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Utah Reinstates Death by Firing Squad

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 08:25:00 AM EST
Tags: Utah, Firing Squad (all tags)
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Utah Governor Gary Herbert has signed a bill into law allowing executions to proceed by firing squad when lethal injection drugs aren't available. From the Governor's website:

HB11, Death Penalty Procedure Amendments

This bill establishes the firing squad as a secondary method for executions, in the event the drugs necessary for lethal injection cannot be obtained. Lethal injection remains the primary method for carrying out executions in Utah.

I'd call Utah the new Indonesia except it isn't killing non-violent drug offenders. Still, it's sickening to think that any state in this country would legalize such barbaric means of state-sanctioned murder.

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    Utah Reinstates Death by Firing Squad | 54 comments (54 topical)

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    Mr. Mailer? Mr. Norman Mailer?... (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by unitron on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 09:21:10 AM EST
    ...paging Mr. Mailer. Mr. Mailer to the white courtesy phone, please.

    Anyone else remember the 1977 SNL (none / 0) (#7)
    by ruffian on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 09:28:15 AM EST
    'Let's Kill Gary Gilmore for Christmas' song? I can't see Utah and execution int he same sentence without thinking of it.

    It is impossible to believe that we are still doing this.

    Parent

    How long before (none / 0) (#10)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 10:14:22 AM EST
    we are talking about the guillotine?

    Parent
    There was discussion (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by sj on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 11:35:06 AM EST
    here a few days ago about it, with Slado and jim just fine with it. Gotta love those conservatives. They love themselves some death.

    If you follow Slado's link and beyond it's really kind of sickening -- an attempt to normalize the guillotine. Those are all just blogs. So far.

    I hope to one day soon have this country join the rest of civilization.

    Parent

    You are making things up (2.00 / 1) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 12:34:57 PM EST
    My comments in the thread started with pointing out that ISIS sawed heads off.

    Slado got excited because he didn't want to talk about beheading by ISIS just chopping people's head's off with a guillotine. Why he thought no one would connect the two was and is beyond me.

    Mordiggian came on board with some snarks. Here's what I wrote:

    Mordiggian, the technique matters because having your head sawed off vs sliced off with a guillotine would be much more painful.

    There is no way you can claim I support any form of capital punishment based on that. I am on record time and again of opposing death penalties and supporting, LWOP.

    If you have an ounce of decency you will acknowledge your error and apologize.

    Parent

    Anyone with a microgram of decency (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 01:26:02 PM EST
    wouldn't refer to Palestinian children only as "human shields".

    Or bemoan the fact that we didn't do enough saturation bombing in Vietnam.

    Parent

    That is exactly what the (2.00 / 2) (#18)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 01:39:33 PM EST
    radical islamists make them when they use schools, hospitals and other civilian locations as rocket launcher sites.

    It is their own people who does this. And you should be ashamed to support people who do such.

    Parent

    I support intelligence and common (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 01:53:37 PM EST
    decency over tribalism and militarism you support all-out, total war which necessitates thousands of innocent victims under the best of circumstances..

    Find a tar pit and fall into it with the rest of the Cold War dinosaurs.

    Parent

    You define yourself (2.00 / 1) (#44)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 08:06:36 PM EST
    Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accept the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay-and claims a halo for his dishonesty."

    ― Robert Heinlein



    Parent
    "Pacifist" = (5.00 / 1) (#46)
    by Yman on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 08:21:40 PM EST
    Armchair, cheerleader warriors?

    Parent
    And Yman... (none / 0) (#51)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Mar 26, 2015 at 09:26:32 AM EST
    ...there is a heap of proof that the 'make war' mantra is a complete failure in the ME.

    For anyone to look at Iraq and all the subsequent BS, and believe war is the solution, is not right in the head, IMO.

    Parent

    With that quotation (5.00 / 1) (#59)
    by jondee on Wed Apr 01, 2015 at 02:29:42 PM EST
    Heinlein and you reveal yourselves for the fascists you both are... Suckers for a man in uniform..

    There's more than one way to contribute some good to society. And many more ways than being in the military.

    Parent

    And Youi Should Be Ashamed... (5.00 / 2) (#22)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 01:59:18 PM EST
    ...to imply that anyone supports terrorists because they don't sanction the killing children, aka a war crime.

    Have you no sense of decency, sir.

    Rhetorical of course.

    Parent

    Rick Perry and Scott Walker (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 04:45:20 PM EST
    now, there's two social liberals brave enough to stand up to society's craving for blood vengeance..

    plus, they're both fully committed to fighting tooth-and-nail for a single payer healthcare system..

