Texas death row inmate wants to die laughing

[angellous_evangellous]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070625/us_nm/execution_texas_dc;_ylt=AnykvNiJhGwajYLL2JbKA5tH2ocA

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Oily cow!!

 

[michel]

It take allsorts.........

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Can you imagine telling an executioner a joke?

At least this guy won't live to regret it...

 

[angellous_evangellous]

*Knock, knock*

 

[!Fluffy!]

"He says he wants to keep his execution light," she said.

Knight was sentenced to die for the August 1991 murder of his two elderly neighbors in Amarillo, Texas.

I wonder if they were enjoying his sense of humor at the time...

 

[Mercy Not Sacrifice]

Somebody is gonna have a hayday with this on a tonight show.

 

[robtex]

I don't think it is a bad thing. This is a pretty solid case. There isn't any question of his guilt, even he says he killed the couple. There isn't any last appeals and hey, its Texas, he is a goner being on death-row in Texas. Why not let the fella have a laugh. He isn't directing anything negative at anyone. I for one, wouldn't see this as a negative trend if jokes were the norm for those being executed.

On a mental note he spent his last weeks on a project that had meaning to him. Many inmates on death row think of suicide and are consumed with fear. I think this guys attitude is much better and at least he has a project that will make him smile during his final weeks. It seems mentally healthier than the solemn position that is seen a the norm.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I see no problem in trying to inject a little humor here. It doesn't shock me at all. Let's just hope he has worked on his execution. I wouldn't want him to hang himself in that manner.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I don't think it is a bad thing. This is a pretty solid case. There isn't any question of his guilt, even he says he killed the couple. There isn't any last appeals and hey, its Texas, he is a goner being on death-row in Texas. Why not let the fella have a laugh. He isn't directing anything negative at anyone. I for one, wouldn't see this as a negative trend if jokes were the norm for those being executed.

On a mental note he spent his last weeks on a project that had meaning to him. Many inmates on death row think of suicide and are consumed with fear. I think this guys attitude is much better and at least he has a project that will make him smile during his final weeks. It seems mentally healthier than the solemn position that is seen a the norm.

I'm not sure that he should be allowed to do it - it could be harmful for the execution team to see the guy they are killing being a clown, and it is one last disrespect to the pain that he has caused his victims.

 

[Scuba Pete]

How are they going to punish him any further? Give him a time out for bad puns?

The price being asked by the state is his life. You simply can't dictate that he has to be morbid during his own demise. The whole point of Gallows Humor is to cope with your own mortality. By all means, if we would allow this man to pray or read scripture but NOT tell a joke or three, then we are guilty of being biased towards religion.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

How are they going to punish him any further? Give him a time out for bad puns?

The price being asked by the state is his life. You simply can't dictate that he has to be morbid during his own demise. The whole point of Gallows Humor is to cope with your own mortality. By all means, if we would allow this man to pray or read scripture but NOT tell a joke or three, then we are guilty of being biased towards religion.

I don't see why not.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I don't see why not.

Freedom of thought. But as I pointed out, how are you going to punish him for going out with a bad joke?

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Freedom of thought. But as I pointed out, how are you going to punish him for going out with a bad joke?

Honestly, I don't know. They can get him to the execution chamber, so they can control how he gets there.:beach:

 

[Scuba Pete]

But they will ask him for "any last words" or for a "last request" and the like. You can't offer these to SOME of the people and not to ALL of the people. Why would you want to "gag" his last few words?

 

[kadzbiz]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070625/us_nm/execution_texas_dc;_ylt=AnykvNiJhGwajYLL2JbKA5tH2ocA

I apologise, but I'm answering this without looking at the link and if I'm way off with this reply, I'm sure you'll let me know.

Simply, just from the title, I don't see why an inmate should die (and I'm assuming we're talking about death row inmates) on his/her terms when their victims didn't.

 

[!Fluffy!]

actually a quick and merciful bullet to the medulla oblongata at the time of sentencing would avoid the additional rancor of morality debates.


Judgementally yours,
!Fluffy!

p.s. i was referring to the death row inmate, not those engaged in debate. i think.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I don't see why an inmate should die (and I'm assuming we're talking about death row inmates) on his/her terms when their victims didn't.

They are not CHOOSING TO DIE here. It is simply not on his terms. But I don't see a law on the books indicating that he can't die laughing.

On a personal note, I abhor the death penalty. It is applied so unequally here in the US. If you kill a white you are FAR MORE LIKELY to be put the death than if you had killed a non-white. It has been the tool of bigotry for some time. Until such time as we can reverse this penalty if we find ourselves to be wrong, we have no business using it.

 

[kadzbiz]

They are not CHOOSING TO DIE here. It is simply not on his terms. But I don't see a law on the books indicating that he can't die laughing.

On a personal note, I abhor the death penalty. It is applied so unequally here in the US. If you kill a white you are FAR MORE LIKELY to be put the death than if you had killed a non-white. It has been the tool of bigotry for some time. Until such time as we can reverse this penalty if we find ourselves to be wrong, we have no business using it.

You are right about the inequality. Certainly a point to address. If it was fair, would you then be for it? Just wondering if you abhor it purely because of the inequality?

It's not a matter of having a law against dying laughing, it's supposed to be a penalty, a punishment, so why give joy to the receiver of punishment? All of a sudden leniency enters the ring.

 

[Scuba Pete]

You are right about the inequality. Certainly a point to address. If it was fair, would you then be for it? Just wondering if you abhor it purely because of the inequality?

I abhor at least two things about this process. First, we are not batting even close to a 1000 when it comes to being right when we convict these people. Until we figure out how to give BACK that life, we shouldn't be taking it! The second is the disparity between the enforcement of the penalty. But why take a life? It has been proven that this is not effective as a deterrent and that executing a person costs FAR MORE than just locking them away for life.

It's not a matter of having a law against dying laughing, it's supposed to be a penalty, a punishment, so why give joy to the receiver of punishment? All of a sudden leniency enters the ring.

We are not asking the guards to crack jokes for the man. We are honoring his last request. Until such time as we stop honoring those last requests for everyone, we need to allow it here.