Defense attorneys said the use of ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride could cause ‘excruciating suffering’
Utah officials said on Saturday that they are scrapping plans to use an untested lethal drug combination in next month’s planned execution of a man in a 1998 murder case. They will instead seek out a drug that’s been used previously in executions in numerous states.
Defense attorneys for Taberon Dave Honie, 49, had sued in state court to stop the use of the drug combination, saying it could cause the defendant “excruciating suffering”.
The execution scheduled for 8 August would be Utah’s first since the 2010 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner, by firing squad.
So to preface, I am absolutely and without reservation against the death penalty, so any state-sanctioned murder is unacceptable to me.
That being said, if they’re going for painless, why not just a captive bolt stunner the their brain stem? Like, having them lie back in a massage table with a container for the blood (heaven forbid the audience should experience the discomfort of gore with their death spectacle), and just pop it when it’s time. Guaranteed to shut them off, mess is handled, suitable for a casket, and no suffering. They wouldn’t even have a chance to feel it.
And if the thought of putting a human down like cattle is disturbing to you, good. It should be, just like any other way we would keep somebody locked up waiting to be killed.
Honestly, the guillotine was the peak. Every new method since then is simply more for the viewers comfort than the actual person dyingz
*as long as the blade is kept sharp
are there a significant number of reported “botched executions” with guillotine? Even if the weight is blunt, it is so heavy and comes down at such a force that it would likely break the spine and destroy the brain steam and cause a near instant death.
Only problem with that is open caskets and decapitation like that isn’t instant. The brain is still alive for a bit.
Yep. About 2-3 seconds is the estimate. Unless you are obliterated in a fireball, there’s no way for death to be truly instant.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/lucid-decapitation.htm
Or just plain pure nitrogen. Not the way they incompetently did it a while back where the prisoner suffocated due to his own exhaled CO2, but pure nitrogen while venting his exhalations.
I’m also against the death penalty entirely, but I’ve always wondered why they need to be conscious. Why can’t they put them under general anesthesia, then push the chemical while they’re unconscious?
That is, ideally, what they want to do. However, to do it properly you would need a doctor, and doctors won’t help because of the whole “do no harm” thing. Kind of against their whole thing.
Have you been to Utah? There’s probably a few “good Mormon” doctors who would do it, citing deep scripture regarding blood atonement and that kind of BS.
Yeah and there’s probably a few actually good doctors on the medical board who would yank their licenses in a fucking heartbeat for participating.
Definitely. There’s a big enough group of decent enough people in Utah that help keep the state from turning into Florida or Texas, for now.
Pretty sure somewhere in their holy book says “Do not kill”, so probably Mormon has nothing to do with it. An atheist would have less reservations, probably.
Hahaha. The third chapter into the book, the big “good” guy - Nephi - kills a dude because the voice in his head - the “Holy Spirit” - tells him they need a book the guy has.
Ever hear of the Mountain Meadows massacre? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre?wprov=sfla1
Or how about something more recent? Jeffrey R Holland - an Apostle of Jesus Christ - essentially telling Mormons to get their muskets ready to defend themselves against gay & trans people?
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/08/23/we-must-have-will-stand/
Even better - how that talk is required reading/listening at BYU?
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/byu-freshmen-controversial-musket-fire-speech-mormon-lgbtq-utah-rcna143891
Mor[m]onism has always been violent and has embraced authoritarianism from the very beginning. Their proselytizing is just another form of colonialism and sending 18-19 year olds on missions (and having them pay for it) is just world-class brainwashing.
You know you can say this about pretty much any religion, right? Yet most people don’t go “Hey, God nuked Sodom, that means nuking is okay.”
Because applying anesthesia is nor easy, requires years of education and a medical degree, and not anesthesiologist is going ti participate on it.
Only if you are worried about keeping them alive
Fucking up the anesthesia could also lead to full body seizures and projectile vomiting.
As a welder who has been trained to be very afraid of peacefully going to sleep in a forever nap, I have never understood why inert gas asphyxiation isn’t widely used. It’s literally easier than falling asleep and you can use the same gas over and over again.
Alabama tried that and managed to screw it up. You have to remove the carbon dioxide in the exhales to prevent the feeling of suffocation, and they didn’t provide enough nitrogen flow to do that. Took like twenty minutes of clearly desperate gasping and convulsions for the guy to pass.
I really agree. State sanctioned murder is unacceptable to me as well, but if they insist then let’s be humane about it.
The problem is the very pro-death penalty camp wants the dying process - not the being dead part after - to be the punishment. The pro-humane camp is generally anti-death-penalty enough they don’t get a seat at the method-decision table.