WEBVTT - SYSK Selects: Is lethal injection humane? 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.240 Hi everyone, It's me Josh and for this week's s 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:07.240 Y s K selects have chosen how Lethal Injection Works. Uh, 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.320 in the holiday spirit. We released this around Christmas of 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.200 two thousand thirteen, and it can be a hard one 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.960 to listen to, but since whenever a person is executed, 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.439 the state is actually doing it on your behalf, since 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.439 you're a member of the public, it's probably best to 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.200 know what they're doing in your name. It's an eye 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.240 opening one and a sobering one, and I hope it 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:32.960 means a lot to you, because it did to me. 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:43.400 Welcome to Stuff you should Know from how Stuff Works 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:52.080 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.840 and this Charles if you Chuck Bryant, and this is 0:00:54.840 --> 0:01:00.080 stuff you should know the podcast. Greetings. This is not 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:05.880 a capital punishment show, although we will deal with that obviously, 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.080 but we at some point we'll probably do a full 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.960 episode on capital punishment. I would guess, don't you imagine, 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:14.680 because we have notice on it, and uh, we're gonna 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.240 touch on it here with legal injections. Yeah, and just 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:20.960 coming across some stuff on the electric electric chair that 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:24.200 to me seems like it deserves its own episode as well. 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:26.080 It's because it's some nuts. It sounds like we're cooking 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:30.280 up a sweet. Yeah, the Capital punishman sweet. We come 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.480 up with the best sweets, don't we. Well, it's a 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:34.880 big deal. You know, it's important. I agree to you, 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:40.039 you know, um Chuck. About fourteen hours ago, a guy 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.720 named Joseph Paul Franklin. I can't remember what he his 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:47.200 birth name was, but he legally changed his name to 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:51.000 Joseph Paul after in honor of Joseph Paul Gebel's, the 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.080 Nutzi propagandist. What a nice guy he must be to 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.120 change his name to that, right, So Missouri just executed 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:02.120 him at twelve oh one Wednesday. Member was today the 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:08.520 ninete one of those two, and actually hustler publisher Larry 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.320 Flint was making a big hubbub trying to keep the 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.800 man from being killed, which was somewhat ironic, although not 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.840 really if you followed Larry Flint's career, because he was 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.560 the man who supposedly shot Larry Flint and paralyzed him 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.720 for life. Supposedly was he not convicted of that. No, 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.840 he he confessed to it, and it was quite possible 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:29.240 the reason that he gave for doing it was because 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:35.840 um Hustler had had some um, some interracial spread that 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:40.560 the guy didn't like, and he was targeting interracial couples. 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:44.200 He shot a couple of black kids in Ohio, I 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:49.160 believe um. And he was killed in Missouri because he 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.680 randomly picked St. Louis out of the phone book and 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.000 went and found a synagogue and just sat outside and 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.200 took shots at people as they came out of a bar. Mitzvah. 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.960 So he's racist, he's an anti Semite. He also had 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:04.320 serious mental health issues as well. Um Andy shot Larry 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:08.200 flinty um, but he was executed. And the whole reason 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:11.799 that Larry Flint was creating this hubub about not killing 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.079 this guy. One Flint head of famous quote from the 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.800 last news cycle that he didn't think the government should 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:19.640 be in the business of killing people. So he's against 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.079 capital punishment anyway. You can say it like Larry Flint, 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.000 I don't do a very good Larry Flint. You put 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:29.359 some marbles in your mouth, you're gonna try. Um. So 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.960 he he just doesn't think that the death penalties a 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:35.360 good thing. Anyway. He's an abolitionist. You would say, um, 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.800 and then Secondly, he he filed a suit to have 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:43.520 the name of the supplier of the drug that was 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:47.680 going to be used in the lethal injection revealed unsealed 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.920 because it's secret and it's not supposed to be secret. 