Utah Firing Squad Death Announced on Twitter

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Utah used Twitter to announce an execution? I know some people might think that is callous but, if you don’t want your execution broadcast on Twitter, don’t end up death row. Problem solved.

"I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims," the attorney general wrote. The message would have been seen by the 7,000 or so users who "follow" Mr Shurtleff on Twitter.
 
Whoa... they still do death by firing squad?

I believe since he was sentenced before Utah changed their death penalty in 2002 or 2004 (I forgot) but they changed it from firing squad to lethal injection. Since he was sentenced before that change, he was able to pick death by firing squad.
 
Whoa... they still do death by firing squad?

I believe since he was sentenced before Utah changed their death penalty in 2002 or 2004 (I forgot) but they changed it from firing squad to lethal injection. Since he was sentenced before that change, he was able to pick death by firing squad.

Yup, we have 4 or 5 more getting the lead as well.

Lethal is now the only option, but inmates can get a free upgrade to lethal injection if they wish.

He wanted to die the way that his victims did...
 
Yes, he did choose this method. Why? I think publicity and to somehow make the marksmen feel guilty. I mean there's a tough job. Being on a firing squad? How do you deal with that?

According to the news I just read, "The explosive reports sent a volley of .30-caliber bullets from the five marksmen into the chest of Ronnie Lee Gardner."

They strapped him in a chair, hood over head, white cloth with bullseye pinned over his heart (though I find it difficult to believe a 2 times murderer actually had one).

He didn't say anything before the execution, his lawyers, his family - not present.
 
if I was to be executed that would be my preference...one shot, one kill (well 5 shots but you get the point). this guy was on death row for like 20 years so he had plenty of time to decide.
 
Yes, he did choose this method. Why? I think publicity and to somehow make the marksmen feel guilty. I mean there's a tough job. Being on a firing squad? How do you deal with that?

CNN recently interviewed one of the Utah firing squad members who had this to say about killing the worthless piece of trash that was Ronnie Lee Gardner, "I've shot squirrels I've felt worse about. There's just some people we need to kick off the planet ... The death penalty is nothing more than sending a defective product back to the manufacturer. Let him fix it."

http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2010/06/utah-readies-the-firing-squad-for-ronnie-gardner.html
 
I think he should have been left to rot in jail for the rest of his life.

I am not crazy about the death sentence.
 
The only penalty with a 0% recidivism rate, performed using a simple, highly reliable method at little cost to the taxpayer. I am good with this.
 
Personally, I feel that the legal system needs to be more streamlined. 25 years on death row is BS and a waste of money to the tax payers.

One appeal inside 6 months after conviction, if you loose then your done that day. May sound cold to some but the point needs to brought across that you can't play the system which is what this now dead chump was doing.
 
My only issue with the death penalty is that a number of innocent people have been killed. But I am also against letting pieces of shit sit in jail for the rest of their lives while tax payers foot the bill. So I am a bit torn :(
 
Firing squad is by volunteer...all police officers. 1 guys gets a blank.
 
They should use bows and arrows or pellet guns for the execution. STILL A FIRING SQUAD RITE?
 
Personally, I feel that the legal system needs to be more streamlined. 25 years on death row is BS and a waste of money to the tax payers.

One appeal inside 6 months after conviction, if you loose then your done that day. May sound cold to some but the point needs to brought across that you can't play the system which is what this now dead chump was doing.

Indeed.
We need to shorten the appeals process.
This guy essentially tried every appeal in the book. I think the last one he tried was saying the death penalty violated his civil rights.

How about the people he murdered? In 1984 no less. He's 26 years past his expiration as it stands.
All of these methods, injection, firing squad, electrocution are way too kind.
The murderer should die in the same fashion as the victim. (In this case being shot was the same way, but you get my point).

We spend way too much money on criminals and get nothing in return. They rarely do road work anymore. Maybe a few license plates, and they get paid to do so.
 
in present form it is cheaper to imprison people for life than it is to kill them. all the various appeals processes cost millions of dollars per inmate.

that being said, something like chinas system might work. conviction, bullet to the head within a couple of weeks. sucks if you screw up, but shit happens.
 
in present form it is cheaper to imprison people for life than it is to kill them. all the various appeals processes cost millions of dollars per inmate.

that being said, something like chinas system might work. conviction, bullet to the head within a couple of weeks. sucks if you screw up, but shit happens.

indeed, in China you get one appeal and if that fails, they take you directly from the courthouse to the burial location. with the mobile lethal injection van (or death van) they can kill you on the way...or of course the bullet if the truck isnt available...course if your family wants to bury you they have to pay for the bullet :D
 
Personally I think in cases where it's clean cut, for example a witness and video camera evidence of someone raping a child or something should get swift justice within 3 months... there's no if and or's about it, thats clean cut.

