Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed in the state of Alabama via a new and untested method: strapping an air-tight mask over his face and forcing him to inhale pure nitrogen, an inert gas that would starve his body of oxygen.
Smith was one of two men convicted in 1989 of murdering a preacher’s wife, Elizabeth Sennett, who was stabbed and beaten to death in a $1,000 killing-for-hire. He is also the only man in modern America to be taken twice for execution, the first time suffering a four-hour ordeal on a gurney as the executioners tried unsuccessfully to raise a vein to inject him with the deadly chemicals.
The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights deems that this never-before-used method could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and called for a halt. The execution went ahead despite their objections and even an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Capital punishment—together with abortion– is one of the most controversial topics in the world, as many people have different opinions on its morality, effectiveness, and legality; it is one of the most debated topics in lecture halls, classrooms, think tanks and public forums.
There are many arguments put forth against its use: it violates the human rights and dignity of the condemned person; it causes extreme physical pain and suffering to the person being executed, especially if the method of execution is cruel, inhumane, or degrading; it causes severe mental pain and suffering to the person being executed, as well as to their family and friends; the person being executed has to endure the fear, anxiety, and stress of knowing that they will die at a certain time and place; the family and friends of the person being executed have to suffer the loss, grief, and trauma of losing a loved one in such a violent and irreversible way.
Of the more practical considerations, it serves no legitimate purpose other than to inflict pain and suffering on the person being executed. An example of the biblical “eye for an eye” dictum. Or as numerous comment board users call it: “a revenge killing”. Countless studies have shown that indeed, capital punishment does not even deter crime. Nor does it rehabilitate or reform the person being executed, as it deprives them of any opportunity to change their behavior or attitude.
And finally, one of the most compelling arguments against it is that justice sometimes is blind, and innocent people have been condemned unjustly. With a life sentence you can ultimately release an individual if new evidence comes to light, but what happens when you have already put them to death? Is a system that factors in such “collateral damage” viable?
“The Justice System is not credible enough to administer death: Prosecutors and Law Enforcement regularly hide exculpatory evidence, just to win convictions, simply because it looks good on their résumé,” writes one user.
Previous forms of capital punishment have been hanging, electrocution, lethal injection, or firing squad. All come with the same fundamental risks, they result in prolonged agony, suffocation, paralysis, burning, or mutilation.
But Smith’s execution was different for being “experimental.” No one knew how it would work. How long would it take him to die? Would he suffer? How much and in what ways?
Some media users hoped that indeed he would suffer: “This guy lived 38 YEARS longer than his victim did. Sorry…. If the guy suffers on the way out, too bad. I’m sure he suffered a lot less then his victim did. They didn’t have a choice or any kind of appeal. The problem when these people sit on Death Row for so long is the victim and the crime are forgotten and it’s about throwing pity-party’s for the perp.”
Others pointed out that there are many other ways of executing a perp that are more economical, swift and sure: a bullet to the back of the head; hanging, which provides the additional advantage that you can reuse the rope and spare another expense. Reflecting one of today’s greatest preoccupations, the opioid epidemic roiling America, countless users suggested putting it to good use: “Use Fentanyl. Its free, evidence lockers in every town are full of it, its very effective, and it works fast.”
Sympathy for Smith was overall in short supply with comments such as these in abundance: “The media acts like this was a saint, he murdered people let him suffer a little I’m sure he watched his victim’s suffer.”
Was Smith’s death torture?
Speaking to the unsolvable nature of this perennial question, and despite the comments from people who believed in an eye for an eye—indeed some even suggested that the form of execution should be the same that the murderer used to kill the victim—there were quite a few who believed that it was: “When it takes 20+ minutes to end a person’s life, that is being tortured to death. A bullet would have been less costly and more human. When we put our animals down, it’s takes [sic] less time than that for them to die.”
“Death penalty is barbaric, vengeful, creates more pain for everyone and does not help the victim’s family in any way, not to mention the people who has to be brainwashed to make them think the killing they are doing is fine, part of a job!”
There are no answers, but many opinions, and La Voce di New York invites you to send us yours.
Send a Letter to the Editor at moc.ynecoval@enoizader
