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Notes -
Over a decade ago, the BBC came out with a documentary titled How to Kill a Human Being that went into what the director believed to be the most humane and painless way to execute someone if you really wish to do so. Towards the end of the documentary, they interview someone who believes that death row criminals don’t deserve the most humane death possible because those criminals hardly offered their own victims a humane death. The documentary gives it an air of “Look, we’ve found a humane way to actually do executions, and these barbaric Americans don’t want to do that because to them, bloodthirsty cruelty is the point.”
Well, what do you know, Alabama has now actually implemented this “most humane” form of execution for the first time, and news coverage from the BBC and others have been almost exclusively negative. There’s little to no nuance, just statements that the UN and EU condemns this “particularly cruel and unusual punishment.” Where now is the context that the US is merely doing what it was previously criticized for not doing?
To be sure, the scene of thrashing does seem to be more violent than the documentary insinuated such an execution would be, but that itself appears to be because the inmate tried to forcibly hold their breath for as long as possible instead of allowing themselves to pass out from hypoxia. I wouldn’t pin the blame for voluntary thrashing on the method of execution.
What do you think? Am I wrong in reading this as just another case of “Americans can do nothing right”?
I believe Steven Pinker made the point that the death penalty has popular support in many Western nations and that the only reason the US hasn’t fully outlawed it is because (contrary to belief) it’s more democratic.
So, taken through this lens, the reason those other nations are so much less barbaric is because the civilized elites can successfully exert more of their political will.
I think it works as a deterrent (notably against desertion during war) which is why not outlawed outright, and states' rights mean states have discretion to use it. The U.S. philosophy of criminal justice is more about deterrence and retribution than rehabilitation, which I think is the correct one.
Does it work as a deterrent generally, though? There are only six states that actively execute criminals, exclusively for murder. Of those six states, out of all 50 states and DC, Mississippi has the second-highest murder rate, Alabama fourth, Missouri seventh, Oklahoma 19th, Texas 22nd, and Arizona 23rd. They're all in the top half of states (plus DC) for murder rate, and comprise 2 of the top 5 and 3 of the top 10. If we expand our horizons a bit, there's no real correlation on an international level, either.
Hm..but those states also have among the worst demographics too . Life on death row, even if it does not lead to an execution, is also a deterrent. Nordic countries are known for being lenient about punishing homicide. This may work for their high-trust demographic, but I think it would be a disaster if tried in the US.
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Don't we need to establish the way the causal arrow goes? Places with high murder rates may feel especially compelled to keep executing criminals on the table because without them they'd have even higher murder rates.
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