In cases where it isn't undeniable, I think due process is necessary, I'd rather pay extra taxes for 25yrs so an innocent man can go free.

That said, I think people on death row should be executed "randomly" over a period of a week in their sleep, they go to bed one night and just don't wake up, that's probably the most humane to do it... while some would like to see them die in the same fashion as their victims, an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind...
 
I prefer following the Constitution than any of this Eye for an Eye BS, cruel and unusual punishment etc. If someone rapes another person, raping them as punishment perpetuates the problem. However, this does not mean I am against a death penalty. I believe firing squad is a humane way to take care of someone who cannot possibly be reformed.
 
Howard Stern talked to this guys brother yesterday... he (Ronnie Gardener) chose firing squad because he said he thought that's only fair since he used a gun in his original murder.. he's been on death row for 25 years.. I mean.. that's nuts.. they should have offed him sooner and saved the tax payers some dough imo..
 
in present form it is cheaper to imprison people for life than it is to kill them. all the various appeals processes cost millions of dollars per inmate.

that being said, something like chinas system might work. conviction, bullet to the head within a couple of weeks. sucks if you screw up, but shit happens.

it's real easy to take a cold viewpoint on this until it's YOU or someone you know, that has been wrongly accused. Even one innocent person executed by the state is MURDER. plain and simple. There have been enough cases of innocents being freed due to new DNA testing or the fact that they were railroaded due to skin color, that the death penalty is NOT a viable option. Not in a modern society. What is the worth of an innocent man's life to you?

This fuckmuppet was guilty. Hell he even admit's that he DESERVES the punishment, but giving him a free ticket off this rock isn't punishing him, it's setting him free if you ask me.

Hell people get their panties all in a bunch when you hear of a Muslim nation punishing someone with capital punishment, but here? well they're OK with that, since it'll cost them some money--that is such hypocrisy.

I'd rather take a bullet than spend the rest of my days in lockup,and I bet there's alot of people who would agree, so there has to be a better option.
 
eh, death is a natural part of life. here in the US everyone likes to get traumatized based on a death. they like to blame people, governments, so on. face it, you are not going to die by terrorism. you will more likely die due to a traffic accident or slipping and falling on your head or that big mac that you like to eat. So we pretend deaths don't exist.

Houses used to have parlors where dead people could be viewed. Now they have been converted to living rooms and the dead bodies get viewed in funeral homes. Old people near death get shoved off to retirement homes.

Because here we are afraid of death. We want to take any drastic and extreme measures to prevent it from happening. We spend millions keeping vegetables alive for no reason.

To be certain, death is a traumatic event. But it happens. We need to learn to deal with it. There is nothing "fair" about life. There is nothing "fair" about any society or government. We can try to make things fair, but that only works so far. Shit happens.
 
Nothing wrong with giving the news via Twitter. People probably said the same thing about TV, when it was "new and different."
 
The morning of the execution, get all of the matching organ recipients, at the top of the list, in qualified hospitals near the prison. Begin organ harvest as soon as prisoner is pronounced dead. No heart to transplant, but plenty of other useful goodies.
 
Revenge and justice are two entirely different things.

The vengeance system in Utah makes me sick, as it certainly is not concerned with justice.

Kill a killer ... ya that will show them.
:rolleyes:
 
My only issue with the death penalty is that a number of innocent people have been killed. But I am also against letting pieces of shit sit in jail for the rest of their lives while tax payers foot the bill. So I am a bit torn :(

Wheat with the chaffe sometimes.
 
Revenge and justice are two entirely different things.

The vengeance system in Utah makes me sick, as it certainly is not concerned with justice.

Kill a killer ... ya that will show them.
:rolleyes:

I think it comes down to how you view it: are we delivering on an equation, e.g. you do X, and receive Y; or is it just revenge?

While I am pro-death penalty, I'm fine with letting someone be kept in prison. I'm not strictly adamant about having to absolutely carry out a death sentence, but I don't think it's a bad idea to have it open as a consequence either, if nothing else as a deterrent factor.
 
Revenge and justice are two entirely different things.

The vengeance system in Utah makes me sick, as it certainly is not concerned with justice.

Kill a killer ... ya that will show them.
:rolleyes:

What do you suggest?
What if this guy killed your sister or brother? How would you feel then.

Justice should be fair and swift. If death is an option then so be it.
 
I believe there is only one "real" bullet in the 5 guns used by the soldiers/marksmen. So the people who fire upon the inmate really don't know whether they killed him or not. I guess it helps keep the conscience clear?
 
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