Death penalty

[multitool]

The death penalty is theatre.

The cruelty is the point.

 

[winjim]

It's a gruesome thing to think about but in the scheme of things, inert gas asphyxiation isn't the worst way to go. My concern, if that's the right way to describe something you don't think should be happening at all, is with the method of delivery. They suggest a mask, which carries the risk of leaking, slipping or being pulled off, meaning there might be a period of it providing less than 100% nitrogen. This could prolong the asphyxiation process or even lead to the prisoner surviving but with some form of hypoxic brain injury and mental disability.

I know it's AL so all bets are off but a lawyer might argue that a mental disability means exemption from execution, meaning he then spends the rest of his life disabled, in jail.

I know that's a bit of a 'what if?' scenario but I think it's at least plausible.

 

[Beebo]

Can anyone explain why they can’t just use the stuff that vets use to put animals down?

It all seems so over complicated. But maybe that the point.

 

[AndyRM]

Can anyone explain why they can’t just use the stuff that vets use to put animals down?

It all seems so over complicated. But maybe that the point.

At a guess I'd say human bodies are a lot larger and more complex to shut down, humanely at least, whatever that means in this context.

 

[winjim]

I think they do try and use some of the same drugs but there are problems with supply as pharma companies don't want their products to be used in executions. That's why they've had to come up with this alternative method.

Administration also seems to be problematic. Lots of tales of difficulties in finding a suitable vein, including in this prisoner at the previous attempt.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

but a lawyer might argue that a mental disability means exemption from execution, meaning he then spends the rest of his life disabled, in jail.

Don’t forget that this is the USA, where a court ruled that a mentally disturbed convict could be forcibly administered with drugs to make him sane temporarily but for long enough to be executed.

 

[icowden]

It's a gruesome thing to think about but in the scheme of things, inert gas asphyxiation isn't the worst way to go. My concern, if that's the right way to describe something you don't think should be happening at all, is with the method of delivery. They suggest a mask, which carries the risk of leaking, slipping or being pulled off, meaning there might be a period of it providing less than 100% nitrogen. This could prolong the asphyxiation process or even lead to the prisoner surviving but with some form of hypoxic brain injury and mental disability.

Yes, far better to use some sort of large tank which can be sealed and the toxic gas introduced. I think there are some case studies somewhere showing that this sort of device can be a very successful way to execute people...

 

[Ian H]

...many animals are highly social species, and aggression is how social order is established and maintained—picture rams butting heads to determine which one gets to breed with the females. For humans, capital punishment, imprisonment and forced removal of resources (fines and revoking privileges) are all codified forms of aggression to maintain social order.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8284101/

 

[Beebo]

Yes, far better to use some sort of large tank which can be sealed and the toxic gas introduced. I think there are some case studies somewhere showing that this sort of device can be a very successful way to execute people...

Maybe disguise the large tank as a shower block, eh?
If speed, efficiency and cost are the aim, then surely hanging or guillotine are the best options for low numbers of inmates.
I would pick either of those options over an untested nitrogen system if I had to choose my own demise.

 

[The Crofted Crest]

Isn't the best option not to execute people?

 

[icowden]

Isn't the best option not to execute people?

Well where would we be then if we went around just not executing people? Eh? Eh?

Bloody liberal elite and their lack of passion for wringing the life out of people who probably did it, and if they didn't they are guilty of being black or hispanic or mentally ill or possibly all three... What next eh? eh?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Yes, far better to use some sort of large tank which can be sealed and the toxic gas introduced. I think there are some case studies somewhere showing that this sort of device can be a very successful way to execute people...

Joking aside, asphyxiation by Nitrogen gas would be an OK way to go if they just used a room rather than an unpleasant sealed mask.
It would be easy enough to engineer such a room that was safe for all but the victim.
Having worked in the industrial gases industry for many years, death by nitrogen inhalation is a very real fear. People simply keel-over as if fainting and unless immediately resuscitated quickly die without apparent 'knowledge'. Unfortunately over the years such accidents have happened and people have silently died. Those that were resuscitated quickly enough to survive have no knowledge of what happened.
So, in theory it's a pretty humane way to dispatch people.
Gas stunning has been used is used in the slaughter industry for many years for poultry and pigs.
Despite what the meedja are saying, the effects of death by Nitrogen are known.

I'm surprised there's a gases company prepared to supply N2 for this application....

For the record: I do NOT condone the death penalty under any circumstance.

 

[winjim]

Joking aside, asphyxiation by Nitrogen gas would be an OK way to go if they just used a room rather than an unpleasant sealed mask.
It would be easy enough to engineer such a room that was safe for all but the victim.
Having worked in the industrial gases industry for many years, death by nitrogen inhalation is a very real fear. People simply keel-over as if fainting and unless immediately resuscitated quickly die without apparent 'knowledge'. Unfortunately over the years such accidents have happened and people have silently died. Those that were resuscitated quickly enough to survive have no knowledge of what happened.
So, in theory it's a pretty humane way to dispatch people.
Gas stunning has been used is used in the slaughter industry for many years for poultry and pigs.
Despite what the meedja are saying, the effects of death by Nitrogen are known.

I'm surprised there's a gases company prepared to supply N2 for this application....

For the record: I do NOT condone the death penalty under any circumstance.

The alarm we have on the liquid nitrogen store is piercing. More so than any of the other alarms we have because it's designed to rouse people who may be unaware that they are drifting off. Our protocol is to never go into the liquid nitrogen store unaccompanied, have someone observing from outside the room and always check the oxygen meter before going in. There's a huge automatic ventilation system and the window is kept open. Also never transport it in a confined space especially where it could spill, such as a car or a lift.

The panic response you might associate with suffocation isn't caused by oxygen depletion, it's actually a response to build up of carbon dioxide which is why you can be unaware of what's happening. You're suffocating but because you're still blowing off CO2 your body doesn't know about it and you don't have the urge to get to safety.

 

[Rusty Nails]

This is all getting too technical. What do they use in those Swiss clinics?

It seems to work because people are prepared to pay for it, and AFAIK there are no customer complaints.

Outsource it all to them. The US likes good franchise opportunities. Match made in heaven.

 

[Deleted member 121]

So the first Nitrogen Gas execution took 22 minutes for the condemned to die, reported at the time of publishing. Would it have not been better and simply more humane to have clubbed him to death with a meat tenderiser? Or outsource the job to the mafia, for an ice pick insertion to the back of the head or an overshined shoe stomping to the face? All likely to take less than 22 minutes for a semi-pro...