Public hangings

[cjk374]

I am sitting here at my dad's house, watching "Bandolero" on TV. I just saw the scene where they were about to have a hanging, but the potential hangers escaped. Many people (not experts in any field except solving the world's problems over a cup of coffee or a cold beer) have said that if public hangings were brought back, crime would be greatly reduced. So I got to thinking...if hangings were made legal & commonplace again,  would you want to witness the event upclose, live, & in person?

[1995hoo]

[Brandon]

No.  Personally, I'll go with the jurisdiction of my birth (Michigan) and agree that all executions are a bad idea.  They haven't executed anyone (made it illegal within the territory, then state) since the early 1830s.

[oscar]

No. Changing the method of execution from the current unreliable system is one thing, but making a public spectacle of executions (which we gave up long ago) would be going too far.

[on_wisconsin]

No. Abolish capitol punishment altogether.

[1995hoo]

My inclination is to answer "no" and to give that answer as to any form of execution, but of course if someone I know were killed (say, had a family member been involved in yesterday's debacle in Charlottesville and been run down by that nut in the car), I can't say whether I might feel differently then. I go back and forth on what I think of the death penalty at all, but even if I were to think it might be justified, I find it very hard to imagine having any interest in attending an execution. I watched the video of Saddam Hussein being hanged and afterwards I wondered why I'd watched it. Seeing it didn't give me any kind of satisfaction or the like.

[J N Winkler]

Spectators filming executions was one of the main reasons the French stopped public executions by guillotine in the late 1930's, though they did not abandon the death penalty until about 1980.  I really don't see public executions returning now that miniaturized cameras in smartphones, smart glasses, etc. have made photo and video bans much more difficult to enforce.  Execution after due process and before officials and invited witnesses only has also assumed more importance as a differentiator between us and groups like the Taliban and ISIS that use video clips of beheadings as tools for propaganda and terror.

[bing101]

Spectators filming executions was one of the main reasons the French stopped public executions by guillotine in the late 1930's, though they did not abandon the death penalty until about 1980.  I really don't see public executions returning now that miniaturized cameras in smartphones, smart glasses, etc. have made photo and video bans much more difficult to enforce.  Execution after due process and before officials and invited witnesses only has also assumed more importance as a differentiator between us and groups like the Taliban and ISIS that use video clips of beheadings as tools for propaganda and terror.

True and too political for this board.

[bugo]

I'm against the death penalty, but probably not for the reasons you might think. I find it far too humane. I would rather see a monster who did something horrible and has no remorse for what he has done to rot in prison for the rest of his life so he can think long and hard for what he has done. Executing prisoners puts them out of their misery. Let them sit in a cage. Let them drop the soap. Let them suffer as their victims did.

[bing101]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/02/philippines-president-duterte-drugs-war-death-squads

I remember watching this on the various talks on this where some experts argue that Human rights violations and Crimes against humanity could be given if ones law enforcement and government officials choose summary executions and capital punishment  the event cited here is the Davao death squads killing people they accuse of various crimes.

Note im my own hypocrite here but there are better responses here.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-okay-to-punch-a-sex-offender-Im-in-the-great-state-of-Texas

https://www.quora.com/Why-cant-we-summarily-execute-gang-members-for-their-involvement-in-the-gang

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I support public hanging of corrupt politicians .

Now seriously, I'm totally against any form of death penalty.

[jp the roadgeek]

Public hangings shouldn't be allowed, unless it's someone who is an enemy of the state who is despised by (almost) all.  As for the death penalty, I think it should be allowed in extreme circumstances involving multiple murders, the murder of law enforcement officials, or the murder of those under 16.  What needs to happen for it to be effective is the streamlining of the appeals process.  The biggest issue is that the convicted might die of old age before the process runs its course.  I just can't see my tax dollars going to house, feed, and provide medical care for life for these people, while the families of the victims are left to suffer. 

[1995hoo]

Public hangings shouldn't be allowed, unless it's someone who is an enemy of the state who is despised by (almost) all.  As for the death penalty, I think it should be allowed in extreme circumstances involving multiple murders, the murder of law enforcement officials, or the murder of those under 16.  What needs to happen for it to be effective is the streamlining of the appeals process.  The biggest issue is that the convicted might die of old age before the process runs its course.  I just can't see my tax dollars going to house, feed, and provide medical care for life for these people, while the families of the victims are left to suffer. 

It's funny, this is one area where I support allowing all the appeals regardless of the fact that there are bound to be many frivolous ones. The reason? Because it's the one penalty you can't go back and change once you've carried it out. If there is any possibility someone has been wrongfully sentenced to death row–and obviously we've all seen news reports where new evidence, or evidence that could only be analyzed after advances in technology (DNA being the best example), proved someone had been wrongly sentenced–then I think it's important to allow for the appeals.

And yes, I realize that imposes a cost on the taxpayers. That cost should be one of the things weighed in deciding whether capital punishment should remain in force.

[bandit957]

Probably not, because my approach to criminal justice is based on the "Hubba Bubba rule." In my day, commercials for Hubba Bubba bubble gum were set in the Old West, and the hero of the ads was this Western cowboy type known as the Gum Fighter. This character wouldn't carry out any punishment unless it was completely fair.

I'm sure the Gum Fighter would have little tolerance for serious crime in his town, but as a man of justice and decency, he probably would not consider an execution to be public entertainment.

[bing101]

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/912076/3rd-man-linked-to-bulacan-massacre-found-dead

Well there have been recent bloodbaths in the Philippines though and each time the supposed murderer claimed that he killed that person because according to the killer or hit man that the person was a criminal and needed to be exterminated. I'm not sure how you verify this but all it did is make the murderers more insane than even the original victims. I heard of stuff about vigilantes carrying out executions and they ended up more insane than the original victims of the target.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/13/what-happened-in-charlottesville-is-all-too-american-215482

For the United States though if Public executions came back then reminders of the Holocaust or reminders of Jim Crow will be in the talking points.

[hbelkins]

I am in favor of capital punishment for premeditated murder, killing a public servant (police officer, firefighter, EMT, etc.) and a few other crimes. I don't buy into the argument that it's state-sanctioned killing. The person being executed forfeited their right to live in a civil society when they committed crimes that society has deemed worthy of death.

I don't think I would attend a public execution. Several years ago, when I was a newspaper editor, an execution was scheduled for one of that community's most notorious criminals (shot and killed two police officers who were trying to serve some paperwork on him.) I was in line to attend as a member of the media from the place where the crime occurred, but there was a stay due to an appeal. The guy still hasn't been executed; he keeps playing out the clock. Now he's claiming that lethal injection is cruel and unusual. If we can put a dog or cat to sleep with a syringe full of pink stuff, then we can put a criminal to sleep.

[SSOWorld]

Political topics discouraged - this one's bound to get hot.  Sorry. Locking.  --sso