capital punishment

[MADDOGMCMANAMAN]

is it true that if u are sentenced to death by the chair in the states and you are able to stay alive after 3 shocks - then they have to let u go ???

[RapeU]

I've never heard of that. Where did you hear it?

[Hellcat]

Just popping in cos i noticed this, Not too sure about this '3 strikes and your free' theory Mad... maybe someone else can expand on that one for me

The reason the US opted for more 'modern' methods of execution, stem from the fact that they were never very good at carrying out executions by hanging, the method it they had inherited from Britain. Too many prisoners died slowly by strangulation and even occasionally, if the drop was too long, by decapitation...

The first man to face this new method was William Kemmler who was convicted of the murder of his lover,
His lawyers appealed over this new form of execution but it was turned down on October and the execution date was fixed for August 6th, 1890.

The head and spinal electrodes each consisted of a 4-inch diameter wooden cup containing a 3-inch diameter metal plate faced with a layer of sponge which was soaked in brine to improve conductivity.
The executioner threw the switch which caused Kemmler to go completely stiff...

He was like this for about 17 seconds until the current was turned off and then his whole body appeared to relax. He was certified dead but after half a minute, there were a series of spasmodic movements of the chest which tended to indicate that he was not in fact dead, and the warden ordered a second charge of electricity which lasted about 70 seconds until vapour and later smoke could be seen rising from the spinal electrode accompanied by the smell of burning flesh.
At this point, the current was again switched off and the body carefully examined. There were no signs of life and Kemmler was dead. Not everyone was impressed by the "humanity" of the new method and an expert interviewed for the New York Times said that the execution was "an awful botch, Kemmler was literally roasted to death".

If that were true, then i think they would ensure that you wouldn't survive the third strike

And to my mind there have been a handful of incidents since the 80's that have resulted in the prisoner being 'roasted'

[Ntense]

Yep, once you're convicted and the clock has run out, there's no going back. They're supposed to be humane about it, but they'll do whatever is required to make sure you smoke a turd in hell. Little incidents like the one above are why nearly all of the states moved to lethal injection. If you don't get the sponge on the top of their head wet enough, they char...

Texas has a fun law (don't recall the specifics, though). If you have 7? verifiable eye witnesses of a capital crime, you get 'the express lane' in the courts. No dicking around forever, it's the short and sweet path to the table. Hell, I'm surprised they don't just take 'em out back and put a .45 round in 'em!

[MADDOGMCMANAMAN]

hey fucking hell - first of all i must have been so high when i posted this thread because when i logged in i though what !!!!!! lol

still thanks to all for replying !!

i heard this from a friend (as you do ! ) and he told me that if u survive three shocks of electricity in america then it is deemed as an act of god and therefore the person is let go as god did not want them to die.

CLEARLY HE WAS TELLIN PORKIES !!!!!!!! LOL

also squidley - is that shit for real - a 16 yr old sentenced to death !! and then executed at 17 !!!!!! wow what the fuck !!!
also that 1985 guy - 17 minutes !!! jesus h fucking christ woa

i actually think that a straight single shot to the head is much more humane !

by the way hav any of u seen faces of death and if so is that execution footage real - iv heard it is fake - im talkin about the one when blood pops out thru plasters over the eyes ??

[Freydicat]

I saw a docu on TV the other day called "The Exonerated," it had Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Susan Sarandon amongst others talking as real people who were on Death Row who had their convictions reversed.
With the case Susan Sarandon was 'explaining,' her husband was innocent aswell, but he was actually executed.. and they botched it. Was smoking at the end. Really sad story.

Makes you question that if there's the chance of the state murdering an innocent person, if there should be capital punishment at all.
Just looked it up, and you look at the website at: http://www.courttv.com/movie/
.. and the name of that woman is Sonia "Sunny" Jacobs.

[Ntense]

40,000 people per year die in the US from car accidents, many of them preventable if drunks would get a frelling clue. I knew two people killed by drunks...

Yep, I feel sorry for the (very rare) cases where an innocent person gets the needle, but it's got to be exceedingly improbable. They don't invoke the death penalty for circumstantial evidence. For lesser crimes, it wouldn't surprise me if 5% of the convictions weren't bogus. Cops aren't the brightest kids on the block, based on the few I've known personally.

Another 40,000 people in the US die every year while waiting for an organ transplant... many 'cos their friends wouldn't step up and donate a kidney. I have a friend on the waiting list right now...

Put in perspective, yes, it's deplorable when an innocent person is wrongfully accused. I've been there. In the grand scheme of life, it's not worth letting the criminals think they have a 'get out of jail free' card if they're polite while in prison. It may not be much of a deterrent to violently immoral action, but it's got to help a little.

Between the two avoidable death statistics listed above, about 220 people are dying every day... and that's only two causes that I've looked into. Wouldn't our time be better spent trying to protect our friends, family and neighbors from ignorance and stupidity, than worrying about 1 to 3 people per year (maybe, I couldn't find ANY stats on it) being murdered by the State?