There are two subplots to the complaint.
First, anti-death penalty lawyers have pushed hard to create a doctrine that says executions must produce instantaneous, painless deaths. Otherwise, they are "botched" and illegitimate. The strategy is to convince fellow-traveling judges to rule that the possibility of a "botched" execution is, by definition, a violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment." This is obviously hogwash, as that prohibition applies to punishments designed to inflict pain.
In 1947, Louisiana attempted to execute Willie Francis via its traveling electric chair. A drunk technician improperly wired the device (Louisiana, go figure), and Francis survived the attempt. The Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment did not apply and the state was entitled to another go, and this time, it was successful.
Things change, and our imperial judiciary has expanded the clear meaning of the Eighth Amendment into something no one would have conceived at its drafting. //
Second, there are insinuations that the execution may have played out the way the members of the firing squad intended. All the rounds missed Mahdi's heart, though bullet fragmentation did cause some injury to that organ. //
Most curiously, there were only two entrance wounds in the body, but three shots were fired. The Department of Corrections spokeswoman said that this was due to two bullets hitting the same spot, and it has happened before on test runs. While not ready to throw the bull**** flag on this story, but relying on my four years as a member of my college rifle team (yes, we used to have those) and many more years teaching basic rifle marksmanship, I'd contend that even though two rounds through the same hole does happen on a rifle range, there is a huge difference between one man shooting several rounds at a target and three men shooting precisely one round each into a human. When one considers that Mahdi tried to kill a corrections officer during a 2009 escape attempt, some degree of payback, rather than universally bad marksmanship, might be a better explanation. //
Poteen
40 minutes ago
The French of all people had the right idea. Lop off the head. Over in seconds. No pain whatsoever. Do it every week on PBS and they wouldn't need government funding.
Their next best idea was Devil's Island. Just drop them off on island and let them fend for themselves. The sea around the island becomes a live fire gunnery range. Drop in a few cameras and you'll have the most popular reality show in history. Keeping Up with the Krazy Killers. //
DavidW
37 minutes ago
If you want painless execution, carbon monoxide is the answer. You give the executee a strong sedative so that he/she falls asleep. Place the unconscious person into a cylinder or very small room. Then introduce CO into the room until it has displaced all of the air. CO is readily absorbed by the body (why so many people die from malfunctioning gas heaters), so there is no reaction by the body to "choking". Give it 60 minutes then vent the room/cylinder. Check the executee for a heartbeat. There won't be.
streiff DavidW
23 minutes ago
that was the original plan for the gas chamber.
