this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2026
471 points (99.2% liked)

News

37342 readers
1332 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious biased sources will be removed at the mods’ discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted separately but not to the post body. Sources may be checked for reliability using Wikipedia, MBFC, AdFontes, GroundNews, etc.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source. Clickbait titles may be removed.


Posts which titles don’t match the source may be removed. If the site changed their headline, we may ask you to update the post title. Clickbait titles use hyperbolic language and do not accurately describe the article content. When necessary, post titles may be edited, clearly marked with [brackets], but may never be used to editorialize or comment on the content.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials, videos, blogs, press releases, or celebrity gossip will be allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Mods may use discretion to pre-approve videos or press releases from highly credible sources that provide unique, newsworthy content not available or possible in another format.


7. No duplicate posts.


If an article has already been posted, it will be removed. Different articles reporting on the same subject are permitted. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners or news aggregators.


All posts must link to original article sources. You may include archival links in the post description. News aggregators such as Yahoo, Google, Hacker News, etc. should be avoided in favor of the original source link. Newswire services such as AP, Reuters, or AFP, are frequently republished and may be shared from other credible sources.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to expand the use of the federal death penalty, including through the deployment of firing squads.

The announcement on Friday was part of a policy document issued by the Department of Justice, setting out the legal argument for various methods of execution.

It touted steps for “restoring and strengthening” the death penalty as integral to the pursuit of justice.

“The Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences — clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals,” the Justice Department said in a news release.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 45 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I mean...

There's completely painless ways to die.

That's what the whole assisted suicide thing is in civilized countries.

The "problem" is, that's completely painless, you just go to sleep. And the people who want this, want it to be a painful gruesome death.

It's not justice or even removing an uncontrollable element, it's vengeance. And vengeance has to be painful.

There's nothing stopping an ethical death penalty except the ethics of the people implementing

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 36 points 2 days ago (2 children)

And the "can't take it back" aspect. Conviction and execution of innocent people does happen.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 days ago

For Republicans this is a feature, not a bug.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 13 points 2 days ago

I mostly am just against the state having the right to kill.

But innocent people being killed is definitely a top list issue.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There’s completely painless ways to die.

...

There’s nothing stopping an ethical death penalty except the ethics of the people implementing

This comment implies that the method of killing is the fundamental ethical problem with the death penalty. The killing part is the fundamental problem for me.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

...

Yes...

Any discussion on an ethical way to do something, is first predicted on the thing happening.

There's an ethical way to cut aomeone's leg off, that doesn't mean we should cut Bob's leg off, it doesn't even mean we should cut anyone's leg off under any circumstances.

Just that if we were going to do something, there are ways to do that ethically.

People really don't learn this shit anymore?

This argument is specious. It implies that there's an ethical way to engage in any imaginable act and ignores the possibility of the existence of acts which may never be ethical under any circumstance. This isn't a question of whether someone has "learned this shit." You've created a tautology re: the existence of an ethical means to all ends. One doesn't need to accept Kant's Categorical Imperative to believe that some acts can never be ethical.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

ignores the possibility of the existence of acts which may never be ethical under any circumstance.

Name 1, and I bet I can justify it ethically.

Like, "if you don't do ____, then superman blows up the sun" is the obvious one, but depending on what you say, I can dial back some.

[–] nomy@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

Name 1, and I bet I can justify it ethically.

Trump fucks kids, go.

[–] nwtreeoctopus@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

On the other hand, there're good, ethical reasons to cut off Bob's leg sometimes. If you hold the view that there's never an ethical reason for the state to execute someone, then by that definition all those killings are just some varied degrees of unethical.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

A prisoner is suffering and wants to die, their life is a constant pain and keeping them in prison until they die would be torture...

Youd make them suffer for years to only die in prison later?

I guess everyone has different ethical lines...

[–] atomicorange@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

That’s not a “death penalty” though. It’s mercy killing.

[–] nwtreeoctopus@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

First, I didn't make the argument.

Second, I think most people could draw a line between allowing a suffering prisoner to choose death and forcing it on them.

Third, that assumes that there's an ethical argument for life imprisonment.

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Up next, america announces new crucifixion punishment for "politically problematic" prisoners

[–] Enkrod@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The people who manufacture the drugs that make you go peacefully have embargoed the USA, because they don't want their drugs used for state sanctioned murder.

  • Manufacturer Bans: Pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Baxter International, B. Braun Medical, Fresenius Kabi, and Johnson & Johnson, have established policies to stop their products from being used in capital punishment.

  • EU Export Restrictions: In 2011, the European Union passed anti-torture measures that prohibit the trade of goods used for capital punishment.

[–] AutistoMephisto@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

And the people who want this, want it to be a painful gruesome death.

Yeah. If done correctly, a bullet to the head is quick and painless, as in, you are dead before your body has recognized that you've been shot.

But the people who want this want suffering, so likely firing squads will be ordered to hit body parts that will not result in instant, painless death but rather a gruesome and agonizing death from shock and blood loss.