    Parent

    Don't blame the Repubs for (2.00 / 1) (#45)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 08:07:28 PM EST
    your guy's failures.

    Parent
    No (5.00 / 1) (#52)
    by jondee on Thu Mar 26, 2015 at 01:11:51 PM EST
    I'm blaming the Repubs for being an influential force trying to drag this country back to the 1920s. Or is it the 1820s?

    I also blame bogus, utterly phony "social liberals" for their lack of guts, integrity, intelligence, and imagination in being any kind of force for good in this country, but we'll table that discussion for a later date.

    Parent

    Obama was supposed to fix all that (none / 0) (#56)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Mar 26, 2015 at 10:14:01 PM EST
    Don't blame the Repubs for your guy's failures.

    Parent
    If he did an executive order to fix it (none / 0) (#57)
    by Mordiggian 88 on Fri Mar 27, 2015 at 09:06:34 AM EST
    There would be screaming and yelling from the Republicans and the Fox Noise crowd.

    You know that, so don't write lies and expect them to be accepted here.

    Parent

    The question is this (2.00 / 1) (#43)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 08:05:17 PM EST
    if you take a child and use it as a shield while you shoot at someone who must shoot back to keep you from killing them...

    Aren't you responsible for the child's death?

    Why yes. Yes you are.

    Scott, you are a sympathizer of Palestine. That is plain.

    Parent

    As is the person (5.00 / 2) (#47)
    by Yman on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 08:30:07 PM EST
     ... who says "Kill all the people where the weapons are" - including women and children.

    Jim, you are an advocate of war crimes.  That much is plain.

    Parent

    Please do not make claims (2.00 / 1) (#50)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Mar 26, 2015 at 08:37:46 AM EST
    out of context.

    Scott, war is a dreadful thing (none / 0) (#76)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Oct 17, 2014 at 08:54:42 AM CST
    and since you want to concentrate on the children, along with the Muslim children you might ask the German and Japanese killed in cities in WWII.
    If Hamas, or any such, choose to store weapons among women and children then it is they that are responsible for the harm that come to them.

    Stated simply we cannot protect ourselves if we allow our enemies to dictate where we can attack them by placing women and children in harms way.



    Parent
    Killing is killing. (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by lentinel on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 05:57:19 PM EST
    Personally, I don't find firing squad less humane than lethal injection. Not when there are reports of the prisoner moaning and heaving for an hour on the gurney.

    The problem is execution itself.

    If we endow the State with the ability to kill, we wind up in an inevitable mess. Not only with the variety of sickening methods of killing - and the attendant sickening rituals attached thereto, but with the horror stories of people being executed for crimes they did not commit. Accompanied by a heartfelt apology...

    If we want to talk "humane", I would suggest an overdose of heroin. The recipient will go out smiling.


    Smiling (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 06:02:54 PM EST
    Tragically I suspect that is precisely why it won't  happen.  Can't have them smiling.

    Parent
    I agree, but (none / 0) (#53)
    by Reconstructionist on Thu Mar 26, 2015 at 01:18:25 PM EST
      The real purpose of the challenges to the means by which executions are carried out is, though,  to eliminate or make less common the executions. The longer individual people are kept alive the more likely they will ultimately be spared either by case specific action or broader based  bans/moratoria.

       Of course, in terms of means, mankind  is ingenious by nature and one thing clear from  almost literally day 1 of our history, is that  a considerable portion of our ingenuity is directed at finding better ways to kill.

    Parent

    Site violator (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by oculus on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 01:18:19 AM EST


    wonder what sulap means. (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by fishcamp on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 08:46:29 AM EST
    I'm not clicking on it since I'm already on too many lists...

    Parent
    At least this spammer (none / 0) (#39)
    by sj on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 01:24:04 PM EST
    bothered to kind of read the post.

    Parent
    NBC was kind enough to post... (5.00 / 1) (#48)
    by desertswine on Wed Mar 25, 2015 at 09:31:20 PM EST
    how long it takes to die via each of the major various forms of execution.

    Not sure why they have such (none / 0) (#1)
    by fishcamp on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 07:39:52 AM EST
    a problem with executions.  Just give them 20 Oxys, a shot of booze, and good night Irene.

    They can't get Oxy (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by Zorba on Tue Mar 24, 2015 at 09:30:28 AM EST
    Pharmaceutical companies stopped selling prisons drugs for lethal injections due to the bad publicity.
    States have been using compounding pharmacies to make these drugs, but some of these have also dropped out and states are having trouble acquiring pentobarbital.  They would most likely not be able to acquire Oxy.  Or morphine.  Or anything else that would work.
    They could solve all of this by eliminating the death penalty entirely, which is my preferred solution.  The death penalty is barbaric