Would you want to be an execution witness?

Who's to say he'll be doing the catching?

 

Buck knows it's all water under the bridge. Fetch me a beer you one-post newbie ;D

 

You're talking about McQueen right? I couldn't remember if there'd been one there since then.

I don't think if the victim was a friend or family member I'd want to witness an execution. I think that would result in me becoming a vengeful feeling person. Maybe I would be ok with them being executed, but in that case, oddly, I don't think I would benefit from seeing it.

If it was something I'd covered or had the opportunity to cover, then yes, I'd take it on.

I say keep them at midnight, so less kiddies have a chance of accidentally seeing it, but I think it should be televised. Let some of the would-be murderers and child rapists and God knows what other sick creatures there are out there see for themselves what can happen to them if they get caught being the sick freaks that they really are. Maybe if they see it for themselves it will become a little more of a threat to them.

 

I honestly don't see the problem with witnessing one now. Hell, doctors, nurses and anesthetists witness them every day. The only difference is, their "patients" generally wake up.

Now if someone were to ride Ol' Toasty, that might be a different deal. I've read a lot of horror stories about electric chair executions.

 

That's true about the chair... I had lethal injection in my mind when I posed the question... I'd have to think harder about whether I'd want to witness a human being get fried. I'd probably still want to be there, but I'd definitely be going in a little more squeamish about it.

On televising the executions... I don't understand why they stopped being public. Anyone know? Personally, I'm not sure if that belongs on TV... you can't say "shit", or see boobs, but you can watch a real, actual death? I'm not so sure it would have the desired effect anyway. Research has shown that harsher punishments don't really help deter violent crime. Probably because, first of all, normal people have the light bulb that comes on that says, "no don't do that." So they obviously have the light bulb that says, "if I do this, I'll get punished big time." Since violent criminals obviously don't have the first bulb, it makes sense that they don't have the second one either. They don't think like a normal, rational person.

 

I came this close to covering an electrocution ... we had a guy, former military, who killed his wife and kids and then begged the state to give him the chair even though the needle had replaced it years ago. State was already to juice him and I was in line to cover it but the courts stepped in ... not sure whatever happened to that guy ...

 

As stated by others, it's part of the job. About 10 years ago, I realized I could not remember any of the names of those whose executions I witnessed. That bothered me.

With the help of archives, I now have that list. I figure someone should remember them. After all, we put them to death.