Tranquil

Some news from Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said Wednesday he wanted to consider more 'tranquil' methods of execution.

Japan generally executes several convicts a year, always by hanging.

"I am fully aware that 'death by hanging' is written in the criminal code," Hatoyama said after a parliamentary committee meeting, Kyodo news agency said.

"A square part of the floor opens up and they fall with a thud," he said. "I honestly wonder if there isn't a more tranquil way of doing this," Kyodo quoted him as adding.

It was not clear what other methods he was considering.

Lethal injection has hit problems in the United States, where the Supreme Court is set to rule on whether administering the commonly used three-chemical cocktail violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

All but one of the 38 U.S. states with the death penalty and the federal government use lethal injection, which has come under scrutiny after botched executions in California and Florida in which the condemned took over 30 minutes to die.

Maybe Minister Hatoyama wants the condemned to be allowed to choose the music played at their execution. As long as no heavy metal or elevator music is played, its fine with me.

Seriously, I don't think there is a man made method to make someone die without pain. If the Supreme Court were to ban lethal injection, the Death penalty is as good as kaput in the United States. I'm kind of ambivalent on the subject. I used to strongly support capitol punishment. Now I think maybe it should be used for extreme cases only. If I was on a jury, I'd have a hard time voting for the death penalty myself.

I think legislatures, not the court system should decide whether Capitol punishment is a proper sentence. The Supreme Court's opinion has changed more than once, for no other reason than the makeup of the court at the time.

Linked to- High Desert Wanderer, Mad Pigeon, Outside the Beltway, Rosemary, Third World County,