Idaho governor signs bill to allow firing squad as an alternative form of execution

[RandySF]

Idaho will soon become the fifth state to authorize the execution of an inmate by firing squad.

Gov. Brad Little on Friday afternoon signed House Bill 186, adding a firing squad as an alternative method of execution when lethal injection is unavailable.

The new law would give the director of the Idaho Department of Correction up to five days after the issuance of a death warrant to determine if lethal injection is available. If the director does not indicate that lethal injection is available, then the department must execute someone by firing squad.

The bill includes a a fiscal note estimating the state will need to pay $750,000 as a one-time cost for the department to refurbish its facility to execute someone by firing squad.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, a national nonprofit that offers statistics on capital punishment, the four other states that authorize death by firing squad are Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and South Carolina. Since 1976, there have been only three executions carried out by firing squad.



https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/idaho-governor-signs-bill-allow-firing-squad-alternative-form-execution

[Chainfire]

1. What could be more "American" than a firing squad to carry out lawfully sanctioned murder?

It is who we are and what we do. The alternative discussed in Idaho was "stoning." I was pulling either the death by a thousand cuts or simply beating the victim to death with a baseball bat.

It is so fucked up, that conservatives want to consider a fertilized human egg as a human and are willing to fight to the death to protect that "baby" while at the same time supporting the death penalty. It is a crazy world we inhabit.

[Lovie777]

2. It will work both ways..................

[Earth-shine]

3. Since everyone now has guns, perhaps they could take volunteers for the squad.

[treestar]

5. It could be like jury duty

everyone in the state has to take their turn.

[Earth-shine]

6. Like jury duty, there will be plenty of volunteers, and others who must be coerced.

It doesn't matter. Everyone must serve!

[Scrivener7]

4. At this point, with all the reports of botched executions, it might be more humane.

[multigraincracker]

7. That along with finding out too late that the

executed person was innocent.
Michigan is one of only three states to have never executed anyone sense admission to the Union. That way we have never killed an innocent person.

[BlueTsunami2018]

8. Seems more efficient than the lethal injections.

There are always problems with those. If you’re going to have the death penalty, stop pretending it’s something other than what it is.