Trump Ends Obama Moratorium on Executions Despite Death Row Racial Disparities

I have personally experienced the perfect method for a sane, humane, pain free capital punishment method. No, I am not dead. While in the USAF, I went through standard flight crew training. This involved simulations of various hazards possible while in flight. One such hazard everyone who has taken a commercial airline trip is repeatedly briefed on is what to do in the event of cabin depressurization. Here’s what you do! Put on the O2 mask that drops down in front of your face if you want to live. Why? Because lack of O2 tends to be deadly.

So, here’s the plan. Put the despicable person in a chamber connected to a vacuum pump. Have him wearing an O2 mask. Pump the chamber down to an atmosphere similar to a 30,000 foot altitude. At the witching hour, have a automatic switch close the O2 valve and the perp will gently fall asleep. When no little yellow O2 mask falls into this space, the perp’s slumber will be extended into the next millennium. Sweet dreams, no pain.

This is what happened to me. During our aircrew training simulations, I volunteered to remove my O2 mask while in the hypobaric chamber classroom. I was soon asleep. At the time, it was the policy of the USAF to not kill its airmen. So, someone refastened my O2 mask and I made a full recovery. (I may have lost three brain cells during the experience. I don’t know.)

I don’t think execution should be humane. It should be hard and it should be fast. Humane is what we do for euthanasia of animals, “good” beings those who are usually being put down for old age or injury, not for murder. It’s supposed to be harsh and violent, and the bleeding heart approach to execution is preposterous. Every society in history has executed criminals for certain crimes. There is nothing wrong with the firing squad or the rope, except that the rope is more cost-efficient as its re-useable and it is more environmentally friendly as it doesn’t put lead into the environment. The issue for me is not the method of execution. The big issue is the person must be guilty. There are cases where we know guilt for a certainty. Those cases should be executed; yes there are people who deserve killing, based on their crimes. Treason, I should point out, is one such a crime. But the proof must be beyond doubt. By the same token, I say the racial factor should not be considered in executions. If we are going to be truly unbiased, we cannot look at such a thing. I know that seems non-intuitive, but consider: if you look at a racial component you are then looking at race, not guilt or innocence. Guilt or innocence have nothing to do with race, unless you are convinced your legal system is completely biased. I know of no U.S. law that executes people because they are of a specific race. They are executed because they committed (and were convicted) a specific crime, and that crime has no bearing on the race of the perpetrator….or I say it should not, in an ideal system. Racial disparities are due more to cultural and moral issues than racial ones. Worrying about racial disparity is bowing to feelings versus facts. Certainly the cases must be reviewed to remove all bias, but the issue is pretty simple here: did they do it or not? If so, did they have a good reason to do it? That’s all that should matter. But because we have to use human peers to determine this, there are always going to be mistakes. So if we say we won’t do execute, in order to appear more “humane” to inhuman monsters, we effectively proclaim free room and board forever on federal taxpayer money. To even consider race in punishment is racist by default. Lady justice is supposed to be blind. Did they do it or not? Was it justified or not? That’s it. I don’t think we have any moral responsibility to coddle murderers or traitors, but everything in our power should be used to verify beyond doubt that the accused is indeed guilty before execution is carried out. If there is any doubt, imprison them until it can be. determined.