This is a proposition that will probably go nowhere

[nadinbrzezinski]

but hey why not

We saw how divided this place got over the Death Penalty... ok... for those who support it... I say, you are the majority of the country, fine.

Lets move the executions, ALL executions to the public square. Henceforth, all TV and Radio programing will be preemted, all convicts will have photos taken before they are executed, and after they are executed, to be published in the paper oh and no more bags over faces. You will be treated to the full horror that an execution can be, even lethal injection.

People are sure they are for it, well folks there is a reason why it was moved behind the walls of prisons... if pro DP proponents are so sure in their believes they will not opose making execution days a holiday day, were you too can take the kids to the town square to watch a good ol' fashioned a hanging. Nor will you mind if we move the execution chambers to the central square where even the youngest can see the state doing its best to keep us safe

After all one argument is that it has a deterrent value, well how can it have a deterrent value when all we see is a very clinical description when we are lucky, but not the deed carried in your and my name?

hey the Saudi Arabians have their beheadings in public and we feigh disgust at it... why do we? We do the same, just behind closed doors, so instead of a sword we use needles... dead is dead and an eye for an eye is an eye for an eye. Now chew on this.. what is the country with the highest exectuion numbers? China... which one is the second nation? the United States... ah culture of life my ass

[unpossibles]

1. I get where you're going

but sadly executions used to be public and kids even went, and most people cheered.

I'd hate to say it, but I don't see that as a deterrent.

My idea: make citizens have to come in and personally pull the switch, randomly selected like jury duty. Sure it's horrible and brutal, but the DP wouldn't last a year.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Sure if that is what it takes

that said, in our society where actual death scares the living daylights off people, public executions will also kill it

There IS a reason why it was moved behind the closed doors of the prisons... the contry was loosing its taste for it.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. That is a great idea

as American citizens it is on us anyway... make them really GET it.

[waiting for hope]

4. Do you think I could set up a

vending operation? I know hot dogs, pretzels and some cappuccino would go great with a beheading...
Great idea, but it goes with the same premise of why they won't show the soldiers who have died or even better yet, tell me how come the fundies are so fervent about saving unborn babies but will do nothing in the interest of helping these children once they are in this world..? It's the "I support this idea but damn if I want it in my backyard" syndrome.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Exactly

and I am sure I can run the coffee and hot chocolate stand. I mean chocoloate, and blood... what can I say in old black and white movies they used Hershey's syrup due to its consistency...

And yes, that is the point... people are so sure that they agree with the death penalty... well witness it, every time. If they don't agree with it, tough shit, they said they agreed with it before now didn't they?

One reason I suspect we have a 60%+ of people who suport it is precisely because it is practiced out of the way, and where they don't have to really thnk about it.

[NaturalHigh]

6. I agree completely.

If we're going to have a real national discussion about this, let's get it out in the open rather than just a quick story by the media.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. and I notice the pro DP people are strangely silent on this

what afraid of watching a good ol' hanging? What about a firing squad? Early in the morning it even has that particular smell of powder that hangs in the air... com'on DP proponets, don't tell me that the bad guys seeing others actually DIE in public will think twice before commiting a crime...

It is deterrent you want right? Well this is the best way... or perchance deterrence is not truly what attracts the darkest corner of the human soul to the DP, but rather revenge, pure and simple, and it feels good to boot, as long as you don't have to actually witness how messy it can be.

[bbinacan]

8. I have mixed feelings on the DP but

in all fairness, if you advocate highlighting the condemned through a public display of his demise then you must do more. Photos, videos, etc. of the ones murdered should be shown too. Is that unreasonable? I eagerly await your reply.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Sure, after all that used to be done

you know when you read the death warrant.. sure have photos of the deceased, no problem... I might draw the line, only if the family objects, to evidence photos, but sure...

By the way, I have declared people who were murdered in quite brutal ways... hell one of them was killed in a very similar way to one of Tookie William's victims, chew on this, the place where this happened the DP was not even an option, for it did not exist in the legal code... so I have seen what the worst in any society can do, and yes at times it is brutal... yet NOBODY even considered pure revenge.

Should we also highlight the fact that many families of murder victims in Death Penalty cases actually beg the court NOT to pursue that as a death penalty case?

My problems with the DP are several

1.- NO deterrent value whatsoever
2.- Every DP case cost on average to investigate and pursue three times as much as any NON DP case
3.- It is applied to poor minorities in an indiscriminate form and number
4.- We may have executed INNOCENT people... and ONE is one too many

And this is purely from what it does to the society

The DP encourages the brutalization of the society, hence why ALL ADVANCED countries don't practice it. Notice we are not among them, and what else are we also lacking that they have? Oh yes a true culture of life where national health care is seen as a right, not a privilege, and where society works for the better good.

[bbinacan]

10. I agree with much of what you

say and I don't think it's a deterrent. I do have a tendancy for the revenge aspect. If Williams had killed a member of my family, I'd won't him killed and not only would I be there, I'd pull the trigger. However in most cases, I think it should be life with no parole. I don't know, if it were televised (with info about those murdered) who knows?

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. People would loose their taste for it

they were loosing their taste in the early part of the last century, why the DP proponents moved it behind the prison walls, that is a historical fact...

[leftofthedial]

11. cable TV

perfect basic cable fodder

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. All channels, cable or not, satellite or not

ALL channels

[leftofthedial]

14. naw, we need a ratings war

between NASCAR and Whack Em All

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. No because then you give an option

and the worst DP proponents will be able to ahem protect the children from a good ol' hanging, not to mention themselves.

Sorry, this is about the amazing hypocrisy... when push comes to shove most folks who approve of the DP do so because they never have to face the reality of an execution. We live in a country where violence is practiced almost as a religion, but where death itself is feared. So seeing a fake death on TV is fine, but seeing soldiers get blown up in Iraq, or a good ol' fashioned hanging is not what most folks truly want to watch. Hell the lethal injection deal, they may actually hear a healthy human being gasping for air and at times it takes too long for the poison to do its job. I can be very graphic, for I know what that cocktail does... not that some of these human beings did not do horrible things, they did... and of course there is always the chance that the person on the table or on the rope was truly not guilty, but all evidence is sealed by judges, care to care my why? Oh yes, the state would not like to be questioned on whether they could have even made a mistake...


I say, they are for it... sure squeamish stomachs and all, MAKE THEM WATCH!

Oh and me, I have seen good deaths and bad deaths, not so violent and very violent... so I don't think this will do much beyond a nightmare or two.

[loyalsister]

16. Alernatively

We could create a system where we have a lottery.
Each time it is discovered that there has been a wrongly convicted person executed, a pro-DP person will participate in a lottery.

[shadowknows69]

17. bad idea

I think there's a significant portion of our population, sadly enough, that would love this. Actually There's a bloodlust about our country that has grown and this may just feed it to a frenzy level. What happens when the sickest minds among us can't get their weekly death rush when we've gotten or deterred all the criminals? It will soon be a capital crime to shoplift.

<edit>

PS I was saying "bad idea" to the concept of public executions in general not the post directly above mine.

[JNelson6563]

18. Let's take it a step further, make it biblical!

Why stop at making executions public? Why not involve entire communities?? That's the way the did it in the good old days when the old testament was being written!

Next time someone acts up, drag 'em to the village square, everybody grab a rock and have at it! Bible-god would approve and it's fun for the whole family!

Julie

[ComerPerro]

19. Hey, just don't show a boob on TV, and you'll have a hit

[NNN0LHI]

20. Forget it. The pickpockets will have a field day

Thats why we had to stop public executions.

Don