Live data from Hacker News

South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

bbc.com

31–40 of 68 posts

Re: South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I could pick a way to go, it'd be getting trashed on some delicious liquor, passing out, and then just having someone drop a large concrete block on me from a notable height.

I'd adjust that to hard liquor, then a general anaesthetic on top to be sure, then the brick and a firing squad after the brick.

[deleted]

Re: South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly think I’d be pro-death penalty in a world where 100% of the sentences are accurate. But that’s not the world we live in so I’m 100% opposed.

Basically this. I have no objections to offing people who have offed others, but I cannot reconcile the death penalty with lack of trust in government. If they make simple mistakes then they cannot be trusted to implement the death penalty with 100% certainty.

You could also make a case for "death penalty, but never to be used on those who maintain their innocence."

But that pretty much falls apart when you look at the whole cash bail situation, and all of the ways that system incentivizes the innocent to cut deals for guilty pleas.

Re: South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

#34
I'm with others in that I think the death penalty needs to go away.

If we assume it has to stay, why wouldn't they just do something like carbon monoxide poisoning, morphine overdose, or sleeping pills + blood letting (no idea if there's an official term for draining blood to the point of death)? They all seem to be far more humane than a firing squad...

Re: South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

#35
post #2

Death by firing squad is relatively humane (especially in comparison to electrocution), so if you really need to have capital punishment and your options are electrocution and firing squad, the choice is pretty clear. I think the reason executions moved away from firing squad was that it was mentally taxing of the people in the firing squad, not because the alternatives were more humane.

The good old binary. Let's just assume we _have_ to kill someone. We just have too. Now let's assume there are two ways to kill people. Nice. Gotta shoot em is the right answer.

Correct. The right answer is obviously a guillotine. The real humane way to solve this binary problem

Re: South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

#37
post #5

If I had to choose between injection, electrocution, and firing squad, the latter sounds the least stressful/scary.

I'd rather live, but if I had to exit early, the only thing I'd ask for is to be extended the courtesy of doing it myself.

I'd much rather we didn't make it a habit of forcefully ending sapient lives, though. It's an awfully arrogant thing to do. We can do better.

Re: South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

#38
post #18

> its supporters say it is about bringing closure to victims. Wat. Killing someone brings closure? Since when?

If someone did horrible, unspeakable things to a loved one of mine and the police caught them before I did, I would want them killed. I understand that not everyone thinks that way, but there are plenty of people in my region of the country who do.

Re: South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

#39

This is a cruelly ironic development against the backdrop of the major DNA news in another capital case today—a potentially innocent man put to death. There is no do-over or undo, no fixing mistakes, when the death penalty is in play. The death penalty is barbaric and indefensible. The so-called criminal justice system is criminally unjust, and abolishing the death penalty is a good start towards reform (one among ma…

Since we have DNA evidence now, does this mean we should expect less mistakes in the future? If this is the case, abolishing death penalty may be in the wrong direction.

Instead of abolishing death penalty, how about raise the bar for the evidence? For example, how about death penalty only for those having clear video / DNA evidence?

Post reply on HN