The death penalty

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I sure we have all seen the news about the prisoner being executed by nitrogen gas. My personal opinion is on balance I do not agree with the death penalty. Not for religious or moral reasons but simply I would rather see 99 people that you may well think disserve to die because of the crimes they have committed spend the rest of there life in prison. Than the one innocent but convicted person put to death wrongly. also if I understand correctly Nitrogen gas is inert that is to say it has no effect when breathed in,It mealy replaces the oxygen in air. So if all that was available to breath had no oxygen you would lose consciousnesses very quickly and irreparable brain damage would follow shortly after followed by death.

If the national finances can bear it

I read that two and it sounded terrible witch is why I wondered it anyone understood the mechanism of action, because with my limited understanding of the prosses I would have thought it would have been painless.

I'm on the fence about it. I don't believe in any higher power or regard human life with any more value than an ant's, so from a purely utilitarian perspective; if the perp is damaging society in a way that isn't worth trying to fix (i.e. a fundamental mental condition that makes them more likely to commit crimes), then I say out they go.

not to say there isn't value in rehab. there just have to be guidelines for when someone's worth keeping alive

I think from an ethical/moral standpoint, killing another human being is wrong. The criminal justice system we inherited is archaic anyway, often relying on eyewitness testimony and tends more to be punitive rather than rehabilitative. Prisons are therefore permit abuse or exploitation of prisoners which is also wrong.

If somebody has committed a heinous crime the knee jerk reaction is to call for "justice". Usually "justice" means retribution or an "eye for an eye". As a society we can do better.

Coming up with new ways to execute people makes the US little better than Saudi Arabia.

humans are not logical creatures. if the average person's family was murdered, they would probably wish death on the murderer as well. that's what our justice system stems from, and humans haven't really evolved from that urge for personal justice

Yes. The law is a mix of notions from different eras.

Punishment, and out right vengence. Eye for an eye.

Then the Quakers brought religion into and it became "doing penitence" (that why they call big prisons "penitentiaries".

That paved the way for the secular notions of "rehabilitation".

Scandanavian countries seem to be able to have pure and real rehabilitation.

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But if you're gonna have the death penality its not obvious what the most humane method is.

Though its thought of as an archaic and brutal method the guillotine was the first modern form of execution. Invented in Germany but named after the French doctor who advocated its use in the 18th century (when they began think about humane was to do it). Its ...cruel to folks witnessing it...but its was a big improvement over all of the Middle Ages techniques before it.

The used to hire a "headsmen" ...a big dude wielding a big axe...to chop off your head... and he would probably miss the mark five times before cut perfectly on the dotted line of your neck...damaging you severely before the "main event" even happned.

Using a machine to direct the weighted blade right down to the right line on your neck was...a pretty good way to just take of business rapidly and cleanly.

Youd prolly be conscious for a few seconds...after the chop...but it would then be "lights out".

Its still probably better than electrocution or other even more modern methods.

I am strongly opposed to the death penalty.

I thought Nitrogen gas was a painless means of execution which is why I was surprised to read the accounts of this mans death. As I said earlier I am on balance agents the death penalty. While at a very low ebb once I researched "painless ways to end your life" Nitrogen and helium were both mentioned. And I would agree that if you do have the death penalty and I live in the UK so we don't it should be as humane as possible.

Well, it's either we all become serial murderers by proxy (vis., Cpital Punishment) or dom dungeon masters by proxy (vis. Life in Prison Without Parole).