Nine months after Kenneth Smith’s botched lethal injection, state attorney general has asked for approval to kill him with nitrogen

  • derf82@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You know what else is cruel? People killing other people. And the former continuing to live despite their cruelty.

    The only rub against execution to me is the risk of executing the innocent. But that is not the concern here. There is no dispute this guy is guilty.

    • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Capital punishment is government sanctioned killing. Outside of war, the government should not have the power to kill anyone.

      Let them rot in prison. It’s cheaper anyway.

      Abolish capital punishment.

    • hoshikarakitaridia@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      The only rub against execution to me is the risk of executing the innocent.

      Right, so why is that not a total disqualifier then? Even if the risk is fleeting small, there is no taking it back. If it came out later on, dead is dead. Combining that with the fact that executions are obv a psychological cluster fuck for everyone who deals with it, especially the one executed, and the fact that it takes a lot of resources every trial because it’s such an unusually cruel punishment, the arguments for it are dwindling.

      Also

      You know what else is cruel? People killing other people.

      Right but we’re not voting someone in office who can eliminate all homicides in the United States. Things are different for execution.

      We could also talk about how this “well tough shit” opinion always fucks over positive and healthy change, but that’s probably the least impactful argument for the folks who still bank on executions as some sort of greater good.

      • derf82@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Read the rest of what I said. There is no doubt here. I do think the death penalty should require a higher standard of guilt. But some people, through their actions, simply have forfeited their right to live.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Doesn’t ‘people killing other people’ include the state killing people? I don’t see how vengeance for a murder solves anything.

    • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You know what else is cruel? People killing other people.

      Then why aren’t you advocating for executing those that execute killers? After all, they kill people. But I’m going to assume that you think those killers are okay.