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.000 But as we'll find out, states recently have had to 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:58.200 scramble to come up with the drugs to execute prisoners 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.080 of the state. Yeah, there's a big thing going on 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.760 that we'll talk about. But that was the most recent 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.680 uh execution in the United States, makes thirty five for 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:12.840 the year, and all but one of those were lethal injections, 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.320 the other one being the electric chair. Yeah, it is 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.720 fast become the go to method for most states in 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:25.000 many countries. If you're gonna get capital punishment UH going, 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.400 then yeah, probably gonna do it by way of lethal 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.600 injection these days. Yeah, but it's also the newest one too, 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:35.440 And it came out of this um this well basically 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:39.560 what amounted to an abolitionist movement in the nineteen sixties 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:41.640 and seventies that sought to just get rid of the 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:46.039 death penalty. And that was the third major movement in 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:50.679 the United States since the late eighteenth century where people 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.919 were just trying to get rid of capital punishment altogether. Yeah, 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:58.080 they did halt at nineteen seventy two after Supreme Court 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:02.640 ruling firm in the Georgia. Uh, and they are remember 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.040 reading about this later. Obviously I didn't read nineteen seventy two. 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.719 I would have been very advanced one year old. But 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.719 they said it was cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment, 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:16.039 violating the eighth Amendment of the Constitution. And then but 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.320 four years later they reversed that and Greg versus Georgia, 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.279 and UM said, you know what, maybe that is cool 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:24.680 on your usual, so let's come up with a way 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:28.039 that's not. And they came up with lethal injection. Yeah. 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.880 And the reason why that cruel and unusual I had 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:35.480 a lot of traction was because, um, there were hangings before, 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:38.680 and hangings are very very messy, sting. If the news 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.840 isn't right, the head can pop right off, or if 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:43.920 the neck isn't broken, the person just hangs there and 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.800 suffocates for a minute or two and then dies. Um. 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.440 And then the electrocution is really really awful too. I 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:55.159 was reading a list of botched executions, and electrocutions are 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:59.040 very frequently botched. People their heads catch fire, blood comes out, 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.920 of their eyes. It's really all full stuff. So there 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:06.200 was this idea that the whole point of this it's retributive. 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.719 It's you did something so bad that we as a 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:14.039 society have decided that you can't live any longer. But 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:16.880 we as a society aren't as cruel as you are. 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.520 You know, the point isn't to make you suffer. It's 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.640 just to take your life and to do it in 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.640 the most humane way possible. Well, electrocution, hanging, gas chamber, 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.200 none of those really fit the bill. So somebody came 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.640 up with the idea of lethal injection. But this wasn't 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:32.840 the first time that was proposed that. The first time 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:36.400 was in the nineteenth century, I think, oh yeah, yeah. 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.760 There was a guy named Julius mount Brier, and he 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.640 was a doctor out in New York who said, you know, 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.960 this would work because it would be efficient, humane, and 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:50.040 it would keep the person from having UM some sort 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.480 of hero status developed around them that sometimes comes from 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:57.600 people who are hanged. But they went with electrocution instead. Well, 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.640 in two the US became the first country to use 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:04.359 lethal injection, and like we said, since then it's really 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:10.480 become predominant UM. I think the current number of states 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:14.840 that have the death penalty is thirty two as of today. 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:18.720 But it's tough because states are have been repealing it. 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.560 It's dropping like flies. I don't know about like flies, 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:26.680 but maybe like honey bees, right, and those are those 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:30.800 are states that have taken the possibility of capital punishment 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.120 off of their books. Right. So, Um, well, you know 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.640 thirty two or is the number that have the death penalty, right? 