Florida Is Executing Prisoners at a Record Pace

https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-death-penalty-executions-ron-desantis

by petethomas • 21 days ago

24 31 21 days ago

rbanffy3• 21 days ago

Just imagine how empty and devoid of meaning is the life of someone who goes to a prison and blasts “Another One Bites the Dust” to celebrate the execution of someone they never met. Don't they have anyone they'd rather spend time with? Or does anyone else want to spend time with them?

Jiro• 21 days ago

This is probably the case for 80% of all jobs. People having fulfilling jobs is the exception, not the rule.

rbanffy3• 21 days ago

This is not his job. It seems to be his life’s mission.

Jtsummers• 21 days ago

It's even sadder than that, he does this alone. He can't even find someone to counterprotest with him.

The counterprotester, meanwhile, a lean retiree named Bill Campbell, tried to drown out the sound with a boom box blasting “Another One Bites the Dust.” [emphasis mine]

Not "One of the" or "Some" or "Among the counterprotesters", just the one lone counterprotester whose life is so devoid of meaning that he has chosen to fill it with a solitary celebration of death.

rbanffy3• 21 days ago

I am sure we can all guess how he votes.

al_borland4• 21 days ago

Is this article trying to make me feel bad for these people?

Frank Athen Walls was an American serial killer and rapist who committed five murders between 1985 and 1987

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_A._Walls

Willacy attempted to strangle Sather with a telephone cord, and when that didn't work, he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire, records show. An autopsy determined that Sather had died from smoke inhalation, indicating she was still alive when she was set on fire.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/man-convicted-of-setting...

kelseyfrog6• 21 days ago

Can you have compassion, love even, for someone who has committed horrific acts? Honest question, what are your limits of compassion?

worried4future5• 21 days ago

Can you have compassion, love even, for someone who has been the victim of horrific acts? Honest question, what are your limits of compassion?

Do you have compassion, love, or have you given a thought to the next victim of these criminals?

al_borland4• 21 days ago

When that compassion leads to them being back on the street to find more victims, that's a problem... a problem we seem to be facing more and more these days. Where is the love and compassion for the would-be victims of these people who have shown themselves to be the type to commit horrific acts? I have more compassion for innocent people I don't know than for murders I don't know.

Is the death penalty cruel or is it compassion? That's a hard question to answer. We say it's cruel to lock an animal up and let it suffer its whole life. The phrase people tend to use is, "put it out of its misery". When it comes to people we don't do that. We lock them up in a cage and let them stew with it for rest of their life. The whole time, giving them hope they might find a loophole to get out. A false hope is cruel, but letting them out if they find a loophole is also cruel to anyone who might end up their next victim.

I could flip the question around. What are the limits of your empathy? Are you willing to risk innocent lives to provide unlimited empathy and 2nd, 3rd, 10th chances for people who have committed horrific acts?

jrflowers• 21 days ago

Trying to imagine the mind that comes up with “Is this graphic description of a person’s horrific acts meant to make me like them?” and drawing a blank lmao

andriy_koval2• 21 days ago

Is this article trying to make me feel bad for these people?

Its so loaded question.

You picked two cases, while ignoring huge flaws of the system, because of which there is a chance innocent people get executed. Frank Athen Walls is likely very different person today compared to what he was 40 years ago, what is the rational to execute him now?

al_borland4• 21 days ago

They probably should have just executed him 40 years ago. What took so long?

theflyingelvis2• 21 days ago

Protip, don’t murder someone in Florida.

nielsbot2• 21 days ago

So you're ok with the state killing criminals? What if they get the wrong person?

theflyingelvis2• 21 days ago

Yes

worried4future5• 21 days ago

So you're ok with the state killing criminals?

Yes.

What if they get the wrong person?

Don't kill those.

netsharc• 21 days ago

If they punish the wrong guy, the judge should get the death penalty... Or if the prosecutor asks for it, and it after the execution it turns out there's an error in their case, it's the prosecutor's head next. So you better present a bulletproof case if you're asking for an execution.

(I'm against the death penalty, but who wants to run the thought experiment?)

Neywiny• 21 days ago

A very heavy article. I'm not sure I agree with blaming the governer at all for this. I'm not supporting him in any way, but the court decided who was guilty sometimes decades before. Whether he throws a dart to decide who or not, the only options are people who were convicted.

I also take issue with this:

As she sat in traffic looking at the commuters around her, she realized none of them had any idea that a man was slated to die that day.

It's a bit pedantic, but no she didn't. She may have hypothesized that, or guessed it, but she didn't realize it. She didn't know every person there. The commuter next to her might be even more in tune with the executions. She can't know that, so no she didn't realize that.

silexia• 19 days ago

The death penalty should be used far more frequently and for far more types of crime. Appeals should be fast and inexpensive.

Florida Is Executing Prisoners at a Record Pace

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