I am against the death penalty but have a mixed opinion about having public executions. While on the one hand it might make things coarser and raise the blood lust of society it also might shock people more to the nature of the death penalty. This image of a public execution shocked the American public and contributed to the end of the Vietnam war. If we are going to have a public execution people need to consider what affect it will be to either see a condemned prisoner shaking with fear and remorse as poison is run through their veins or in the case of Timothy McVeigh sitting in defiance until the end.
You seem to think that, because I don't think the State should be able to kill people, I want to coddle serial killers. That isn't the case. It would be best to pity the twisted types that kill for pleasure and to forgive the ones who've done something terrible and will have to live with it for their entire life.
payper view it? or maybe just go new age, and create your own execution channel where only a certain demographic gets the channel. We can bring back stoning or crucifixion ooohhh better idea...impalement!
I'm partial to drawn and quartering. But if it's sweeps season, nothing beat a good ol' Man v. Bear fight.
Of course this means people watching this from the comfort of their homes. Any man who has seen a public execution in real life would not have the ludicrous notion that it brings closure, serves justice or that revenge is a satiable desire. These laws have existed for centuries in many places to no avail. Nothing. At some point you have to stop claiming that it's better for everyone and get to the root of this thing: it is for your own beliefs and not everyone shares your beliefs and certainly not everyone needs to be deterred from crime through witnessing the slaughter of humans as unfortunate animals. Serial killers are insane, mentally unstable. This is understandable. They can be helped maybe. You might execute someone by mistake. You might execute someone who becomes a positive force after rehabilitation. Maybe the problem is not that such people can't be rehabilitated, maybe the problem is that it is fundamentally irrational to expect any sort of rehabilitation with the way we lock these people up in. Sure it sucks to spend money on a person who has committed such a heinous crime, but these people didn't become serial killers in a vaccuum. It is within the environment we sanctioned as a society that they became what they became. Murderers enjoy murder and they consider it a valid solution - how are you different if you are sanctioning public execution? All it would be is the favorite channel of war mongers, murderers, child abusers - generally people who want to murder others to solve their problems. But for a rational person to want to promote public execution of insane human beings under laws enforced by human beings is tremendously disturbing to me. It is not understandable. It takes a special person to think this is even remotely relevant to the topic of justice. Unless you are suffering from some sort of post traumatic stress, it is not normal for you to think this way.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OmJ2snsLxWw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-ceegnWSENQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Eighth amendment; overtly cruel to kill in front of a likely jeering crowd. Nobody not directly related to victims or the jurisdictional press and court systems should need or want to watch another person's death. Unambiguously mean and gross.
Wow, I'm really surprised by the advocation of the death penalty and public execution here. I personally don't believe in "an eye for an eye," but more importantly I think imprisoning someone for the remainder of their life, living with their consequences, is a far worse fate than just death. This is why I believe Adam Lanza (the person behind the school shooting) committed suicide rather than be imprisoned. I just don't see the good public execution would do. As other posters have pointed out not ony will it raise the blood lust in society (if there wasn't enough of that already), it'll also desensitise people to death (although this has already happened significantly). In terms of deferring people from committing death-penalty worthy crimes, I do not think it will, as the death is relatively painless and quick (I believe it is an injection). If people were to be deterred, the guilty would need to endure some form of horrific torture to make them truly consider the consequences of their actions. I can understand that some people want closure, but this is not the right way to go about it. While this is possibly a tad of a hyperbole, I think, socially and culturally the death penalty and public execution regresses us a species. If I recall my high school history classes, public executions were received by most as more of a show to the public than anything else, I have no reason to believe it'd be any different now. This all being said, this is just my opinion and purely subjective.
This is the reality If we start this. . . . eventually it will be more about Ratings than Justice Then we would look to have 'compelling' storylines etc etc etc Rocket River
My opinion was public executions is a good socially moral service to serve as a harsh example of what not to do. Its very draconian but can have good effect. And I always thought American TV and viewers are actually TOO soft or TOO immature about violent imagery. Where other countries can plainly show gore in their news publications, soft stomach America wants it delivered mild. While ironically American citizens still KILL and use DEADLY force WAY more than other countries. So its like I'M OFFENDED I'm NOT to be SUBJECTED to bad displays cuz I'm PRECIOUS.... But when I want to PERFORM something, I DONT want anything IN MY WAY telling me NOT to. BUT - Now I'm getting more on board with NOT giving the perpetrators ANY ATTENTION at all on their acts. I think non-attentive approach and minimizing the "epic" scale level of the crime might actually lessen some of the motivations to do things. There's always that concern that you'd be turning awareness away from things and then people will just do more things outside of radar, but I think putting names all in the news somehow gives some people a sick sense of satisfaction that they were looking for in the first place. (Yes, cue "Morgan Freeman" position)
I actually had this idea while watching the news last night when the kid was hiding in the boat. They were in an hours long standoff because they had no idea what the kid was carrying. Next time, offer a killer on death row the option of doing something good for society and have his sentenced changed to life. And that offer would be to go into a dangerous situation, make an assesment and report back. If he survives, he gets life. Simple.
