Death row inmate picks facing firing squad over electric chair

[kenny]

UGH! I can't even imagine the experience he will have.

And why do state employees have to shoot the guns?
Why can a machine do the dirty deed?
Those poor employees could be scarred for life and get triggered every time they see a gun on films and TV.

A South Carolina death row inmate picks a firing squad over the electric chair

Richard Bernard Moore is the first prisoner in South Carolina to face the choice of execution methods since the state made electrocution the default and gave inmates the option to face rifles instead.

www.npr.org

 

[LilAlex]

Barbaric but seems like more of a known quantity than "the chair," tbh. Plenty of criminals live with the constant threat of death by firearms -- I am sure it is less of a fear of the unknown. (P.S. Not an advocate for either; US is the only high-income, high(ish) human rights nation that still does this and I think it matters that we are an outlier, even if it no longer offends many of us.)

 

[yssie]

Guaranteed to be quick and painless. Zero risk of a botched performance. Far less expensive. No objections here. The injection is nicer for everyone watching, but I’ve read a few stories about, well, not so much for the person actually being executed…

Edit: I want to add that I think people have to perform the execution. If we are going to claim to be able to end a person’s life ethically and responsibly, then we owe it to that person to not remove the last vestige of humanity from the process. I imagine ending a person’s life by shooting him or her is exactly as traumatic to both do and watch as we (who allow it) deserve.

 

[AprilBaby]

I think being shot hurts less than electric chair especially if they botch it. I would choose the same.

 

[missy]

I won't comment either way pro or con death penalty but to say one word about this comment.

"Moore's supporters have argued that his crime doesn't rise to the level of a death penalty offense."

Really???


Somehow James Mahoney ended up dead by the hands of Richard Bernard Moore. If not for Richard Bernard Moore this man would not have died that day.
So who is responsible?

This was not his first offense. Not by far. He left a wake of victims in his path. He had chance after chance. Mr Mahoney had no chance. His other victims had no chance.

Do I feel sorry for Moore? No. I do not.
Do I feel sorry for those who must carry out these orders? Yes.

To answer Kenny's question he is lucky he gets to choose.
Mahoney and his other victims had no choice.

 

[RetroQT]

To answer Kenny's question he is lucky he gets to choose.
Mahoney and his other victims had no choice.

THIS.

 

[stracci2000]

They should have some sort of lottery to select shooters for a firing squad.
I'm sure that many regular citizens would be more than happy to help end this guy's life.

 

[Ionysis]

Guaranteed to be quick and painless. Zero risk of a botched performance. Far less expensive. No objections here. The injection is nicer for everyone watching, but I’ve read a few stories about, well, not so much for the person actually being executed…

Edit: I want to add that I think people have to perform the execution. If we are going to claim to be able to end a person’s life ethically and responsibly, then we owe it to that person to not remove the last vestige of humanity from the process. I imagine ending a person’s life by shooting him or her is exactly as traumatic to both do and watch as we (who allow it) deserve.

Frankly a machine seems much more sensible for multiple reasons. Perfect aim - centre forehead - dead immediately instead of nervous guys hitting non-lethal areas. Not having to have people take aim and live with the fall out personally. In fact it seems ludicrous to have a “manual” process at all to be honest.

 

[kenny]

They should have some sort of lottery to select shooters for a firing squad.
I'm sure that many regular citizens would be more than happy to help end this guy's life.

FWIW, here's a quote from the article above.
"In the case of a firing squad execution, three volunteer prison workers will train their rifles on the condemned prisoner's heart."

I wonder if, and how, do they make sure these 3 know exactly where the heart is to hasten the death and minimize suffering?
Is there a bullseye on the prisoner's shirt?
And what if one, or more, of the 3 just want to blow the guys head off because he 'deserves' it?
And if they do, is that okay, or would they be fired (pun pardon pls), or guilty of a crime?

I see all this as being so slippery, in a moral way.

I wonder whether there is a harmful psychological effect on the person(s) who pull the trigger.
That's why I suspect it would be better if a machine, rather than a person, pulls the trigger.

 

[Karl_K]

i do not support the death penalty because I do not trust the system to get it right. To many people have been railroaded by zealous prosecutors and there is a good chance an innocent person has been executed for a crime they did not commit.
I dont have a problem with firing squads if the rest of the criminal system were not so broken.

 

[yssie]

i do not support the death penalty because I do not trust the system to get it right. To many people have been railroaded by zealous prosecutors and there is a good chance an innocent person has been executed for a crime they did not commit.
I dont have a problem with firing squads if the rest of the criminal system were not so broken.

100%.

 

[Polished]

When the two Australians were executed in Indonesia for drug smuggling crimes; it was said that there were 12 shooters so that none of them knew whether it was the bullet fired from their gun that caused the death:

"The firing squad, made up of 12 Brimob officers, will be five to 10 metres away and will shoot their M16s when given the order. Only some of the officers will have live rounds so they never know who fires the fatal shot.

Officers are chosen for the firing squad based on their shooting ability and mental and physical fitness."