How do you want your blindfold??

[Ludwig Von Mises]

when i was in high school there was a case (maybe early/mid 70s) of an inmate in washington state who was convicted capitol crimes and sentenced to death. as it was told by our gov't teacher, he was allowed to choose his method of execution, so he chose hanging and the state accepted that request. he then turned around and sued the state saying that hanging would violate his 8th amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment as he was obese and worried that hanging could possibly snap his head off, causing him great pain and plenty of mental anguish leading up to the execution. the courts agreed with him, and his execution was stayed.

 

this inmate died a few years ago, and i kept the obit about him, but i have no idea where i've put him and i can't remember the name of the inmate. i think his first name may have been allen. i tried a google search but kept drawing a blank because i really don't know what to type in the search bar.

 

anyone got any helpful ideas? i'd like to use this case in my classes next year and thought maybe one of the legal eagles here could help. TIA.

This sounds like that case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Rupe

[jshep]

Maybe they set off five squibs to make it even more mysterious as to who fired the actual round.

 

AW.com's crack detective squad is on the case!

[Tank]

Tank, we need to talk 

 

um, well, HEY, LOOK OVER THERE!

(quickly gathers stuff and runs out the opposite door while everyone's distracted)

[Tank]

This sounds like that case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Rupe

 thanks, ludwig!

 

i wonder, though, if there was another case similar to this because i know i heard about it in high school in the 70s.

[tdawg87]

So I thought this was an After Dark thread.

 

Awkward boner.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I worked as a correctional officer for several years. While I did not work at a facility where executions were performed, I was frequently assigned to armed duty posts where there was a possibility that I would have to shoot someone (riot, attempted escape, etc.). I figured that the inmate knows up front that we will use deadly force under such circumstances, so I felt no guilt about using it if the situation arose.

[wopphil]

It is beyond me why anyone would expend any degree of care for the plight of these assholes sentenced to death. The suffering they deal with is nothing compared to what they put their victims through.

This is almost getting to be as absurd as the pit bull civil rights movement inundating Facebook.

[Don]

It is beyond me why anyone would expend any degree of care for the plight of these assholes sentenced to death. The suffering they deal with is nothing compared to what they put their victims through.

This is almost getting to be as absurd as the pit bull civil rights movement inundating Facebook.

Two reasons. One, you're assuming that everyone sentenced to death is guilty. I think there are plenty of examples from recent history that show false convictions for capital crimes happen with a shocking degree of regularity. And if even one percent of death row inmates are innocent, we've got a huge problem.

Second, I'm bothered that many people think our justice system is about "getting even". Our justice system should be about improving our society through the wise application of sentences. If we decide that someone is enough of a danger that they need to be exterminated, then we should do it in the most quick and efficient way possible, without any fanfare. A gunshot to the Foramen Magnum would do. Unfortunately though, we are caught up in bloodlust to an extent, and we want the bad people to "pay" even though it serves no practical purpose. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we often value punishment over pragmatism. And while I find that to be true with some death penalty cases, it's really much worse when it comes to lower level offenses.