death penalty - what no one speaks about

[donsu]

no one ever speaks about the murderer the state hires to do the killing deed for the prisoner.

we know the military trains people to murder in order to protect our country (not to invade non attacking countries)

we know the CIA trains people to murder, secretly, by our black ops. (which I think is criminal)

but we never talk about the person hired to kill prisoners who got the death penalty.

what is the job description? how much is the pay? who trains them? how do the families of the hired murderer feel about it. are these hired murderer's names kept secret? have you ever seen one on a talk show?

it has always seemed bizarre to me to condemn someone to death and then hire someone to murder them. ??????

[Midwest_Doc]

1. The State Hires an Executioner

and there are no shortage of applicants. Most executioners have the same skills as prison guards.

BTW, it is a violation of professional ethics for a physician to participate in an execution (although some do).

[bryant69]

2. The was an X-files about this once

Once you have executions, you have executioners. I'm not sure I understand your point.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[donsu]

4. what about my post don't you understand?

we are against murder

so we hire a person to murder the murderer


what kind of person wants to murder for hire? who would want to be around that kind of person?

[bryant69]

5. Are we against murder, or are we for justice?

I am not in favor of capital punishment; but largely because I do not believe our justice system capable of being all the right. The thought of us executing an innocent man troubles me deeply and causes me to oppose it.

The idea of executing someone guilty of murder troubles me not at all.

He or she lost my sympathy when they took the life of someone else.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[MindPilot]

3. From what I've read in the past, it's set up so no one knows.

In a firing squad, one person has a blank, so everyone can walk away believing they didn't actually kill the convict. An electric chair has a real switch and a dummy switch, same for the device that releases the pellets into the gas chamber. I would guess there is a similar rig for lethal injection.

I don't know for sure if that is true across the board, or at all, but that's what I think I know, and right now I don't have time to do the research.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. The state does not hire someone to commit murder.

I understand and agree that the concept of intentionally killing another human being is a repugnant idea, but it is not murder. The term 'murder' explicitly is defined as unlawful killing. The state is the law.
The state hires someone to kill another human being.

Your other questions are interesting. Who carries out this sentence? Do they talk about? What motivates them? I have read interviews with people who participate in executions but it was a while ago and I can't even begin to retell their reasons let alone where I read it.

We have a milestone coming up this week. One thousand executed since 1977. None of them were executed in ME,NH,VT,MA,NJ,WV,MI,WI,MN,ND,IA,HI or AK because there is death penalty in state laws.

None have been executed in NY, SD, or KS although the dealth penalty is allowed under statute.

Of the 997 excuted prior to this week, 355 were in TX, 94 in VA, 79 in OK, and 66 in MO. These four states have the highest rate per capita.

(caution -above info transcribed by me from an AP graphic)

[Don Claybrook]

7. I just listened to an NPR story that dealt with this topic

Someone posted a link to an NPR audio archive from 2000 (sorry, don't recall the original poster or the URL). The warden of the prison in Huntsville, TX was the narrator for the 20-minute piece, and he described in some detail the events and timeline surrounding an execution. There are corrections officers who act as the "tie-down team", strapping the condemned in hand and foot. There is, of course, a chaplain. And then there's the person who actually gives the injection. The warden said that this person's identity is not divulged. He also mentioned that other states do the execution in different ways. Some lethal injection states use a machine that will administer the "cocktail" of drugs automatically, one after the other. I don't really see how this makes a difference, since the condemned still has to have a needle put in his arm and someone still has to push the "go" button.

And it sounds like the executions take a heavy toll on all involved. I got the distinct impression that the warden will be haunted by this the rest of his life. Also, one of the tie-down guards quit his job after over 100 executions. He just snapped one day and started seeing the eyes, the looks of all the prisoners he had assisted in executing.

I'm anti death penalty, for what it's worth. But I don't hold anything against these people doing their jobs. If anything, I was pleasantly surprised (poor choice of words, I know) at the gravitas conferred to the process by those who carry it out. In other words, I didn't detect any Freeperesque attitudes from the staff being interviewed. They all seemed to approach their roles with a heavy heart, showing some respect for the gravity of the situation.

[Don Claybrook]

8. I found the NPR link

http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/witness/index.html

Go to the heading called The Stories, and under that, click on Listen to the documentary as it aired on All Things Considered. Real Audio G2.

It's about 20 minutes in length, and I encourage everyone to listen. It's informative, fascinating, morbid, and I think it's worth the time.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. The more PC word would be homicide.

It would cause fewer cringes from those unable to deal with the obvious.

[donsu]

11. in this case I'd rather use the word murder

because that is what it is. we hire someone to murder someone else.

a life sentence without parole ever, keeps the person locked away from society for life. there is no need for us citizens to hire someone to murder the person for us.

[donsu]

10. to Cuss and Don

thank you for the info, link and comments.

very interesting to know what states did the most killing

and that was one of the things I was wondering about: the toll taken on the people who do the killing.