The Chinese have their execution bus. We in the US medicate the mentally ill to execute them. So now, equal time for the Japanese who make the Chinese and us seem humane.
Welcome to death row in Japan. Prisoners are executed by hanging—a process known to produce “gruesome scenes of slow strangulation and even decapitation.” And prisoners sitting on death row don’t even know when they’ll actually die. No one gives them a date. Prisoners aren’t told “this day will be your last” until the actual morning of their execution, which can come at any time—days or months or decades after their appeals process is exhausted. Their families aren’t notified until after they’re dead. Everyone involved lives under the strain of uncertainty.
To say this is all quite horrifying seems inadequate. And lest anyone thinks that these prisoners are probably all guilty of sin and deserve what they get, note that Japanese courts convict a staggering 99 percent of those accused of crimes—the highest conviction rate in the developed world. The odds that innocent people are frequently sentenced to death are very, very high.
[…]
[Non death row p]risoners are often beaten severely by guards for minor rule infractions (one such rule: “Avoid leaning against the bedding or sitting on it”) and placed in special confinement cells where they’re forced to kneel on the floor without moving for 10 hours a day over month-long periods. There are also special “protection cells” where prisoners are kept in handcuffs and tight restraints 24 hours a day—often without good reason. Not that American prisons are much better, but the Japanese may well have us beat on the cruel and unusual front.
This is a product of culture and history. Conformity and obedience is a virtue. Those that don’t are held in little regard. You must judge a culture from it’s own perspective. Unless they beat dogs to death with large sticks, then to hell with them.
“Welcome to death row in Japan. Prisoners are executed by hanging—a process known to produce “gruesome scenes of slow strangulation and even decapitation.””
They need to hire a new hangman. If done properly, hanging is quick and efficient. If done incorrectly (wrong knot placement, poor rope, miscalculation on drop distance etc.) then it can be a horrible thing indeed.
Let’s play a game called “judge other cultures based on their level of adherence to our values.”
It’s more fun than Scattergories
To say this is all quite horrifying seems inadequate.
And that’s probably the point. The American version of Death Row has become quite a joke.
The conviction rate doesn’t tell us anything about whether innocent people are on death row. It could mean that the prosecutors are very, very careful before bringing a case.
“If done properly, hanging is quick and efficient.”
True, assuming they want to be quick and efficient. Based on what else is going on in their prisons, I would say they are getting exactly the result they want.
Have you seen what they do to people on their TV game shows. It hardly surprises me that they aren’t especially nice to prisoners.
That said. Hanging may not be the most humane way to terminate some one’s life but I’ll bet whatever they did to get on death row wasn’t very humane either.
Does anyone here actually know what it takes to get a death sentence in Japan?
Doesn’t surprise me considering what the Japanese did to POWs during WWII. There were, and I guess still are, a savage people.
Yes they are savages in a way, they went from totally tribal/feudal to industrialized in less than 200 years and skipped over alot of the other steps other cultures had to deal with.
You either get a nation full of peace loving, tree hugging, pot monging intellectuals (aim at any EU nation near sweden) or you get sharp as knife, perfectionist and proficient engineers that are also very cruel to those not at their economical/social/corporate level (aim at S. Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan or any SE asian nation that manufactures consumer electronics)
well, everyone know the law here. If you break it you pay the price…end of story.
Just like caning in Singapore or having your hand cut off in Saudi Arabia.
You dont want to be punished…dont commit the crime.
Andrew…
Ah, Crime and Punishment. Sounds so simple but there are so many levels of grey…
When Canada’s members of parliament voted to abolish the death penalty 30 years ago, a (chance?) factor that they must have taken into account was that of the last ten or so executions in Canada, about half had been of innocent people, and the MPs knew it.
Canada’s last hangman said hanging was most humane. Look for multimedia item 7 on this page:
http://tinyurl.com/psj6v
For another twist on the theme, see the movie “Dancer in the Dark” with the Icelandic songstress Bjork.
