At inmate's request, Utah prepares firing squad

[discocrisco01]

Source: AP

SALT LAKE CITY – Barring a last-minute reprieve, Ronnie Lee Gardner will be strapped into a chair, a hood will be placed over his head and a small white target will be pinned over his heart.

The order will come: "Ready, aim..."

The 49-year-old convicted killer will be executed by a team of five anonymous marksmen firing with a matched set of .30-caliber rifles. He is to be the third person executed by firing squad in Utah — or anywhere else in the U.S. — since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Utah was a long holdout in keeping the method, which it has used in 40 of its 49 executions in the last 160 years. Utah lawmakers made lethal injection the default method of execution in 2004, but inmates condemned before then can still choose the firing squad.

That's what Gardner did in April, politely telling a judge, "I would like the firing squad, please." Neither he nor his attorneys have said why.

Critics decry the firing squad as a barbaric method that should have been relegated to the dustbin of the frontier era

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_on_re_us/us_utah_firing_squad

[hlthe2b]

1. strap him into a chair?

Good God. At least if they are going to use the firing squad don't try to make it a "clinical procedure." This is almost more revolting to me than the fact they are going to use a firing squad... Sheesh.

(and yes, I am anti-death penalty, but if you are bound and determined to do it, then at least give him the dignity of standing)

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

2. I would take firing squad over injection

it's faster

[safeinOhio]

3. I'll take a lethal dose of

nitrous oxide, please.

:silly:

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

5. but that is not currently an option - just like old age is not

[safeinOhio]

6. Don't I get any final request?

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

7. sure what would you like?

I just do not have the authority to grant it.

[depakid]

9. At the risk of sounding macho...

There's something to be said about going down like a man -or actually, like a human being, rather than being put down like an animal.

[Pavulon]

10. He is still a murdering piece of shit.

personally I would prefer he die of old age in prison. Getting put to sleep like a dog is far to easy, and being shot conveys some sense of human relevance he does not deserve.

Let him die of heart disease in some shitty hospital behind bars. Better for everyone.

[michreject]

26. He will die of heart disease

From OP:

small white target will be pinned over his heart

[pezDispenser]

16. I understand and agree with what you are saying

but fuck that piece of shit. He should be put down like the animal he is.

[depakid]

19. How did I know the dehumanizing would start in full bore if I posted that?

It's this sort of dehumanization and lust for violent retribution that made it easy for America to become a nation of torturers.

Comes right down to it and many here on an ostensibly progressive discussion board wouldn't be satisfied by burning convicts at the stake.

[pezDispenser]

20. you and I must have different definitions of human

I don't believe its a birthright. Nice strawman attempt to label me as someone who would like to see this piece of shit tortured. He should be put to death without regards to his preferences. I'm sure Michael Burdell wasn't consulted on how he would like to die.

[depakid]

21. Dehumanization is an integral part of the process which leads to torture and other atrocities

People who legitimize and engage in it are already well on their way down that track.

[pezDispenser]

23. Perhaps one day I will develop sympathy for murderers and child molesters

Don't hold your breath waiting.

[prolesunited]

28. Has nothing to do with sympathy

Has everything to do with what we as a society stand for and are capable of. Most civilized countries throughout the world already have abolished the death penalty.

Also, abolishing the death penalty would save the government millions annually as it's more expensive to jail and try these criminals. In addition, it's been proven that death row inmates have been innocent, and are then released. I wonder how many innocent people we have killed.

[Leftist Agitator]

30. I hope that one day you are unjustly accused of child molestation...

And then sentenced to prison where you will be raped repeatedly until some inmate decides that he doesn't have any sympathy for child molesters, and caves in the back of your head with a #10 can of fruit cocktail in heavy syrup.

[saigon68]

34. Your sense of humanity and forgiveness is overpowering

[The Stranger]

29. Your definition of human is irrelevant. The law considers him to be human.

And certain inalienable rights attach, such as due process.

