Utah lawmaker proposes bringing back firing squad for executions
Utah lawmaker proposes bringing back firing squads for executions
Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, right, says he believes a firing squad is a more humane form of execution. Pictured left is the execution chamber at the Utah . REUTERS/AP
SALT LAKE CITY In the wake of a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma last month, a Utah lawmaker says he believes a firing squad is a more humane form of execution. And he plans to bring back that option for criminals sentenced to death in his state.
Rep. Paul Ray, a Republican from the northern Utah city of Clearfield, plans to introduce his proposal during Utah's next legislative session in January. Lawmakers in Wyoming and Missouri floated similar ideas this year, but both efforts stalled. Ray, however, may succeed. Utah already has a tradition of execution by firing squad, with five police officers using .30-caliber Winchester rifles to execute Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010, the last execution by rifle to be held in the state.
Ray argues the controversial method may seem more palatable now, especially as states struggle to maneuver lawsuits and drug shortages that have complicated lethal injections.
"It sounds like the Wild West, but it's probably the most humane way to kill somebody," Ray said.
Utah eliminated execution by firing squad in 2004, citing the excessive media attention it gave inmates. But those sentenced to death before that date still had the option of choosing it, which is how Gardner ended up standing in front of five armed Utah police officers. Gardner was sentenced to death for fatally shooting a Salt Lake City in 1985 while trying to escape from a courthouse.
He was third person to die by firing squad after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. A couple other death row inmates have opted to die by gunfire instead of lethal injection in Utah, but they are all several years away from exhausting the appeals of their death sentences, Assistant General Thomas Brunker said. Ray's proposal would give all inmates the option.
Lethal injection, the default method of execution in the U.S., has received heightened scrutiny after secrecy and drug shortages in recent years and the April incident in Oklahoma, when Clayton Lockett's vein collapsed and he died of a heart attack more than 40 minutes later.
Ray and lawmakers in other states have suggested firing squads might be the cheapest and most humane method.
"The prisoner dies instantly," Ray said. "It sounds draconian. It sounds really bad, but the minute the bullet hits your heart, you're dead. There's no suffering."
Opponents of the proposal say firing squads are not necessarily a fool-proof .
It's possible an inmate could move or shooters could miss, causing the inmate a slow and painful death, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.,-based Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment.
"The idea is that it would be very quick and accurate but just a little movement by the person could change that," he said. "Things can go wrong with any method of execution."
He cited a case from Utah's territorial days in 1897, when a firing squad missed Wallace Wilkerson's heart and it took him 27 minutes to die, according to newspaper accounts of the execution.
Dieter said that if Utah brought back firing squads as a default option rather than leaving it up to inmates to choose, as was the practice before 2004, it could be challenged in court.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of the firing squad in 1879, but as tastes have changed in the country since then, Dieter said it's possible a modern court could rule the practice violates an inmate's protection from cruel and unusual punishment.
Beyond the legal challenges, Dieter said it will probably bring back the kind of "voyeuristic attention" the state wanted to avoid.
For Ray, the option makes sense to avoid a situation like Oklahoma or legal fights over the blend of drugs used in lethal injections.
"There's no easy way to put somebody to death, but you need to be efficient and effective about it," Ray said. "This is certainly one way to do that."
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Personally, I think lethal injection would be the way to go.
I don't have a problem with execution by shooting, but the firing squad is inefficient. Five riflemen from 20 feet away could miss a vital organ and cause a slow death. Instead, the headpiece of the execution chair pictured above should have a hole in the back directly in line with the Medulla Oblongata, at the base of the brain, which controls the Autonomic Nervous System (heartbeat, respiration, etc). After the head is strapped into position, a medium power level pistol (.38 Spl or 9mm) loaded with Glaser Saf-T-Slugs (which do not produce an exit wound) should be placed into the hole and fired. The round would destroy the Medulla and produce instant death every time.
Has anyone considered the psychological damage done to those who do the firing? I mean, I wouldn't want to be on a firing squad. It would haunt me the rest of my life.
I'm a pretty good shot, but what if I missed, a little? Out of nervousness.
Nope, not what I'd want to do. Nor am I sure that it is really humane. Ugh. Better than hanging, I guess.
By the way, the last public hanging in KY , was in my hometown, in 1936. It was a big party, so to speak, drawing a huge crowd. I think that's totally inappropriate.
IMHO...If the victim suffered a long agonizing death, so should the criminal. (just saying)
Has anyone considered the psychological damage done to those who do the firing?
If it is just one person shooting, then that is something to consider. But with a firing squad, I don't think anyone knows which gun has the bullet.
Fish,
Your objections (maybe we got the wrong guy) are the only legitimate argument against the death penalty. They can be addressed by changing the standard of conviction for application of the death penalty to Beyond any Shadow of Doubt, as opposed to the present standard of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Anyone not meeting the first standard should be sentenced to no more than life in prison without possibility of parole or pardon. The death penalty should be strictly reserved for those who have shown, without any question, that they are so dangerous that they cannot be allowed contact with other human beings, including prison guards; and who cannot be allowed even the slightest possibility of escape (no prison is 100% escape proof). The death penalty should never be used for retribution or revenge (those are characterized by the desire for a slow and painful death), and should not be considered for the purpose of deterrence. It has been clearly shown that the only person deterred by an execution is the person executed, and that is the real purpose of executions, absolutely putting a stop to any chance of recidivism.
Well the source and composition of the ammunition would be easy for the defense to verify
This could even be set up to be done by a machine removing the executioner from the equation, a machine controlled burst of large caliber shells from close range would certainly be effective
Pretty much my sentiments too Gunny, especially after a family member got stabbed to death. I just wonder how many would change their minds if that happened in their family.
actually , when using a firing squad , all but 1 rifle is loaded , the unloaded one has a blank round that simply makes noise , thus giving those on the squad a reasonable doubt as to if they actually killed someone . And there is really no limit on squad size , so think 5 to 7 marksmen . Not really a chance of a missof vitals in that case .
The down side to this is that any experienced shooter , even with the best of blank adapters installed can tell the difference from shooting a live round vs a blank
Oh, thank yo for the clarification Mark. I learned something today.