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:42.560 Thirty two have a death penalty, um. Not necessarily meaning 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.520 that they used that in the past year. Necessarily. There's 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.680 something called de facto abolition, which is basically like, yeah, 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:52.000 it's on our books, but we haven't used it in 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:53.960 so long that we might as well not even have 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:58.680 the death penalty. Um. So chuck, Like we said, lethal 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:04.120 injection is the it's the most frequently used method in 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.720 the United States, and it's fast becoming the same around 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:11.080 the world. China picked it up after the United States 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.760 and they replaced their shootings. Um. And that kind of 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.640 led to it seems like almost a domino effect throughout 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.960 Asia of other countries picking it up as well. Yeah, 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:25.800 the Philippines, Taiwan, uh, Guatemala there in Central America. Um, 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:30.240 they have all gone to lethal injection, and right now, 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.440 I have in two thousand twelve, fifty eight countries used 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:41.320 lethal injection, down from sixty seven UH and sixty three 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.880 INN and a hundred and forty countries of outlawed the 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.839 death penalty worldwide. So and like you said, states are 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.760 kind of starting to abolish it. Yeah, executions are down 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:54.720 in general in the United States last year there were 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.920 forty three. This year, like we said, there's been thirty 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.640 five and we're fast closing out the year. Um, but 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:06.320 lethal injection is the go to method of execution, and 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:10.120 so we're going to figure out how it works. That's right. 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:12.839 Right now, there are three thousand, one d and eight 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.120 people as of spring of this year on death row 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:19.880 or male of course, because you don't find a lot 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.840 of females on death row because they're smart enough to 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:26.240 not to kill other people generally speaking. Is that what 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.920 it is? Yeah, women are much smarter. Um. A lot 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.000 of these folks have been on death row for decades 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:36.199 waiting to die. Maybe they're working through the appeals process 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:39.959 because that all has to happen first. Um, some will 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:44.520 die on death row without ever going into an execution chamber. Yeah, 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.400 it happens. Some people commit or try to commit suicide 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.680 before they can be executed after their appeals run out. Sure, 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:55.320 there's a guy in Georgia who almost successfully killed himself. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.320 He cut his karated artery um with what I wonder, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.600 razor that guarded given him. I guess to shave with us. 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:06.760 Sensibly like the razor and the guy, they rushed into 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.120 the hospital, saved his life and then executed him a 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:15.440 week later. Wow, it's a funny country. Um. So you're 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:19.079 on death row, you've exhausted your appeals. Um, you're finally 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.480 going to get that execution order and a date will 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.480 be set in place for that execution. Um. At this point, 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:28.080 you're going to be moved from death row to a 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:32.200 place called death watch, and that is basically the that's 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.840 the last stop. That's your holding area for the last 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.600 days or weeks, right. Um. So, death watch is both 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.880 a physical place like it's it's frequently in the same 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:44.840 part of the prison that the execution chamber is located, 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:47.880 or it might be in another prison entirely. Some states 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.880 just maintain one execution chamber for the whole state, and 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.120 it's at a certain prison. So you'd be transferred to 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:56.640 that place. And then death watch also is supposedly they're 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:00.000 supposed to watch you so you don't commit suicide. Um, 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.520 and it's also your I think rights kind of open 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:07.040 up a little more. You're you get visits from people. Um. 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.120 You your treatment is a little better. I think you 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:13.679 you get a room with a view, as it were, um, 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.360 and you're you start the perforation of of dying, of 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.440 saying goodbye, and of coming to terms with the fact 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.079 that it's happening. Yeah, you know, the state of Texas 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:26.080 has these death watch rooms at um on highway exits, 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:30.640 most highway exits. You got your gas station, your subway, 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:34.160 and your yeah, your death watch room. I'm kidding, but 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.720 Texas executes a lot of people, it does. Texas bears. 