South Carolina legislators approve execution by firing squad

That ship has sailed a while back.

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This is pure science fiction, but if there was a way that those advocating for and instigating capital punishment were forced to endure the emotional and physical effects of the condemned during the act, the desire might vanish pretty damned quickly!

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Well it was worse than just the hangman. Being slowly tortured to death, dismembered, disemboweled etc. (1)was part of the ancien regime’s arsenal. Execution was a spectacle of cruelty and dragged out. And they did it a lot. The revolution sought to use the most scientific method then going to get the job done cleanly and quickly.

That it became a symbol of cruelty in English language sources is a propaganda victory (2)by the English on behalf of aristocrats everywhere.

1 read Foucault’s Discipline and punish for a quite vivid description of one such grotesque ritual . He claims the execution rate dropped after the revolution too iirc. They killed toffs which was a problem for the English.

2 https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Pain-Roselyne-Rey/dp/0674399684/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+history+of+pain&qid=1620473955&sr=8-1 again it’s a long time but I cross referenced a source mentioned in this with another history of medical science I read around that time and I think it was a letter written to a Scottish doctor which claimed that a duchess or something’s head was picked up from the basket and blushed after being separated from her body. It was used as an argument about the siting of sensation and nerves scientifically but the English propaganda point was the franchies were less humane than they were. Which was false.

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While I certainly support your ideals, and again, I am 100% against capital punishment, reasons for killing others is one very large spectrum of possibilities, and non fatal interventions are not always possible or the best choice. Of course, if by killing others, you mean executions, ok, cool, please say that.

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I can see where you’re coming from, but consider the executioner/s firing the guns.
The poor folks killing defenseless people are going to need a close eye kept on them and a LOT of emotional support. Still strikes me as being massively inhumane, as someone still has to deal with the guilt of ending a human life.

But I’m a lefty Brit who finds the whole idea of the death penalty barbaric in the first place.

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Bit grizzly but:

The captive bolt gun doesn’t kill the animal. It stuns it. The animal is killed by slitting it’s throat and bleeding it out.

The captive bolt gun is more about making the animal easier to handle. And making the process sound cleaner and nicer. There’s a whole lot of indications that it’s a lot less humane, than just cutting their throat.

Point being that like with execution. The impact on the subject isn’t really the concern. It tends to be about efficiency, public perception, and to some extent the well being (or willingness) of the person doing the killing.

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There are 3 drugs given in sequence. The anesthesia drug is given first. However, that’s the drug that is hardest to come by because it’s specified by law. Many companies and pharmacies don’t want their name associated with execution (even if they don’t object to executions), so they refuse to supply it.

The second drug is a paralytic. More readily available.

The last drug is KCl. Available at any supermarket in salt substitutes. That is the drug intended to kill by stopping the heart.

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Who’s going to be running the execution live-stream channel?

(Because there is no bottom.)

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They’re doing a raffle. The winner gets to pull the trigger. Because there really is no bottom.

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Would that be on Bring Your Own Gun Day?

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You know the people entering the raffle have a special gun set aside just for that very purpose.

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But I believe that the method is to shoot the person in the chest so that they bleed to death. Because in the end, the process chosen for execution is more about the sensibilities of those ordering it and doing it rather than minimizing pain for the recipient. Guillotine is probably less painful (although NOT instant) and that is NOT going to be approved.

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Fun fact, this is actually a myth also. Guillotines often failed on the first attempt, needing to be raised and dropped again. They were unbelievably torturous, gruesome things. It’s also likely that brain death is not instantaneous from it, though I haven’t seen all the research on that aspect. (Not saying you were condoning guillotines, this was just a good cue to share some research I once did on them)

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Just got here, Friday was busy at work. I read through about the first 70 comments and didn’t see it at all, so here’s my take when I saw this.

Looks to me like South Carolina is getting ready to deal with the treasonous insurrectionists from January. OK, I know, but one can hope, right?

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Remember, if you’re not being ‘tough on crime’ you’ve squandered ammo for future talking points.

If only someone (like I don’t know, voters) would see the insanity, and see how much cheaper and humane it is to work on methods to rehabilitate, or towards proven measures that prevent crime.

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Currently only about 40% of Americans support capital punishment.

And that’s continuing to shrink.

As with a lot of things the GOP isn’t all that interested in reflecting the desires of voters or the public in general. There’s a reason they’re publicly and aggressively arguing in favor of minority rule.

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Well, learn something new every day…

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What makes you think you will be shot with more competence than a lethal injection, gas chamber or electric chair? They don’t get the best and brightest to execute people for a living.

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Obligatory

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They will probably drug the convicts before facing the firing squad as well to make them compliant. The IS allegedly do the same before cutting off someone’s head on video in order to not ruin the show. Great minds think alike.

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