Executions Broadcast On-Air

[Enkidu Kind]

Did anyone catch the news or listen to NPR last night? Audio tapes of state executions were being played on-air. While I think this is fucked up, I think its a good thing. An announcer on NPR called the tapes, "horrifically wonderful." It's time that normal people hear how fucked up state-sponsored murder is. If more people understood how ugly killing is in ANY form, we wouldn't have a death penalty.

Some of the highlights of the broadcast were:

A tape of a man who had to be electrocuted three times before being killed.

The final words of the "condemned." (This was chilling.)

The reactions of the prison guards (or rather lack there of.)

This was a major piece of news, something that has potential to change a fundamental rule in our country. If you are a supporter of the death penalty and you didn't hear the tapes, I suggest you listen to them. I think they will change you mind.

:) Chris :)

[boobookitty]

That's insane! I just hope the loved ones of the people killed didn't hear that broadcast.

If anything ever swayed my opinion about the death penalty it was Bjork's movie, "Dancer in the Dark". There are just too many holes in the criminal justice system to justify it. It's bad enough that so many innocent people spend time in jail.

Believe me, with everything that has happened to me in the past couple of days, I am very anti-criminal. I would love to see karma slap it's ruling on the fools that broke into our home. But one thing is obvious: the threat of jail or even the death penalty doesn't prevent people from committing crimes.

[ 05-03-2001: Message edited by: boobookitty ]

[smurfingurl]

omg!! the death penalty is a shaky subject for me....hmmm...not really sure how i feel about it. i totally missed this, but it sounds really interesting AND really creepy! good post dude...i'll do some checkin into it!

[UrbanAssualtCutie]

I used to feel that state sanctioned killing was murder like any other, that it was wrong. That is until I personally knew the victim of a random and brutal killing. It is easy to say that capital punishment is not justice, that it is as bad as the initial crime, but where is the justice for the victim who has been killed, who through no fault of their own has had their right to live compromised when their killer sits in prison eating three square meals a day getting free cable? There is none. I now truly as sick as it may seem believe that capital punishment is in some cases justified. I say an eye for an eye you take someone's life you better be able to lay yours down. I do not necessarily feel this should be broadcast however. It just sort of plays into the dark side of human nature. But imagine this if the last words or the condemned are horrifying imagine the last words of their victim.

[Trixie]

an eye for an eye is such an ignorant line of thinking.

do you really think it's that easy?

and nevermind the flaws of the justice system, how many innocent people have been killed by the justice system? more than we can count.

until we fix it, there should be no death penalty, and if we do fix it, there should be an open and honest dicussion of the merits of killing to say that killing is wrong.


enkidu: you should come hang out in Activism, we were having a debate on this just a few days ago :) come check it out!


-trixie

[Godlike]

i'm not 100% for people getting terminated for killing other people.

i think george carlin's got a great idea though...

listen to his commentary on state prison farms one of these days.

[Kosmicdog]

It's pretty crazy how the same people who are always screaming about "a right to unborn life' are the same freaks who are always pro death penalty. Like both of those idiots George Bush.

[smurfingurl]

LOL!! wUrd! :confused:

[Godlike]

the only people who throw the swith should be the victim's family.

[Enkidu Kind]

~Posted by UrbanAssaultCutie:
but where is the justice for the victim who has been killed, who through no fault of their own has had their right to live compromised when their killer sits in prison eating three square meals a day getting free cable? There is none. I now truly as sick as it may seem believe that capital punishment is in some cases justified. I say an eye for an eye you take someone's life you better be able to lay yours down.

I understand the desire for vengeance. However, I think the murder of a loved one makes the family and friends of the victim feel justified and "morally right" to commit murder themselves. Better yet, they can get their pleasure from seeing the murderer die and not have to pull the switch themselves. Also I don't think "eye for an eye" has to be interpreted literally. I think a prisoner suffers more spending life in prison. Sure we feed them, buy their clothes, and provide shelter. But the state has to be above vengeance for it to be a legitimate government. It has to be able to say, "You committed murder. We are going to show the citizens of the state that we are above murder by putting you away for life so you can reflect on your crime."

Also, life in prison is NOT all shits and giggles. I don't care how much hot food and free cable they get. Prisoners are beaten up, raped, ridiculed, and abused. If you eye for an eye people want vengeance, this is it! These folks are going to suffer for X amount of years in jail because of their crime. To me, a death sentence is too easy. They don't have to suffer; especially with lethal injection.

