Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
inspired by Matthew 7:12 (the Golden Rule)
None the less, life is messy, some deviate with this sensible behavioral convention.
Some of those deviants are murderers.
Some of those murderers are condemned to capital execution.
"The Devil's in the details." What's the proper way, the civilized way to execute a criminal?
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A death row inmate in Louisiana who is scheduled to become the first person in the state to be executed using nitrogen gas has asked for his capital punishment to be carried out using a more “humane” method.
Attorneys for Jessie Hoffman Jr. argued against the capital punishment method of nitrogen hypoxia in a Baton Rouge federal court on Friday.
The hearing occurred a week after Hoffman filed a lawsuit seeking to block his March 18 execution date, when nitrogen will be pumped into a mask strapped onto Hoffman, who was convicted of the 1996 execution-style murder of Mary Elliott in New Orleans.
Among their arguments, Hoffman’s attorneys said nitrogen hypoxia is cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution and infringes on Hoffman’s freedom to practice his religion, specifically Buddhist breathing and meditation exercises. They also argued the method, which involves an industrial, full-face mask, will ignite and worsen his diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and claustrophobia, causing mental torture.
Should we let the condemned prisoner choose?
And if s/he designates lethal dose of heroin?
Or a simple plastic bag, provided to the condemned in his death row prison cell, to drape over his own head within his familiar surroundings? Home sweet home?
Are capital punishment and "civilized" so intrinsically antithetical that the topic question is absurd? If so, what then?
inspired by Matthew 7:12 (the Golden Rule)
None the less, life is messy, some deviate with this sensible behavioral convention.
Some of those deviants are murderers.
Some of those murderers are condemned to capital execution.
"The Devil's in the details." What's the proper way, the civilized way to execute a criminal?
Louisiana death row inmate who is scheduled to die by nitrogen hypoxia challenges the method
By SARA CLINE / Updated 1:09 AM GMT-5, March 8, 2025BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A death row inmate in Louisiana who is scheduled to become the first person in the state to be executed using nitrogen gas has asked for his capital punishment to be carried out using a more “humane” method.
Attorneys for Jessie Hoffman Jr. argued against the capital punishment method of nitrogen hypoxia in a Baton Rouge federal court on Friday.
The hearing occurred a week after Hoffman filed a lawsuit seeking to block his March 18 execution date, when nitrogen will be pumped into a mask strapped onto Hoffman, who was convicted of the 1996 execution-style murder of Mary Elliott in New Orleans.
Among their arguments, Hoffman’s attorneys said nitrogen hypoxia is cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution and infringes on Hoffman’s freedom to practice his religion, specifically Buddhist breathing and meditation exercises. They also argued the method, which involves an industrial, full-face mask, will ignite and worsen his diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and claustrophobia, causing mental torture.
Should we let the condemned prisoner choose?
And if s/he designates lethal dose of heroin?
Or a simple plastic bag, provided to the condemned in his death row prison cell, to drape over his own head within his familiar surroundings? Home sweet home?
Are capital punishment and "civilized" so intrinsically antithetical that the topic question is absurd? If so, what then?