Capital Punishment, Up Close and Personal

I spent a long time lying awake last night thinking about the latest missive from Eugene Volokh. It is fairly rare in my experience to find people who are not only pro-death penalty, but who feel that the families of the victims should be allowed to participate in the execution.

It is strange in these times to hear such comments from learned men, and upon reflection, refreshing.

The condemned subject of the Volokh article was an Iranian who lured at least twenty children into the desert, sexually assaulted them, and then murdered them. they method of execution was brutal. The condemned was tied to a post flogged 100 times with a whip, stabbed once, and them slowly throttled by tying a cord around his neck and lifting him from the ground with a crane to strangle.

It was truly a horrible way to die, and not something to be easily dismissed from the mind once you really understand how it was done, and how the condemned murderer suffered.

As horrible as his death was, I find it hard to argue that the punishment did not fit the crime. Considering what this man did, I feel no pity for him, nor his manner of execution.

I know that this kind of execution would never be sanctioned in the United States, and I'm not going to argue that it should. It is an untenable position. Volokh says in an update that this kind of execution would most likely violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. I'm pretty sure that is the case as well. He suggests a constitutional amendment to make an exception to the clause for some sorts of mass murder. Not that it matters, but if you are going to go that route, I think certain violent sex crimes should be added as well.

What I did find thought-provoking was the idea of letting victim's family participate in some (if not all) government-sanctioned executions.

It violates no constitutional rights to allow a family member to participate in current forms of legally recognized execution. It would be just and fitting to have them push the button, or through the switch.

Volokh is right, I think, and the more I think about it, the more I support the idea of an exception to the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause.

I find that a firing squad made up of members of victim's family members would be a quite appropriate and a very fitting, if somewhat still unsatisfying, act of justice.

Update: Upon doing a little more research, an amendment to the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause would be difficult to add, but it may not be as difficult as you think, and may not even be necessary.

While some states feel it is cruel and unusual, firing squads are still legal in Utah, Idaho, and Oklahoma, and hanging is still legal in Washington, Delaware, and New Hampshire, according to this 2002 CNN article:

I don't think it unreasonable, considering that these forms of execution are still practiced, to allow members of victim's families to participate in either one.

Granted, it may not be a punishment to fit the crime, but it might be a step closer to both justice and closure for the surviving families. The tough part would be expanding this to a national scale, but if a few states could be pursuaded to allow victim's families to participate, victim's rights groups would probably push for a nationwide law, wouldn't they?