Are Certain Executions Unconstitutional or Inhumane??

[Cohiba]

Hey All,

I didn't want to get in the shounting matches in the "botched" section so I'll ask a few questions here.

***Yes, my wife has a law degree, doesn't use it and refuses to answer or help me on any internet site*** So, I throw out questions.

1. I thought Oklahoma and Arkansas still had use of the electric chair as a backup if the lethal injection was found unconstitutional...or basically if anyone challanged injections. Unless Oklahoma changed it..its still in the books.

2. If electrocution is still on the Oklahoma books..why in the h € ll is Gov.Fallin giving a condemned guy a stay for a study into the new method, new concoction of drugs and wasting taxpayer money??? Why hasn't any of our State Legislatures invoked this standing law. Only if it has been struck down...then I understand it not being used.


3. Are the firing squard, electrocution, and hanging...across the U.S...unconstitutional at the Federal level or state?
If not, I know some states have ruled it state unconstitutional. Can voters change this?

4. If it's a law...of cruel and unusual punishment, or inhumane. Can citizens get enough signatures, take it to the state capitol and force a vote from the State Legislature...or force them to let it be voted on publicly?

5. I've said this before and I'll say it a million times...what is the backup plan if any execution is challenged? A stay of execution. .and a study to re-evaluate or reformulate the questioned method? Why not use electrocution...especially if its still "legal" in Oklahoma..follow through with the laws, taxpayers money and the legal promise to the families of the murdered...instead of continuing to "***** foot around"??


What is wrong, inhumae, or cruel and unusual about:

Hanging...not the suspension method..that's strangulation. Not the short drop..that too is strangulation.

The standard drop..breaks the neck, immediate paralysis and immobilization...heck..it was used on the Nazis under U.S. jurisdiction after the Nuremburg Trials.

Hanging causes...closure of the carotid arteries..cerebral hypoxia, closure of the jugular veins, cardiac arrest, breaking of the neck.....and maybe...a slight draw back...death erection/priapism.

Electrocution (Oklahoma's backup if still on the books) causes fatal damage to the internal organs, and if you crank up the strength...unconciousness and brain death. Sound quick to me.

Firing Squad...a gunshot to a vital organ..usually the heart...death is quick. With one or several people shooting a blank...there is a "diffusion of responsibility" or it can be looked at as a "conscience round".



Trust me....if I find out that Oklahoma still has on the books..electrocution. I'm going to dog every State Legislature when they have dinners to raise money. Trust me, I'll ask them in front of ALL their constituents to explain why it wasn't used instead of playing soft hearted patty cake with condemned criminals...this goes for Gov.Fallin also.

If electrocution is off the Oklahoma books...this is a closed, null and void case with me.

If electrocution is still on the Oklahoma books...I'm gonna squeal like a stuck pig to our State Legislatures and Govenor.

 

[TedKennedy]

Cruel and unusual....inhumane?
What was the standard of the day when those words were penned back in the day?
George Washington had soldiers hanged - how quick and effective was that?
How about flogging?

 

[Cohiba]

I can't believe it...UNLESS IT'S OUT DATED. Google electrocution executions...electirc chair..click that.

Electric Chair..wikipedia states as you read down...

The electric chair is an alternate form of execution approved for potential use in Arkansas and Oklahoma if other forms of execution are found unconstitutional in the state at the time of execution.


Could this be used as a backup plan until the lethal injection mess is solved???


Now I'm going to start calling elected official offices and leave messages in this and why "sparky" isn't being used?

If its still on the books...gotta find that out also.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

What was the standard of the day when those words were penned back in the day?

Like the "they meant muskets" argument?

 

[SoonerP226]

IIRC, Oklahoma still has firing squad and electrocution as alternate execution methods. I think Oklahoma is the only state that still has firing squads as an option; Utah did away with that one earlier this century, after a prisoner chose it.

As to why that guy isn't going to ride the lightning, I don't know. Could be that the execution method is set by the courts, and can't be changed; could be that Ol' Sparky isn't ready for use, and prepping it may cost more than waiting for them to figure out what went wrong. Hell, it could be that they just want a chance for things to blow over before they execute him.

 

[TedKennedy]

Like the "they meant muskets" argument?

Like muskets were the assault weapons of the day. Technology has advanced, human nature has not.

 

[RidgeHunter]

Scalia and the court say some degree of suffering is neccessary for death. By that standard, nothing wrong really happened last night. The supreme court has never outlawed a specific method of execution.

A new SCOTUS ruling would have to come down to change anything.

I have a 7 hour car ride with my J.D. friend in a couple weeks. She's gonna be explaining a lot of things to me. She's very up on this topic, is very passionate about it, and I'm a dumb uneducated Okie.

 

[farmerbyron]

One thing I can't figure out is why they are having trouble finding the drugs to execute. Every vet office should have ample supplies to do the job. After all we are just intelligent animals so if they are gentle enough to put fido to sleep then they should work just fine for Lester the molester.

 

[Fredkrueger100]

I say certain crimes deserve certain deaths. I think some deserve the worst there is while others don't. To me the severity of the crime should be taken into consideration.

 

[Glocktogo]

Don't be surprised if no one remembers how to use it correctly. They probably lost the manual years ago.