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Arkansas execution: Judge orders post-mortem


Still Waters

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A judge has ordered a post-mortem exam on the body of a man executed by lethal injection who was reportedly in pain during his final moments.

District Judge Kristine Baker's order came hours after Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson dismissed calls for an in-depth review.

Kenneth Williams, the fourth prisoner executed in eight days, convulsed and groaned, witnesses said.

His lawyers described his death on Thursday as "horrifying".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39757031

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OK... I can see the logic of it. But...as a headline.... "Post Mortem on executed criminal..."; it just SOUNDS bizarre. 

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Movie... Robert Downing Jr., switches vials of chemicals intended for prisoner to be exocuted so he would die in the most painful fashion...

What was that movie??

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This may sound cruel, but what does it matter if he was awake and aware and his death was horrifying? I'm sure the people he killed were equally awake and aware, and their deaths were equally horrifying, if not more so.

When he killed his first victim he knew that if he were to be caught he could receive the death penalty, but that didn't stop him. Then he escapes and kills again? I say justice was served on this one.

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Ok, how about we return to the electric chair, gas chamber or simply hanging?

I'm not a cruel person but dangerous murderers need to be removed in one way or another.

 

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4 minutes ago, Lilly said:

Ok, how about we return to the electric chair, gas chamber or simply hanging?

I'm not a cruel person but dangerous murderers need to be removed in one way or another.

 

You missed one. Firing squad. If they are guilty of murder it's usually shooting someone. Turnabout is a fair play and it's more cost effective. 

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I marvel at the cognitive dissonance that can be maintained by some folks.  People I love and respect, who proclaim themselves Pro-Life, yet are also fervent supporters of the death penalty and are Pro-War... when it's 'justified'.  (disclaimer:* I'm not assuming this about any of you who've responded already here, I'm sharing an observation based on my previous experience and many deep conversations with family and friends whom I love dearly who hold this odd position). 

 

I just can no longer reconcile it in my own self... how one can consider themselves to be be Pro-Life while also being pro-death penalty and pro-war?  It is incongruous to me. 

I no longer create space for that kind of punishment in my world, though at one time I did, just as I gloried in the stories of war... and then realization struck like vajra and the crux of it it boiled down to one concept... justified.  When humans feel justified, they will commit the most unspeakable atrocities and can even convince themselves they are doing 'good'.  In fact, these actions of death and horror, once justified in the mind, become not only a moral responsibility, but an obligation.

It's a terrifying slope into the darkest aspects of human behavior.

 

Isolate and prevent those who cause harm, but do not create and heap more misery and more harm under the pretense of being 'justified'. 

 

We have only so much energy in life.  We can use it to heal or harm.  I will not tolerate violence and will use it in the most reserved manner possible... and once the perpetrator is subdued, then my energy is spent entirely on healing those involved, even the perpetrator.

Isolate the perpetrators of horror, but then, when they are safely isolated, what is achieved in heaping more abuse and violence on already broken souls?  Justice?  pfft.  Not to me, it's sadistic and to me exemplifies how the ones claiming to bring justice are in actuality mimicking the very thing they are claiming to try and stamp out...   *cough cough, holy wars... bringing democracy to the middle east*cough

 

Reminds me of an old saying:  Be careful what you allow yourself to hate... you will come to emulate it.   As you lash out to destroy what you hate, because you are 'justified' you will one day find you look and act just like it.

Edited by quiXilver
to clarify a point in last sentences
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I always scratch my head a bit over the problems with the death chemicals for human executions. We have the chemicals and know how to use them to humanely euthanize our animals, and we know how easy it can be to lose someone while under anesthesia and they are unconscious. We even know what cocktail to use for assisted suicide. But we can't seem to figure out how to use that information effectively in executions? I don't get it.

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All these overly complicated methods of execution like lethal injection were brought about to somehow make it clinical, like a simple medical procedure. This backfired badly last year when there were cases of improper chemical mixtures resulting in agonizing deaths. In that case a cruder method would have been more merciful.

What they should use is simple nitrogen asphyxiation. It's simple, the condemned just goes to sleep and doesn't wake up, and you just release the nitrogen back into the atmosphere when it's over.

 

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3 hours ago, quiXilver said:

I marvel at the cognitive dissonance that can be maintained by some folks.  People I love and respect, who proclaim themselves Pro-Life, yet are also fervent supporters of the death penalty and are Pro-War... when it's 'justified'.  (disclaimer:* I'm not assuming this about any of you who've responded already here, I'm sharing an observation based on my previous experience and many deep conversations with family and friends whom I love dearly who hold this odd position). 

 

I just can no longer reconcile it in my own self... how one can consider themselves to be be Pro-Life while also being pro-death penalty and pro-war?  It is incongruous to me. 

.....

By "Pro-Life", I'm assuming you mean the debate on abortion ? 

Perhaps they regard it as an issue of "choice" ? A murder has a choice to murder, or not. Governments have a choice of going to war, or not. Unborn babies - on   the other hand -  don't have much choice in the matter ? A similar differentiation can be made on the basis of "awareness"; the murderer - in order to be executed - must be deemed to be aware of his actions and consequences, and the concept of "wrong". Again, this does not apply in the case of a Baby. (so far as we know ? ).

It's not an opinion that I necessarily subscribe to, but I CAN differentiate between the three scenarios ? 

Edited by RoofGardener
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3 hours ago, Future ghost said:

This may sound cruel, but what does it matter if he was awake and aware and his death was horrifying? I'm sure the people he killed were equally awake and aware, and their deaths were equally horrifying, if not more so.

When he killed his first victim he knew that if he were to be caught he could receive the death penalty, but that didn't stop him. Then he escapes and kills again? I say justice was served on this one.

Well kinda for a couple of reasons, my biggest concern being precedent. Im against the death penalty to begin with, our legal system is entirely too broken to trust it to make the decision to end a human being's life, so for us to be OK with causing suffering for someone convicted of a crime is a really horrifying  thought. 

 

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