~Again, by UrbanAssaultCutie:
I do not necessarily feel this should be broadcast however. It just sort of plays into the dark side of human nature.

Holy shit, I do. I think the public is entitled to hear it. I think a lot of pro-death penalty people are voicing their opinions on capital punishment based on words and rhetoric only. If they saw or heard how ugly a state-sanctioned murder really is, I think they might change their minds. I think thats why executions were removed from the public eye in the first place, because Americans wouldn't be able to support them anymore due to how ugly they really are. The government obviously wants to go on executing people, but they want support from the people too. The US government is really good at figuring out ways to have it's cake and eat it too. :(

:) Chris :)

[ 05-03-2001: Message edited by: Enkidu Kind ]

[bungle bliss]

It's pretty crazy how the same people who are always screaming about "a right to unborn life' are the same freaks who are always pro death penalty. Like both of those idiots George Bush

It's even crazier that Bush is so into Jesus (he even created "Jesus Day" in Texas), and at the same time he is all about the death penalty, since Jesus was killed because of the death penalty.

[Primal]

I heard the tapes on the news this morning. I think citizens have the right to know what gos on in there. Personally I think if someone went on a killing spree, is sick and twisted, and will cause more harm in prison or, if or when released, the death penalty is okay in my book. I think the person should be evaluated and have the chance in a rehabilitation program though. If the prisoner shows progress in the program, he/she's sentence may be lowered. If he/she keeps showing progress until cured, they may finish the rest of what is left of their sentence in prison. If the person has not shown any progress in the certain amount of time given, and is still completely twisted and cannot be cured, then on with the penalty that was originally sentenced. I think they should always try to rehabilitate the person first. That's just my personal opinion though

[Sparklecheek]

But the state has to be above vengeance for it to be a legitimate government. It has to be able to say, "You committed murder. We are going to show the citizens of the state that we are above murder by putting you away for life so you can reflect on your crime."

Exactly! Boy, do I loves me some Chris... :)

[BBKahuna]

Where are these available, I'm morbidly curious, I'm sure they are prob on Napster by now but I don't know what I'd search for...

Later,
BBKahuna

[Enkidu Kind]

If you are interested in finding them, I would check out www.npr.org. (http://www.npr.org.) They were the ones who obtained the tapes in the first place, I'm sure they have them archived somewhere. Good luck.

:) Chris :)

[hailbob]

Topic: Executions Broadcast On-Air

oh, wait, my bad, I thought this was another "pick on Nick" thread. dam, and I was gonna talk some shit too...

[Nukegrrrl]

I wish I could have caught that. It's great how NPR objectively exposes America for all it is through This American Life and shows like the one Endiku Kind heard.
If Mumia gets executed, I wonder if they'll play that tape.

[Enkidu Kind]

If Mumia gets executed, get ready for riots that make the Rodney King/LA riots look like fawking hippie sit-in. That is a touchy subject.

I was just thinking about those tapes again. One thing that stands out is that they don't use the prisoner's name at all. They continually refer to him as "the condemned." That just seems so dark and evil to me. It certainly doesn't sound like justice.

:) Chris :)

[UrbanAssualtCutie]

I would just like to point out that I realize my initial post is inherently one sided and in many ways quite ignorant. Essentially I intended it to serve this purpose: to demonstrate how quickly ones opinion may change when they lose someone to a violent and senseless crime. I agree with many arguments made against state sanctioned execution. Certainly the taking of a life can not be viewed as a deterrent from the crime of murder. I would also like to point out that I am not in fact saying I do not believe that the criminal justices system is in many ways flawed, I will say this however, it is hypervigilant to make the assumption that all or even a majority of those sitting on death row are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. I agree that existing in a perpetual state of bondage such as a life sentence would offer is not pleasent by any means, and is a punishment perhaps befitting of many crimes. I do not believe however you can condemn everyone in support of capitol punishment as barbaric vengeful murderers. Call me ignorant stupid blind whatever you care to call me but I still believe that at some point the rights of the victim should be considered. It is my firm belief that ones personal rights end when they infringe upon that of another, taking a life is the ultimate act of this. Of course it can be said that capitol punishment is the same in this matter but I question what purpose it serves to allow a murderer to sit in prison for the duration of their life when they are unremourseful just as one would question putting them to death.