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:40.400 They execute a lot. But they're not the only ones 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.800 that have no all sorts of weirdness going on. Apparently 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:48.320 two percent of counties account for like fifty to seventy 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.320 percent of executions in the United States. It just seems 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.480 like Texas comes up all the time when they're like 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:56.520 the last time this method was used or the first 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.040 time this method was used a Texas well. Texas was 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.439 the first one to usually the injection like you said exactly, Um, 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:04.440 and yeah, they kill a lot of people there. Yeah, 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.240 not picking on you Texas. I love you guys. No here, 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:12.040 I've got one Alabama. In Alabama. Uh it is um, 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:16.160 it takes a unanimous jury to hand down a life sentence, 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:18.920 but it takes ten of twelve to hand down a 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:23.400 death sentence. Really Yeah, and a judge can over rule um, 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.240 a jury a life sentence jury Yeah, and say no, 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.520 this person needs a death penalty and they do it frequently. Interesting. 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.400 We'll pick on Georgia two in a minute. Okay, Well 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.880 Georgia was the one that executed the guy after saving 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.520 his life after the suicide attempt. All right, great, Uh, 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:40.960 I just want to make sure we dolled out enough, 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:45.440 you know, embarrassment for each state. So, um, you're on 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.720 death watch. You can be visited more often, generally by 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.640 friends and family. We're in like the last twenty four 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:55.240 hours is now? Yeah, Um, your attorneys, spiritual advisors, you're 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.319 gonna get your last meal. That is not a fallacy. 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.160 Whatever you want, they'll prepare for you know that's not 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:04.840 necessarily true. Well, it depends. Generally they satisfy your desire. 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.120 But when does it not get satisfied. What state doesn't 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:12.520 do that? Really? Yeah, um, there was a legislation that 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:17.240 was passed after this one. This one inmate ordered a 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.520 meat Lever's pizza like twenty four tacos, like like this 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.800 awesome spread that Just reading it, I was like, oh man, 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.080 I'm kind of hungry for this reading about this this 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.280 man's last meal, and they didn't need any of it. 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.880 Even still, there's probably two dollars for the food, but 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:34.640 it caused enough outrage in the state legislature that they 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.480 passed the thing where it's like, you can have whatever 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:41.640 the prison cafeterias cooking that night, that's your last meal. Yeah. 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:45.320 There's a really great article in Lapham's Quarterly online for 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.440 free called Last Meal. Go check it out. It's just 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.800 basically this awesome history and contemporary evaluation of last meals. 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.080 That's pretty sad it is, but it's really interesting what 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:59.200 it says. Like there's a guy in Arkansas who was 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.160 executed in the nineties. His name was Verry Leaf fair Child, 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:04.920 and he pointed out that it doesn't make a lot 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.160 of sense to give a condemned person a last meal. 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.440 He said it was quote like putting gas in a 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.520 car that don't have no motor but like you have 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.720 no need to take in food because you have no 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.079 need to derive the energy from it any longer, because 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.680 you're about to lose your life. Well, it's not about 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.720 deriving energy, it's about enjoying one last thing, right. But 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.320 if you look at if you look at the capital 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:32.480 punishment system, that's it makes no sense. Yeah, it's it's interesting. 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:34.760 I say, go read the article little. I'm not getting 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:36.880 the point across very well. Well, I mean, I see 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.400 what he's saying, but it's not like you gotta fuel 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.920 up for the big day. It's like here, enjoy a steak. Yeah, 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:44.720 I know, I'm just saying like it flies in the 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.200 face of the rest of the criminal justice system. Oh well, sure, 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.080 enjoy the steak then, you know. And time was they 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.720 used to get you drunk, like beforehand, if you're going 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.520 to get hanged in London, like from the prison to 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.400 the gallows, they would stop and you you'd let you 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:02.680 drink as much as you want and and then would 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.720 take you super drunk and kill you. Yeah, that's interesting 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:10.960 because that could provide a more docile um victim or 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.880 a really weepy one which would be really like someone 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.960 who starts causing lots of trouble. You know, yeah, he 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.120 wants to fight one last time. Exactly right. But apparently 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.000 I read somewhere that they sedate criminals. Are they condemned 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:28.360 here first? So that's kind of like a modern incarnation 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:30.760 of taking them and getting them drunk, handing them a volume. