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Tennessee inmate still alive after being administered two lethal injections

47 points · 139 comments · techolic

  1. tombert · · focus · HN ↗
    Oh yeah, I read about this.

    I'm pretty against capital punishment in general, so take that for what it is, but executing someone for something they did when they were eighteen really bothers me.

    I've never been a violent person but I do know that I was even more of an idiot then than I am now.

    1. sippingabonedry · · focus · HN ↗
      > for something they did when they were eighteen really bothers me

      She lured a classmate into the woods, slit her throat with a box cutter after torturing her for half an hour, bashed her skull open with a rock for good measure, then brought a piece of her skull to school the next day.

      > I was even more of an idiot then than I am now

      Do you think the above should be chalked up as normal childhood indiscretion?

      1. tombert · · focus · HN ↗
        > Do you think the above should be chalked up as normal childhood indiscretion?

        I didn't say there shouldn't be consequences. I just think that executing someone who committed a crime when they were effectively a child is kind of upsetting. I do not see how you extrapolated that I think it's "normal childhood indiscretion" out of what I said.

        1. sippingabonedry · · focus · HN ↗
          I interpreted it as an implication that it should be viewed as a lesser crime due to the perpetrator's age. At 18 you can:

          • Vote

          • Fight in the military

          • Act in pornography

          • Rent a car in MI, NY, QC

          • Many other adult things

          The crime perpetrated was premeditated and particularly demonic. It's a far cry from shoplifting a Snickers bar.

          > is kind of upsetting

          Bringing a chunk of the victim's skull to school to show your friends how good you are at murdering was probably pretty upsetting to a few people, like the victim's family and friends.

          1. psandor · · focus · HN ↗
            The problem with this argument is that being a few months older or younger would decide between life and death for the very same crime. Her boyfriend who was just a couple of months younger got a lighter sentence with the option of parole, partly because he was 17.

            You don’t suddenly become a different person on your 18th birthday.

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