Recently,
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bomber
Timothy McVeigh has requsted his
execution on
May 16, 2001 be
televised for the whole country (or at least the state of
Oklahoma) to see. His rationale is that we're all victims of his crime, we have a right to see his punishment carried out (and there was already a provision to show the execution via
closed circuit TV to victims and their family members who wouldn't be able to see the execution in person.)
Should we allow this? Lots of things to think about:
Overall, I think it needs to be done. Like
Seumas said, I don't think people on either side of the
death penalty issue can fully appreciate their
opinion until they've seen an
execution--seen the
state end life. If you think it's
graphic,
horrible,
inappropriate, etc., then you think so because the act itself is--since it's the
state doing it, it's already
public, it's just now accessible to all. If you feel it's appropriate, and just, then seeing it should reinforce your faith in what is happening.