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.920 Yeah that's true, you know. Okay, so you've had your 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:37.120 last meal, which may or not be awesome depending on 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.920 where you live. Um, your warden and your chaplain are 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.040 going to visit. They're gonna stay with you till the 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.160 end unless you don't want them there. You can probably 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:51.480 refuse any kind of religious associations if you want. Um. Witnesses. Uh, well, 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:54.000 we'll get to all that. But the witnesses arrive at 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:56.840 this point. Um, they're kept away from you though. They 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.760 don't get to like walk by and say things to you. No. 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.680 As a matter of fact, most witnesses are required well 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.680 in Texas, they can take pot shots. Are you there? 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:12.520 Six shooters? Um? Sorry Texas? Uh. They the witnesses and 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.240 pretty much across the board I'm sure, are required to 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:19.200 be totally silent the whole time they leave. Are brought 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.360 into the to the execution area. Yeah, not like the 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.920 people outside of prisons who are making lots of noise 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:30.000 usually right the other protests or or kill them, kill them. 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:34.120 That's as ugly as this country gets. Man. When you 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:38.479 see the footage of people outside prisons a controversial executions, 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:42.680 it's pretty bad. Uh. And then their final preparations. They're 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:46.400 gonna give you clean clothes, uh, but you take a 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.280 last shower or shower get dressed. Uh, and then connect 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:54.720 you to the old e k g um, which is gonna, 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.320 you know, let everyone know if you're gone, if you're 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.400 still with them. Yeah, they hook the e k g 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:01.600 up to you. It's not hooked anything yet, but they've 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:06.480 got it like a you're wired exactly. And then what's 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:10.040 your showered and dressed and wired up with the knee 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:12.880 KG and the warden and the chaplain are hanging out 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:17.600 with you. Um. At the predetermined time they will start 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:23.360 to move you into the execution chamber and um. Meanwhile, 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.879 the witnesses are there. And let's talk about the witnesses, 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:30.960 Like the fact that there are witnesses at executions is 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:35.240 actually the modern incarnation of a very long tradition like 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.920 we used to have public executions in this country. Yeah, 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.120 like thousands of people would show up. Sometimes they would 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:44.080 charge admission. Uh, And eventually that stopped and only a 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:48.320 select number of people were allowed to witness. But well 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.520 they're still witnesses. You know. Have you read about the 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:55.680 last public execution? And there was I didn't either, Okay, 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.680 so I thought you're asking no, no, just about it. Um. 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:01.520 There's a guy named Rainey Bethia in Kentucky who was 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:05.920 hanging in nineteen thirty six for rape and murder I think, um, 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.640 and his execution was attended by twenty people. The big 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:11.720 reason was it's not because they knew it was the 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.359 last public execution. I think they decided to stop that. 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:18.600 After this execution, there was a Kentucky basketball game after. Um. 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:20.639 The sheriff was a woman, So this is going to 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.879 be the first execution in US history ever conducted by 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.800 a woman, and people wanted to go see how badly 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:28.920 she was going to screw this up. And even though 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:33.200 she didn't, the press still wrote that she'd fainted. Um, 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.480 that like everything had been botched or whatever. But that's 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.240 why everybody turned out. But there were charges from out 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.439 of town reporters that people were having hanging parties, that 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.200 they were drunk in the streets partying. That basically there 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:48.280 was just a sense of revelry that shouldn't attend uh 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.679 an execution, and that was the last draw for public 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:54.680 executions in this country. But it got it got the 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:58.560 the idea that you need to have other people witness 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:01.840 a death when this executing somebody, just to make sure 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:06.399 it's totally transparent. That was carried on with witnesses today 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.760 and executions. Yeah, I mean that's part of it too, 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:12.120 and part of it is also to give victims closure, 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:16.320 the families that is of victims. Uh, there will be 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.120 sometimes family members of the prisoner too, and they are 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:25.719 generally kept apart um, not not always generally. Yeah. Um, 