I am truly overwhelmed right now. I'm disgusted, heartbroken, confused, angry, helpless all at the same time and pretty much equally. One thing I've always been uncomfortable with is the topic of the death penalty. I've pretty much always leaned towards being against it.
I learned in psychology the difference between a type I error and type II error. A type I error is a false positive... rejecting a true hypothesis. So say you go to the doctor and something's wrong and you get tested for cancer and it comes back positive but it's not positive. I mean... for the period of time that you think you have cancer, it sucks, I'm sure. But... the great thing is- YOU DON'T HAVE CANCER! Okay. Then there's a type II error- a false negative- now you get tested for cancer and it comes back negative so that's awesome for a little but then you find out, crap. I have cancer. To me the type II error is worse. Right?
Now... when it comes to the death penalty... I don't know which is worse. Type I would be executing the wrong person. Type II would be releasing a guilty person. If Troy Davis was innocent not only was an innocent person put to death but the real murderer is still out there. But the argument between Type I and Type II is not what's bugging me tonight. The part that is disgusting is that he was supposed to be executed at 7:00 pm. His execution was delayed over four hours. I don't know if he was guilty or not. I am very careful to not pretend like I know what I'm talking about when I don't (my husband may or may not disagree with that) so I'm not going to make an argument for or against his innocence but the fact that our justice system gave him hope and took it away tonight is appalling. I also try not to be hyperbolic but this is a gross example of cruel and unusual punishment- not the execution method- but the delay. And this isn't the first time. His execution has been delayed multiple times before.
I was doing some research on executions used in capital punishment in the United States. I found my information from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html. PBS.org seemed legit. Come to find out- the reason we have different degrees of murder is because of legislation concerning the death penalty. From watching The Tudors, I know that at one time one could be ordered to be executed for no real reason at all, without a trial. I know, my research methods are impeccable. This website I found goes through the history from when you could be executed for something like stealing to the point where capital punishment was reserved for murder in the first degree- cue the distinction of the different degrees. Some states abolished the death penalty as an automatic punishment but don't applaud them just yet. It wasn't to save lives in many cases- it was to gain more convictions. Juries were less likely to convict alleged murderers if they knew an execution was undoubtedly waiting for them. At this point hanging was the accepted method of execution (ya know, as opposed to boiling, burning, drawing and quartering, impaling and sawing and other methods that I don't know nor do I wish to know what they mean) but electrocution came on the scene next. The Edison Company wanted to show how dangerous their competition's electrical systems were so they gave public demonstrations of electrocuting animals. In 1888, New York decided it might be neat to electrocute humans since it worked so well on animals and built the first electric chair. William Kemmler (killed his common-law wife with a hatchet) was the guinea pig. PBS' website didn't go into details about his execution but don't count Wikipedia out.
On the morning of his execution, August 6, 1890, Kemmler was awakened at 5:00 a.m. He dressed quickly and put on a suit, necktie, and white shirt. After breakfast and some prayer, the top of his head was shaved. At 6:38 a.m., Kemmler entered the execution room and Warden Charles Durston presented Kemmler to the 17 witnesses in attendance. Kemmler looked at the chair and said: "Gentlemen, I wish you luck. I'm sure I'll get a good place, and I'm ready."
Witnesses remarked that Kemmler was composed at his execution; he did not scream, cry, or resist in any way. He sat down on the chair, but was ordered up by the warden so a hole could be cut in his suit through which a second electrical lead could be attached. This was done and Kemmler sat down again. He was strapped to the chair, his face was covered and the metal restraint put on his bare head, saying "Take it easy and do it properly, I'm in no hurry." Durston replied, "Goodbye, William" and ordered the switch thrown.
The generator was charged with the 1,000 volts, which was assumed to be adequate to induce quick unconsciousness and cardiac arrest. The chair had already been thoroughly tested; a horse had been successfully electrocuted the day before.
Current was passed through Kemmler for 17 seconds. The power was turned off and Kemmler was declared dead by Dr. Edward Charles Spitzka.
However, witnesses noticed Kemmler was still breathing. The attending physicians, Dr. Spitzka and Dr. Charles F. Macdonald, came forward to examine Kemmler. After confirming Kemmler was still alive, Spitzka reportedly called out, "Have the current turned on again, quick — no delay."
