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Comment by john_alan | Hacker News Reader

Or carbon monoxide?

Or you know, literally, just a gun to the head. Out of all possible execution methods that were tried in the last century, the lethal injection seems to be one of the most horrific ones, possibly beaten by the electric chair.

Lethal injection designed and administered by a competent anesthesiologist who had a goal of making the process as painless and peaceful as possible seems like one of the better ways to die. It was a good idea in principle. But in practice, the nonsensical protocols designed by non-experts who don't care about the experience being pleasant and administered by incompetents hasn't gone well.

I suspect there's very few competent anesthesiologist who would be willing to do lethal injections. Even if they believe in the death penalty the risk to their careers seems not worth the non-existent reward.

Many doctors believe participating in executions is a violation of the Hippocratic Oath. I suspect that you're right.

> Even if they believe in the death penalty the risk to their careers seems not worth the non-existent reward.

I would presume they pay fairly handsomely, if there are few doctors willing to participate. Even if they payed them $10,000 to do it, there aren't enough executions a year for it to dent the budget. I wonder if that info is public.

The median anesthesiologist in the US earns a little under $400,000/yr. $10,000 is probably not enough to get one risk their career to carry out an execution.

Plenty of people have survived execution by gunshot - especially in wartime, when shooting prisoners is commonplace. See for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenceslao_Moguel and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_Dumini

I think certain French revolutionaries found a more clear-cut solution a long time ago.

(Personally, I find the death sentence in any form barbaric, given how it nullifies any form of recourse in cases of wrongful conviction. It might however be an agreeable option to offer "voluntary execution" of some form: allow inmates convicted for life an alternative to using bedsheets in ways they weren't intended for. What a depressing topic, this.)

Now I’m curious; is there any account of a botched execution with a guillotine?

Yes: https://www.quora.com/Has-the-guillotine-ever-failed-since-1...

Cheers!

Why the electric chair? My father was accidentally electrocuted (and fortunately survived). He says that he felt nothing.

Accidental electrocutions are brief.

In the chair you are looking at a minimum of about 90 seconds of agony, which some taking in excess of 10 minutes.

My father lost consciousness immediately. So how is it agony?

Carbon monoxide is an awful way to die, as it triggers the hypercapnic alarm response.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercapnic_alarm_response

Inert gas asphyxiation would be a more "humane" way

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation

You confuse CO with CO2, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_poisoning....

As someone who came very close to dying when a refrigerant relief valve on an industrial AC unit lifted in an enclosed space I can attest that it is a very peaceful and painless way to go.

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