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:28.879 the prison warden is going to be there. Uh, you're 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:31.720 gonna have medical people on hand of course to make 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:33.800 sure it all goes as planned, which is pretty controversial 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.679 as we'll find. Uh. You got your spiritual advisor, like 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:40.680 we talked about, You've got your guards, um, state selected 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.000 witnesses maybe, I mean there might be members of the 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:46.760 state government there to watch it all go down. Yeah, 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:50.199 you've got media there. Um. You also have what are 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.560 known as reputable citizens, and those are basically just average 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:58.240 everyday citizens that witness executions. Is it like a lottery 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:00.720 or something. No, it's like you kind tech your state 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:02.800 d O C. And say, hey, I wanna I want 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.320 to witness an execution, and they send you an application 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.760 for him. You explain why you have to be over eighteen. 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.320 You have to explain why you want to do this. 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:13.720 But apparently the pool is thin enough that they're not 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:16.280 real selective. As long as you don't say, like, because 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:19.200 I want to see them like bleed or something like that, 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:23.560 they they will let you do this. Um. And apparently 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.480 when there was a surgeon executions in the nineties Chuck Um, 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:31.440 departments of corrections were so hard up because a lot 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.639 of state law says you have to have six reputable 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:38.560 citizens or twelve reputable citizens, that their pool was running thin. 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:43.480 So departments of corrections were actually advertising looking for people 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:47.840 to witness executions newspapers. It's just law. It's just that 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:51.359 hold over from having the public be a part of 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:54.879 this state monopoly on violence. It's stupid, but so much 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:57.280 so that they're trying to force it now. Well, I 0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:58.960 don't think it's a problem anymore. It was just in 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.840 the nineties, like they were killing everybody in the nineties. Yeah, alright, 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:08.879 so you've got your witnesses there. Um, your your execution 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:12.359 chambers may have um clear glass with a curtain pulled, 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:15.280 maybe a one way mirror where you can only see 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:21.240 into the executed, into the condemned. Um. It all depends 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:24.040 on your state, basically, but it's generally going to be 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:27.040 a pretty quiet thing no matter where you are. It's 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:29.080 a whole group of people that are just being utterly 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:32.800 silent watching you. Or if it's there's too many family members, 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:34.919 they might have a close circuit feed going on in 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:37.440 another room. Yeah, if it's like you know, if it's 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.359 not roomy, and apparently in Illinois, if you're a family member, 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:42.480 the only way you can witness it is via close 0:21:42.520 --> 0:21:47.560 circuit TV in another room in Illinois. In Illinois, all right, 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.880 it's another state. That's a new one. We haven't mentioned Illinois. Yeah. Yeah, 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:53.280 we didn't really make fun of them though, I guess 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.159 they're execution chambers. Small. Yeah, you can make fun of 0:21:56.160 --> 0:22:00.200 them their enemy seats in their nice state budget. Um, 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:03.840 you've got your timeline of events. It's all very much 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:08.199 scheduled like down to the minute. Um, you're gonna have 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:13.000 your person properly dressed, you're gonna escort them into the chamber. 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:15.639 I was thinking about this when I was reading this article, Chuck. 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:19.760 Imagine like just taking a shower too fast, and so 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:21.320 you just kind of have to sit there on the 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:25.040 edge of the bed with the warden and whatever spiritual 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:29.240 adviser they throw at you, waiting to go be executed. 0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:34.359 That has to be the worst wait ever. Yeah, Like 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:36.360 I can't imagine it being much worse than that, because 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:38.520 they can't be like, wow, we'll just get this started early. No, 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:42.159 everything is on a very delineated schedule, and they're just 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:44.760 kind of have to sit there until the time comes 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:47.439 to go to the execution chamber to get started. I 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:50.320 just to take a long shower. That stuck out to me. Yeah, okay, 0:22:51.200 --> 0:22:55.399 the longest shower of your life. Um, the saddest shower 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:57.840 of your life for sure. Uh. You might be rolled 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:00.440 in and like restrained beforehand and rolled in on a jernie. 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:03.200 Sometimes you're allowed to walk there yourself and then you're 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:07.480