Until we can determine beyond any doubt that a conviction is accurate, then Capital Punishment will be extreme and savage. Having a jury of twelve people isn’t proof. That is just who put on the best show with the available evidence. When we can come up with a fool proof method of determining guilt, then we will be beyond criticism.
Is there any evidence that the police and prosecution is better in Japan then in the US? The culture difference doesn’t matter. If we (or they) imprison a wrongly convicted person, then we all lose. I hear a lot of condemnation because China and Cuba imprison people for things we don’t consider crimes. The culture difference doesn’t matter there. Why should it matter if we are to criticize Saudi Arabia or Singapore. If, by normal civilized standards they are savages, then they should be called that.
Well, at least they try to have a legal system, something that we are moving away from at a steady pace.
(The following is probably worthy of it’s own blog entry)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101334.html
The culture difference does matter. The background ambiance of a society determines what is or is not acceptable, from eating habits to differing concepts of crime and punishment. What shocks a sheltered American is accepted by members of other societies, whether Chinese, Japanese, Iraqi, Australian or English.
“Until we can determine beyond any doubt that a conviction is accurate, then Capital Punishment will be extreme and savage.”
“The only thing of which there is no doubt is the fact that I am doubting.”
There is nothing beyond any doubt. You are asking for an impossiblity. The way the death penalty works is a lot more difficult than you seem to think. Not only are you tried by 12 people (as you mentioned) you have years and years to go through appeals processes. It’s far from perfect….but I for one have no idea how to improve it.
Mr. Fusion,
> Until we can determine beyond any doubt that a conviction
> is accurate, then Capital Punishment will be extreme and
> savage.
Claiming that capital punishment is extreme and savage as presumably opposed to the only other alternative of life imprisonment is bullshit. A valid argument can be made that the court system and law enforcement make enough mistakes that we should allow for that possibility in sentence. A valid argument can be made that capital punishment is more expensive that life imprisonment (which it is.) However, claiming that somehow life imprisonment is less extreme or savage is arguing from a stance of ignorance. Modern prisons, as we even see here with the Japanese prison, are essentially places of psychological torture. Thus, sentencing someone to life imprisonment is sentencing them to a life of punishment and torture. Don’t believe for a second that you are doing anyone any favors by sentencing them to life imprisonment instead of a quick death.
If I had to choose my method of death, I think I’d opt for the firing squad.
Isn’t a bullet to the head about the most instantaneous a death as there can be?
(I’m sure it creates a huge mess but what do I care?)
Better yet… abolish the death penalty! It’s uncivilized.
>>Don’t believe for a second that you are doing anyone any favors by
>>sentencing them to life imprisonment instead of a quick death.
Of course you are. With life imprisonment, when exculpatory evidence is produced (like DNA evidence, which US prosecutors are inexplicably dogmatic in their opposition to when it becomes available post-“conviction”), you just let the guy out of jail and say “oops, sorry. we made a mistake. our condolences for the 10 years you spent in jail, Innocent Guy”.
When you’re dead, you’re dead. No amount of proof-of-innocence can take back the execution.
Given the number of innocent people who are ultimately freed from a death sentence (and you KNOW this is just the tip of the iceberg), state-sponsored killing is nothing short of savage.
#18, Calin, There is nothing beyond any doubt. You are asking for an impossiblity. The way the death penalty works is a lot more difficult than you seem to think. Not only are you tried by 12 people (as you mentioned) you have years and years to go through appeals processes. It’s far from perfect….but I for one have no idea how to improve it.
Comment by Calin — 8/2/2006 @ 8:09 pm
The best way to improve the Death Penalty is to abolish it until it becomes foolproof. If it is wrong to kill, it then becomes wrong across the board for everyone, including society to kill.
The appeal process is so flawed it is unreal. Appeal Courts seldom reverse cases. Police and Prosecutors DO NOT admit to mistakes. For example, Reuben “Hurricane” Carter had two trials, both finally overturned after years of appeals.