[Hosnon]

35. How is being human not a birthright of humans? That's absurd. nt.

[Titanothere]

4. Firing squad's been doing the job for a hundred years

Might as well stick with what works. Lethal injection would seriously suck, I'd take the bullet I think.

[WileEcoyote]

8. If I remember correctly only one rifle is really loaded.

Thus four of the shooters have blanks. Why? Five shots creates a real mess. Also less chance of nasty ricochets with one slug. Five men firing can never shoot at exactly the same time. This causes other problems.

Wonder how it feels to be the "lucky" guy who fires the real bullet. Or if he even knows he made the fatal shot?

All very grisly. Must take a toll on all those associated with the execution. Glad I'll never be a part of something like that.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Other way around.

One blank, so no one knows for sure who in the squad fired the fatal shot. Five rifles, maybe 2 blanks, etc.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. I don't understand the purpose of the blank round

As soon as you pull the trigger, you know if you fired a blank or not. If there's no recoil, it's a blank.

And if the rifles are semi-auto, everyone else knows as well. A blank won't have enough energy to cycle the action, so the brass won't be ejected.

It just sounds like a pointless idea.

:hi:

[AtheistCrusader]

33. They use bolt actions.

At least, in any I have ever seen. From a closed bolt, with no blowback, tilting, or rolling block, there is pretty good recoil from a blank. You'll 'know', but no one else will.

[Pavulon]

12. Reversed 4 30-06 or 308 rounds

hit the target. One is blank. 4 way redundancy. Back in the old days they did away with firing squads because the shooters would intentionally gut shoot the person.

[Nye Bevan]

13. I don't blame him.

With lethal injection there is a strong possibility that you will remain conscious, paralyzed and unable to communicate, but suffering overwhelming pain, prior to actually dying. The executioners are not doctors and have been known to mess up the dosages of the various chemicals. With the firing squad there is not much that can go wrong.

That said, I am against the death penalty. Let these scum rot in jail with no parole. No drama, no publicity, no last-minute Supreme Court hearings at midnight, just a slow, rotting death with plenty of time to think about what they did.

[provis99]

15. plenty of prisoners enjoy their time in prison.

Bernie Madoff is having the time of his life; he's even got groupies. So why are you assuming prison is a bad thing? What makes you think they will spend all their time contemplating their "bad" actions? Madoff blames his imprisonment on his victims, and he feels justified in taking advantage of them.

[pezDispenser]

17. I highly doubt Maoff is having the 'time of his life'

He's in jail, where he belongs. 5 years from now he'll be nothing but a answer to a trivia question.

[prolesunited]

27. Not like Madoff even faced the death penalty

so it's not a good analogy.

[proteus_lives]

14. DP threads always make me laugh.

Anti-DP folks are always "I want him to suffer in prison for the rest of his life."

And pro-DP people are then accused of sadism.

:rofl:

[Socal31]

18. It's sad that our death penalty is based off what is "gruesome"

instead of what is humane.

A bullet to the brain is much more humane than the chest. However, it is much more messy.

[David__77]

22. Bullet to back of head is "humane" by comparison.

That's what the Chinese would do. All this lethal injection and bullet to the chest and bleed to death crap is barbaric by comparison. I oppose it all in any case.

[Blue_Tires]

25. an old classical romantic...

i guess he'll be just as dead either way...

[raccoon]

31. Sounds like something that would happen in Iran or someplace like that. nt

[leftyladyfrommo]

32. in the Mormon religion - blood atonement

There is something in the Mormon religion about blood atonement. If a person has sinned they can atone for their sins by choosing a form of death where their blood actually runs down into the ground.

That is one reason they still have firing squads in Utah. It is a form of blood atonement.

[superconnected]

36. How backwards. I guess the surpising thing is that it's not in Arizona.

Wonder how many states allow firing squad.

[Freddie Stubbs]

37. I guess that Utah is pro-choice after all