Letter: Painless death not of concern to me

Please allow me to make two observations regarding Judge Jim Brady blocking the execution of a murderer on the basis that the lethal injection might be painful:

• I don’t think convicted killers should be boiled in oil or stoned to death. I don’t even think they should be killed in the same way they killed their victims. But I have 10 times the concern for an earthworm I’ve accidentally crushed than I do for a killer’s comfort in the last 45 seconds of his miserable life.
• This Judge Brady. ... I’m curious as to what sort of sleep aid he uses. Must be the good stuff.

Thomas Hawk

insurance adjuster

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by tradewinns - 12/02/2013

i'm so archaic, i want them to not only die but to do so in a horrific manner. i want the word to be known that if you break a capital punishment law, you WILL be executed and it will not be quick nor painless. so fear the law and do not break it. as for the hog wallow that society is a reflection of who we are is so ignorant as not to deserve an answer. but here it is anyway. you may believe we live in the highest form of society yet to bless this earth, and of course you would be wrong. that is just your ego talking because you want to believe you are a member of an elevated society. both the ancient greek and roman societies were far more advanced for it's citizens than we are, far more.

2) Comment by Attila - 12/02/2013

prbeav: I would be interested in a few cites as to the executions by lethal injections that have been botched...what is the meaning of the term botched. Does it mean that they had trouble finding a vein? Please expound.

3) Comment by prbeav - 12/02/2013

The fact that executions have been botched producing extreme pain comes to mind, and it is surprising that the authorities could not convince the Judge that they are completely prepared to execute someone. Let's hope the followup proceedings go better for both families that are involved.

4) Comment by phil - 12/02/2013

I do not know the answer but maybe with some cases the criminal could just be put to death using the same method that he/she used to murder the victim. That seems fair to me.

5) Comment by nimby? - 12/02/2013

too much forgiveness , too many apologies/excuses . kumbaya , timeout and slap on the wrist ain't workin' . sometimes it is necessary to take out the trash ...

6) Comment by Bouncer - 12/02/2013

@SuzanneMS....you can surely interpret it that way. Then again, you seem to be a humane person. I do not think the same thing can be said of regeraldwallace; at least, I do not believe that compassion motivated the use of the quotation.

7) Comment by DMJ - 12/02/2013

There are many reasons to be against the death penalty, not just concern for the pain of the executee.

8) Comment by SuzanneMS - 12/02/2013

Exactly, teacherguy. The way that we as a society treat criminals is a reflection of who were are and has a great impact on what we as a society become. People who advocate harsh punishment for criminals are not all that different from those criminals. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Strangely enough, Bouncer, I have to go with rgeraldwallace. A pardon would be one form of mercy, but it is not the only one. Once the courts have sentenced the man to death and upheld that sentence, it is not merciful to continue to drag it out with legal nitpicking that has no purpose except to postpone the inevitable. For the record, I am opposed to capital punishment.

9) Comment by Bouncer - 12/02/2013

Brush up on your Shakespeare, rgeraldwallace. The quotation is not at all applicable to the situation. The line means that mercy should be freely given, unconditionally, and not extorted or forced,. ("Strained" is an archaic form of the word "constrained"). Being merciful to the condemned would mean pardoning him fully. You are obviously not advocating for that.

10) Comment by tradewinns - 12/02/2013

government (all of them, local to nat'l) are not suppose to be religious. everything espoused in the letter and comments here are based on religion. of course if you prefer to say our society is based on our christian/judeo beliefs, fine. then do not condemn the islamic countries when they cut of the hands of theives, or publicly whip others for their crimes or beheading in public for their reasons. that is their religious beliefs. you have yours, and they have theirs. neither one is omnipotent. OUR supreme court has ruled the death penalty does NOT have to be painless. yet our failed money driven legal system is still filing appeals and getting paid to continue a conversation that is suppose to be finished. quit paying lawyers for superfluous actions. in fact charge them for wasting the courts time and taxpayers' money.

11) Comment by [e-mail] - 12/02/2013

I'm with Mr. Hawk; "The quality of mercy is not strained..." seems appropriate here. Once all the endless appeals are exhausted and the decision is made to execute such a person, to obfuscate and agitate for the spending of more taxpayer money as a sop to special interest groups is hurtful to the rest of us. The moment of death itself is not painful, although the contemplation and manner of it can be, but how much pain and suffring did the murderer cause?

12) Comment by potkcalb - 12/02/2013

I agree with Thomas Hawk. Stumping a toe or going to the dentist may be painful. So what?

13) Comment by teacherguy - 12/02/2013

@Wallop...the typical Christians that I know are fully aware that God loves those who are "bad"...because NONE are innately "good". He sent Jesus as a replacement for the brutal punishment for all the "bad" we ALL do, and one of His jobs was to bring to light how merciless people CAN be when punishing criminals...hence the statements, "He without sin cast the first stone," and "remember those in prison". However, just because your "typical Christian" expects justice and punishment for criminal actions does not make them a believer that "God only loves you if you're good."

14) Comment by teacherguy - 12/02/2013

I must say that I do have more compassion for criminals the older and wiser I've become. They do the things many people think but don't act on...and in the moment, it takes most of them just a few minutes/seconds to ruin the rest of their lives. That said, I do believe we have taken the punishment out of the consequences for actions across the nation. I agree with Mr. Hawk to some degree that small pain derived from the most humane way yet to execute someone does not even come close to the amount of pain inflicted on a perpetrator's victim and his/her family. My sense of fairness makes it seem absurd to me that we provide basic human "rights" to perps when they did not provide basic human "rights" to their victims....but I also understand why the Founding Fathers insisted we do, nonetheless. Otherwise, we may still be boiling/stoning criminals without the decency of a fair trial.

15) Comment by Wallop - 12/02/2013

Mr. Hawk seems to have the compassion and understanding of a typical American Christian. "God only loves you if you're good."