The evidence was shown to be fraudulent and coerced, yet neither the Police or Prosecutor have ever admitted any errors, they still firmly believe in his guilt. I am unaware of any police or Prosecutor that has ever been charged with Obstruction of Justice for screwing over someone at trial. The list of such doings are well documented, yet NOT ONE has been taken to task.
“If it is wrong to kill, it then becomes wrong across the board for everyone, including society to kill.”
The problem is, it isn’t always wrong to kill. My grandfather killed people in WWII. I have a friend who killed a man that came after him with a knife.
I can understand where there are doubts. I can agree that some people deserve the time to have their case potentially reversed. However, there are plenty out there wasting space in our already crowded prisons who will never see the light of day.
My problem with the death penalty is the exact opposite as yours. There are cases (admitedly uncommon) where keeping someone locked up is a waste. Look at Manson. He’s never going to be released into society. There is very little doubt to his guilt. But I’m sure someone could bring themselves to doubt it.
Death Row is more expensive only because of the individual attention given to the prisoner, as well as the length of time these people stay under that scruitiny. If they were killed after 5 years, the lifetime cost for that prisoner would go down.
Of course, that’s under specific circumstances. Sorry, I can’t bring myself to get into a moral uproar over a potential “murder” of Charlie Manson. I didn’t shed a tear when Dahmer was beaten to death by his fellow inmates.
The Japanese legal system is very different from ours. They have a system where you have to prove your innocence. In my mind that raises the probability that some people wrongly get sent to death row. Our system isn’t perfect, but I think the odds are better that our prisoners are guilty.(yes, you want to strive for 100% certainty.)
I do agree, when someone kills they shouldn’t be sent to prison at all. They’ve really simply assisted the Global UN Government in population control and if anyone’s population needs controlling it’s the US’s. We should instead give them a medal, life in prison is beyond cruel and unusual punishment. If they say they are sorry and promise not to hurt anyone again, and then let them go (with the medal of course). Why would anyone think of protecting the citizens that follow the law and respect another’s life?
The anti-gun rights people have it right; a citizen does not have the right to self-defense, which is the exclusive right of the government. Rebecca Peters has said this again and again and she’s pushing the Global UN ban on civilian gun ownership. She’s right if the government wanted you protected then you’d have guards there to protect you.
We really are too cruel to our prisoners. I think everyone that wants a convict out of prison should be willing to have a prisoner live in their house for a year. I truly believe this would assist in their understanding of what a victim goes through and how living is fear works. This could go far in addressing our current views and ways of handling prisoners.
Traaxx:
It could be worse, a black metal singer killed a guy out of sheer homophobia and all he got in Sweden was 7 years in a minimum security facility plus rehab, the imbecile managed to make several albums and bragged about how he killed that guy afterwards.
Mr. Mustard (#21)
As I said, arguing that we should abandon capital punishment because the system of determining guilt is flawed IS valid. However, do not for a second believe that we are somehow being more “moral” or “civilized” by sentencing someone to life imprisonment instead of just killing them.
A person that goes to prison for say 10 years and is then acquitted will not be the same person. Just letting them go with a pat on the back and a “sorry ole’ boy, our bad” is a crime unto itself. It ignores the trememdous amount of pain inflicted on the person, their family, their finances etc.
I don’t know what other people are seeing, but I much prefer the version of this blog on my screen now. It has one column rather than three. I noticed that redesigning this Blog was the subject of an entire PC Mag column by Mr. Dvorak. What do you call this, a ping-ping?
If I were going to be executed, I’d like it to be a borderline fatal dose of a psychedelic drug, under scientific supervision. My experiences might advance science. I might see God. In the opinion of some observers, I might become God. Then every Good Friday, my friends could think of me, too. If the dose didn’t do its job, then, after an appropriate recovery time (Science must be served!) the experience could be repeated with a different drug or the same drug with a slightly higher dose.
Of course, the subject might arise, why couldn’t those who committed no crime end their lives in the same way (in the event for example of a fatal and debilitating or painful disease)?
No, I’ve never taken a psychedelic drug.