostly afk; +480|6548|CH/BR - in UK

Lethal injection (ie poison) imo: It will kill you, and you won't be able to panic as much as with the nitrogen (ie holding breath and killing yourself that way)

-konfusion

2008-01-16 08:50:49

adam1503: Member; +85|6386|Manchester, UK

I think the question of whether a prisoner should feel pain during an execution is irrelevant: the whole point of state executions is not to cause the prisoner extreme pain, but just to kill them, to remove them permanently from society. Those who say it is right for a prisoner to die painfully are themselves no better than the criminal: revenge-seeking people intent on inflicting pain and suffering on the prisoner. Im sure they suffer enough by spending months or years on death row in the knowledge that they will one day die by the state, with absolutely no chance of escpe. I cant imagine anything worse than that.

2008-01-16 08:56:42

adam1503: Member; +85|6386|Manchester, UK

konfusion wrote:
Lethal injection (ie poison) imo: It will kill you, and you won't be able to panic as much as with the nitrogen (ie holding breath and killing yourself that way)

-konfusion

I doubt that death by hypoxia would be any more stressful than any other form of execution. The only likely source of distress would be the panic of knowing you were about to be executed: but surely you would feel this with any method. Actually being executed with nitrogen would leave the prisoner feeling euphoric shortly before unconsciousness, infact you can see how a person reacts to hypoxia by going here and watching the clip of him in the decompresion chamber...

2008-01-16 09:05:55

woodrot: I Need A Dump; +25|6728|sunderland england

PBAsydney wrote:
Magpie wrote:
wwjd!
M60 tbh.

WRONG
SA80 BETTER

2008-01-16 09:08:45

Balok77: Member; +28|6146

an eye for an eye and we would all be blind

killing is never justifiable

2008-01-16 09:26:45

AAFCptKabbom: Member; +127|6656|WPB, FL. USA

Inert gas and then nads in a vice - no, that's too humane, hmmm.

Being from Florida I thought "old sparky" was a great deterrent and got the end results needed.

IMHO - Inert gas followed by lethal gas. In the U.S. legal system the person will have many years on death row to come to grips with reality.
I think putting a convicted person to sleep first will remove any legal obstacles of "pain" or "inhumane". btw - don't forget the crime, victim, and family. The convicted person will be given all opportunities to defend themselves and be treated with respect before being put to sleep.

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The BBC wrote:

PBAsydney wrote:

Noobeater wrote:

PBAsydney wrote:

TheAussieReaper wrote:

Magpie wrote:

GunSlinger OIF II wrote:

konfusion wrote:

PBAsydney wrote:

Magpie wrote:

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