Texas Bans Execution Last Meals

[MA-Caver]

Sure leave it to one guy to screw it up for everyone else.
Usually last meal requests were granted for the condemned but some have literally abused the privileged, like the white supremacist who dragged a man behind his truck. This guy ordered a meal that he couldn't possibly have finished (didn't say if he did or not) but it was IMO above and beyond typical prison fare.

[h=1]Texas execution leads to ban on choice of last meal[/h] Authorities will only serve standard prison fare after racist killer Lawrence Russell Brewer's elaborate and uneaten final request


Last week inmate Steven Woods's request included 2lb (1kg) of bacon, a large four-meat pizza, four fried chicken breasts, two drinks each of Mountain Dew, Pepsi, root beer and sweet tea, two pints (1 litre) of ice cream, five chicken fried steaks, two hamburgers with bacon, fries and a dozen garlic bread sticks with marinara on the side. Two hours later he was executed.

Full story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/23/texas-execution-ends-final-meal

Now they've banned this and the condemned get whatever else the other inmates are getting. Tough luck boys but like I said... it usually takes one guy to screw it up for everyone else.
Question is should this have been done anyway? Tradition stood mainly because of superstitions of the dead convict coming back to haunt them, so to appease their spirits they're given a good meal before they die. Now nobody is superstitious anymore so that concern isn't a concern today.
Some say it's hypocritical because their murdered victims didn't get a nice feast before they were killed. In that view I would agree. But then again their victims didn't have much of a choice of dying... neither do those sitting on death-row. It's bad having to sit for days, weeks, months and even years knowing that they're coming to kill you. Personally I think they should only have to wait a few weeks if they're proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Should they have last meals or will this trend spread to other prisons/states that still have the death penalty?


Thoughts, opinions?

 

[MJS]

Sure leave it to one guy to screw it up for everyone else.
Usually last meal requests were granted for the condemned but some have literally abused the privileged, like the white supremacist who dragged a man behind his truck. This guy ordered a meal that he couldn't possibly have finished (didn't say if he did or not) but it was IMO above and beyond typical prison fare.


Now they've banned this and the condemned get whatever else the other inmates are getting. Tough luck boys but like I said... it usually takes one guy to screw it up for everyone else.
Question is should this have been done anyway? Tradition stood mainly because of superstitions of the dead convict coming back to haunt them, so to appease their spirits they're given a good meal before they die. Now nobody is superstitious anymore so that concern isn't a concern today.
Some say it's hypocritical because their murdered victims didn't get a nice feast before they were killed. In that view I would agree. But then again their victims didn't have much of a choice of dying... neither do those sitting on death-row. It's bad having to sit for days, weeks, months and even years knowing that they're coming to kill you. Personally I think they should only have to wait a few weeks if they're proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Should they have last meals or will this trend spread to other prisons/states that still have the death penalty?


Thoughts, opinions?

The guy ordered all this, knowing that he a) couldn't possibly eat it all or b) wasn't going to eat anything. The staff gave all of this to him. Now, either they really thought he'd eat it all or they're just very stupid. In any case, sure, I'm all for giving them a last meal. But, lets be serious here....it has to be something within reason. I mean, the amount of food this clown ordered, would feed 6 people. Order 1 or 2 things, and thats it. No need for a 6 course meal.

As for how long they have to sit on death row....yeah, I agree...if people can't get their **** together and figure out if the guy is guilty or innocent, then the system and everyone thats a part of it, really is ****ed. But thats another thread.

 

[Monroe]

My 2yo asked for a Thomas the Tank Engine rollercoaster for the backyard. Common sense really could have come in handy here. Someone orders something ridiculous, you say no.

 

[billc]

No, they don't deserve a last meal. This is always the problem with the death penalty. It is easy for people to feel some empathy for the guy on death row. He is a human being in a harsh environment, with no relief, and waiting to be killed. That is what people see and think about most of the time and it doesn't take much to tap into that natural empathy normal human beings have for the suffering of others. It takes that extra bit of brain power to think past that, and to feel empathy for the victim who no longer exists, who suffered, in some cases, 22 years ago, and has lost everything to the man sitting in that cell. Now I'm not saying that people don't feel for the victim. I'm trying to point out that the emotions for the victim are in many cases faint traces compared to what is natural to feel for someone you can actually see, who you can actually hear proclaim there innocence or their repentance, whose relatives you also hear asking for lenience for their brother, father, or son who is incarcerated and facing death. It is all too easy to think about how we would feel if we were the one sitting in the cell waiting for death. So no. The killers and the rapists should not be given a last meal.

 

[seasoned]

If put into a situation like that myself, eating would be the lest on my mind. I say if they could eat at that point, they must be guilty as hell. Just a thought.

 

[elder999]

If put into a situation like that myself, eating would be the lest on my mind. I say if they could eat at that point, they must be guilty as hell. Just a thought.

Or innocent, and sure of their fate in the afterlife-the last meal might be the last earthly pleasure.......just a thought.


The last meal is a tradition that is supposed to make the executioners, guards and warden feel better about what they're doing; it's not really for the prisoner at all. Killing someone is against most men's nature, really, and killing someone under such circumstances is especially hard.

 

[seasoned]

When the coin flips, things sometimes do look different from that vantage point indeed. Looking at it from my perspective of course, it is a trip either way, that I would take a little on the light side.

