From a practical standpoint, the death penalty is all but dead in the United States. Unless you're in one of three or four states (Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia) you probably have a better chance of escaping the prison with an Acts-style earthquake than being involuntarily executed. I remember a high profile case from my home county a few years ago where the prosecutor sought the death penalty (with the added additional costs that come with it, which are not insignificant) despite the fact that 1) The guy was in his 70s 2) The guy was terminally ill and 3) The state did not even have a death chamber. He was grandstanding with taxpayer money, in my opinion.
If the death penalty was actually used with any sort of regularity (and executions were public or televised), it might actually be a deterrent, but until we get to that point, I'm not surprised to see it's not.
The firing squad will make it easier to perform executions, though. Many states have been unable to perform lethal injections because drug manufacturers refuse to sell them to American prisons, and prisons have resorted to trying to obtain drugs through questionable means. There's also the issue that states are unable to find doctors to get involved because they are unwilling to violate the Hippocratic oath. Shooting somebody is much easier, logistically. (It's also more humane if the shooters are good. Based on what we know how, it is likely that lethal injection is a bad way to go.)
If the death penalty was actually used with any sort of regularity (and executions were public or televised), it might actually be a deterrent, but until we get to that point, I'm not surprised to see it's not.
The firing squad will make it easier to perform executions, though. Many states have been unable to perform lethal injections because drug manufacturers refuse to sell them to American prisons, and prisons have resorted to trying to obtain drugs through questionable means. There's also the issue that states are unable to find doctors to get involved because they are unwilling to violate the Hippocratic oath. Shooting somebody is much easier, logistically. (It's also more humane if the shooters are good. Based on what we know how, it is likely that lethal injection is a bad way to go.)
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