Stories like this make me want serious capital punishment reform.
A condemned Ohio inmate who weighs at least 480 pounds wants his upcoming execution delayed, saying his weight could lead to a “torturous and lingering death.”
Ronald Post, who shot and killed a hotel clerk in northern Ohio almost 30 years ago, said his weight, vein access, scar tissue and other medical problems raise the likelihood his executioners would encounter severe problems. He’s also so big that the execution gurney might not hold him, lawyers for Post said in federal court papers filed Friday.
Now for our very messed up, and strangely inhumane lethal injection system, he’s probably right. Grossly obese people have hard-to-find superficial veins, and I guess there’s his issue with the gurney.
Still this is the major problem with our capital punishment system. It took three DECADES for him to get his execution date from the time of his sentencing. I’m all for appeals, but is there really any evidence it takes more than a year-or-two, ten at most, for somebody innocent to prove it to the system? And now in that time, they can be packing on the potatoes and Salisbury steak….not to mention liberal helpings of pruno, to pack on the pounds before the magic date happens.
I mean I lost about 40lbs and 4″ on my waist in about 6 months by diligently doing cardio and lifting weights, and obesity is a major problem in America. This doesn’t seem like a difficult model.
A few take-away points: A) a gunshot to the heart or brain will drop him just as fast as a 90lb man. B) His lungs still work, so gassing him while he sits in a sturdy chair, or whatever cot this heifer sleeps on will also do the trick (and we don’t need to use any of the unpleasant gasses…I mean we pay Anesthesiologists a TON of money to keep patients ALIVE in surgery, so the opposite should be easy). Lastly C) If execution isn’t a deterrent, and life in prison is so much worse (even more reason to execute people IMHO) then why is this shitbag fighting it so hard?
Of course 30 years is more than a generation, and enough time for many of the people who were alive when the crime happened to die off, and there are many adults alive today that weren’t alive at the time of the crime. Overall this system is a HUGE miscarriage of justice.
Yeah, if quick and humane and reliable was really the goal of an execution method then a modified ransom rest / bench gun with just about any centerfire non-pistol caliber would do it.
Easy to calibrate, easy to setup, and can even be triggered by a randomized “key-in” system that simulated the old school firing squad. Heck add a couple more guns and have one setup with a “blank” and do it that way too.
But ever since Edison’s Electric Chair demonstrations modern execution methods haven’t been about that.
Don’t waste ammo. Just get a captive bolt pistol like they use to kill cows. Strap his head down, place rod against forehead, and flip the switch remotely.
Not only is there far less mess, there are no pollutants and it’s reusable. It’s the 100% green method of execution!
I thought the bolt only stunned the bovines, and that they were then killed by exsanguination.
Even if so, the device could be recalibrated/redesigned a bit.
This is the ultimate captive target.
Nope, the captive bolt punctures the skull and brain.
Some places uses electric wands to stun the animals so the bolt can be placed quickly and with precision.
That sounds like a great idea!
Tho lots of people are squeamish about the blood that would be spilled. Lethal anesthesia might work well for fatties who need to die.
Hanging still works. The drop tables may not go up to 480 pounds, but if they err on the long side, well, beheading is nearly instantaneous.
Seven Six Two Millimeter Full Metal Jacket..
If he’s worried about them finding a vein, they can always just use one of these. It works great, and they even make needles specifically for obese patients. As a bonus, drugs given through intraosseous infusions are just as effective as those given intravenously.
But they hurt a lot more! Before people think I’m talking cruel and unusual, nope, I’m talking incentive to put down the fork in the Prison Cafe!
Easy Peasy! 30 Days Bread and Water, he loses enough to fit the slab, all done.
Oh, and it’s NOT “Cruel and Unusual Punishment,” or else it wouldn’t be part of Naval Justice.
But why they won’t save some Bucks by just putting him in Solitary w/o anything for a few months, then come back for the remains is beyond me.
I also find it disturbing that someone in jail for 30 years was able to get that fat. Why the heck are they feeding him that much? It’s not like they don’t have control over his diet!
Poison gas? Heck, one major safety rule in the Navy was never enter a “space” without air testing.
Just have the condemned placed into or walk into a room filled with nitrogen. Close the door. Lock it. 15 minutes later…done. Heck, we don’t even need a chamber…..a helmet or mask will do it. If we have to strap him down for an injection, just use a mask.
As always, death-row inmates could be interesting data samples for what bullets really do to human bodies, rather than just ballistic gelatin. Granted, gathering the most useful data would rather violate the “tortuous and lingering death” clause, but quick deaths could still yield useful information.
But, then, I have been accused of being a cold-hearted bastard on occasion.
What’s wrong with the old pineapple grenade taped to the skull trick?
Damage to tax-payer funded prisons!
Do it in the field out back?
And I’m sure fatty was all fired up concerned about what his victim felt when he shot them. And now he wants a bit of sympathy?
A’yup.
It’s like stealing from a theif. They’ll get pretty durn angry if you do that to ’em.
I’m sure I’ve got plans for that guillotine around here somewhere…