Or innocent, and sure of their fate in the afterlife-the last meal might be the last earthly pleasure.......just a thought.

The last meal is a tradition that is supposed to make the executioners, guards and warden feel better about what they're doing; it's not really for the prisoner at all. Killing someone is against most men's nature, really, and killing someone under such circumstances is especially hard.

On this note, this is a job that I would not want. I could see many sleepless nights.

 

[Carol]

I was under the impression that the last meal was part of the punishment...the institution is giving a final reminder to the prisoner that they will never see any earthly enjoyment again. They break the death row routine to show a hint at ho good something is, just before they take it away.

Personally I don't have an issue with the meal, I have an issue with how the situation is handled. A reactionary ban of something is not a particularly good management practice. However, since there is more than management at play here (ie: politics), perhaps management principles don't apply.

 

[Makalakumu]

I'm object to the death penalty, so taking away the last meal is like taking the cherry off a fecal matter sundae, IMO.

 

[NSRTKD]

I'm object to the death penalty, so taking away the last meal is like taking the cherry off a fecal matter sundae, IMO.

Now there's a colorful mental image!!!I, personally, feel I am too young to have an accurate perspective on this particular issue. There is a passionate side of me that says "fry the dirty b******s and starve em first!" And a COMpassionate side of me that says that killing one doesn't rectify the death of another. I'm 25. I have hardly seen enough of life to have the wisdom to determine the value in taking another's away or the manner in which such punishment is delivered. I also can't determine which side of my perspective is the youthful and naive and which is older and more enlightened. I remain opinionless until I can tell which is which...But a fecal matter sundae... cherry or no, that's hilarious, and might make for a great crime deterrent if the was a mandatory last meal.

 

[elder999]

I, personally, feel I am too young to have an accurate perspective on this particular issue. There is a passionate side of me that says "fry the dirty b******s and starve em first!" And a COMpassionate side of me that says that killing one doesn't rectify the death of another. I'm 25. I have hardly seen enough of life to have the wisdom to determine the value in taking another's away or the manner in which such punishment is delivered. I also can't determine which side of my perspective is the youthful and naive and which is older and more enlightened. I remain opinionless until I can tell which is which....

That strikes me as pretty damn wise for a 25 year old.....or a 51 year old. :asian:

 

[Buka]

All people on death row should have a last meal. And a manicure, perhaps a nice massage, maybe a Broadway show.

A lot of people on death row are monsters. A lot of law abiding citizens in the United States know nothing of monsters. (thankfully)

 

[Makalakumu]

Now there's a colorful mental image!!!I, personally, feel I am too young to have an accurate perspective on this particular issue. There is a passionate side of me that says "fry the dirty b******s and starve em first!" And a COMpassionate side of me that says that killing one doesn't rectify the death of another. I'm 25. I have hardly seen enough of life to have the wisdom to determine the value in taking another's away or the manner in which such punishment is delivered. I also can't determine which side of my perspective is the youthful and naive and which is older and more enlightened. I remain opinionless until I can tell which is which...But a fecal matter sundae... cherry or no, that's hilarious, and might make for a great crime deterrent if the was a mandatory last meal.

In the same vein of humility, don't be afraid to take an opinion. You have important decisions to make and the world needs your mind. When the opinion is no longer supportable, change it. Don't worry about this silly flip-flopper business. No body gets to be right all of the time and wise people deal with this with grace.

 

[Makalakumu]

All people on death row should have a last meal. And a manicure, perhaps a nice massage, maybe a Broadway show.

A lot of people on death row are monsters. A lot of law abiding citizens in the United States know nothing of monsters. (thankfully)

Proving people are monsters is the issue. It's just an opinion.

Also, when you give the State the power to take life and combine it with the above, the stage is set for terror.

 

[Twin Fist]

fry them, fry them twice and scatter the ashes

 

[Makalakumu]

Thou shall not...ah **** it.

Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk

 

[NSRTKD]

In the same vein of humility, don't be afraid to take an opinion. You have important decisions to make and the world needs your mind. When the opinion is no longer supportable, change it. Don't worry about this silly flip-flopper business. No body gets to be right all of the time and wise people deal with this with grace.

It's not so much a matter of wanting to be right as a matter of recognizing that my opinion is currently fluid, and that ambivalence is different from having no opinion. I feel quite strongly both ways, thus can't dismiss one or the other opinion.

 

[billc]

I believe you meant "Though shalt do no murder." These guys apparently did, and they should receive the death penalty as punishment for their crimes, with no last meal.

 

[Makalakumu]

I believe you meant "Though shalt do no murder." These guys apparently did, and they should receive the death penalty as punishment for their crimes, with no last meal.

Nope, I meant "thou shalt not...ah **** it."

I'm sure people could regale me with apologies about how the bible really meant murder instead of kill. Well maybe it did and I really don't care. There's plenty of murder in the Bible and god liked that **** a lot.

So, "thou shalt not...ah **** it" still applies.

So, what principle are you using to support the death penalty? How do you support this philosophically? Do you consistently apply this principle everywhere?

 

[billc]

One, if you take an innocent life you lose yours. Two, someone who willfully murders an innocent is more likely to do that while in prison or if they escape and want to avoid capture. They may murder a guard, a member of the prison bureacracy, or another prisoner, or people thy come across as they try to make good their escape, perhaps even you makalakumu or one of your family members. I try to apply it as consistently as possible in this wild world we live in.