In the second attempt, Kemmler was shocked with 2,000 volts. Blood vessels under the skin ruptured and bled and some witnesses erroneously claimed his body caught fire. However, Kemmler's body did not catch fire. The New York Times reported instead that "an awful odor began to permeate the death chamber, and then, as though to cap the climax of this fearful sight, it was seen that the hair under and around the electrode on the head and the flesh under and around the electrode at the base of the spine was singeing. The stench was unbearable." Witnesses reported the smell of burning flesh and several nauseated spectators unsuccessfully tried to leave the room.
In all, the entire execution took approximately eight minutes. The competitive newspaper reporters covering the Kemmler execution jumped on the abnormalities as each newspaper source tried to outdo each other with sensational headlines and reports. A reporter who witnessed it also said it was "an awful spectacle, far worse than hanging." Westinghouse later commented: "They would have done better using an axe."
Lovely. So the switch to electrocution was part of the first reform era, let's check out the second reform era. Several states abolished the death penalty only to reinstate it later. In 1924, Nevada thought they would be original and used cyanide gas on Gee Jon (Chinese immigrant, Hip Sing Tong member, murderer of Tom Quong Lee (member of the rival gang, Bing Kong Tong, who answered the door in his pajamas to a .38 revolver)). Check this out. To be humane, the state wanted to secretly release the gas into Jon's cell while he was sleeping but this was technically unsound so they created a gas chamber. Four guards who didn't want to participate in this new method resigned. The gas seemed to work quickly as he appeared unconscious after five seconds.
In 1930 Arizona executed its first female- Mrs. Eva Dugan. It didn't go so well. Her body was ripped from her head in an attempted hanging. Oops.
The hysteria surrounding the anti-Communist period in America provided another crime for which capital punishment was deemed appropriate but from 1955-1972 an anti-capital punishment movement occurred. England and Canada publicized studies that were very critical of capital punishments and books and films were released by recipients of capital punishment. Capital punishment became a political issue- and that obviously is still true today. Instead of working state-by-state, activists took the issue to federal courts and in 1972, in Furman v. Georgia (how appropriate), with a decision of 5-4, capital punishment was ruled as cruel and unusual punishment. Individual states overruled it though. Four year later the Supreme Court ruled that death penalty wasn't always cruel and unusual punishment and therefore executions were put back on the books.
Oklahoma was the first state to perform an execution by lethal injection mainly because the repairs to electric chairs that hadn't been used in so long would have been too expensive and gas chambers were over $200,000 to construct whereas the lethal injection method only cost 10-15 dollars per person. Charles Brooks- an African American man who never confessed to, with an accomplice, tying up, gagging and shooting a man- was the first person put to death by lethal injection.
Lethal injection, in comparison to the plethora of other ways people in power have come up with to kill people, seems like the way to go. Until you check out Amnesty International's little blurb about it (http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/lethal-injection). Well compared with crucifixion or a firing squad... still probably the way to go.
I find the debate about the death penalty in the United States so interesting. Infuriating but still interesting. I don't want to be stereotypical or judgmental but no one reads this anyway so who cares. A lot of the same people for the death penalty are anti-choice when it comes to abortion and against gay rights. When you ask them why, they almost always throw a bible verse at you. Let me guess: Leviticus 18:22. There are others but I hear that one most often: "Do not have sexual relations as with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable." Some versions say it is an abomination. We'll ignore that this is clearly directed towards men because women weren't expected to read (a sign of the difference in time and therefore culture) and we'll ignore that the verse immediately before cautions readers not to give their children to be sacrificed to Molek (clearly still a concern today?). And we've got Psalm 139:13 (For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb) that people use to say, "See! Fetuses are people, God said so," instead of "God knows and loves me because he created me before I was born," which is where I tend to take it. But what about these: Exodus 20:13 (Thou shalt not kill), Matthew 5:39 (Turn the other cheek) and so many more of Jesus' peaceful, loving, accepting quotes.
I am a Christian. I treasure the Bible. I also treasure, above almost all other things in my life, my freedom of religion which is essentially created by separation of church and state. Separation of church and state has a lot to do with why I am pro-choice and why I support gay marriage. I'm not impressed by politicians waving Bible verses around trying to support their position, but if you're going to use them in some situations, you've gotta use them in all situations.
Before today, I was pretty confident I was against the death penalty. I mean, unless (but not in all cases) someone comes out and says, I did it and I would do it again, do we know with certainty that the accused actually committed that crime. A popular Twitter trending tag today was #toomuchdoubt. When the person who is up for execution says he didn't do what he is accused of doing... there's a trace of doubt. Isn't that #toomuchdoubt? When seven of the nine people who testified against you change or recant their statement and there is a stain of racism featured throughout the trial, isn't that #anoverwhelmingamountofdoubt?
