The problem with having a market economy ethos and the death penalty is that, sometimes, the two come together in odd ways. So it is in Utah, where Ronnie Lee Gardner faces death for a 1985 courthouse murder. Utah is giving Gardner a big decision: his method of execution. He can choose to die by either legal injection or firing squad. Of course, a person facing this decision would want some information. And the Utah Department of Corrections understands.
To help Gardner with this important call, the state will provide him with information about the training and expertise of his potential executioners. It will also give him some general information about the respective approaches to terminating his life. Resumes. Technological details. With all this data in hand, Gardner can then make a reasonable, informed choice between ingesting poison and getting shot to death. He may derive some satisfaction from having a bit of control over his last moments on earth and this info from Utah will no doubt help him optimize his choice. He will, ahem, maximize his personal welfare.
But talk about constrained agency!
"There is a joke in which some tyrant, having tired of a quick-witted minister in his employ, condemns the wretch to death — but adds that, in view of past good service, the victim will have liberty to choose the method. Thinking fast, the minister chooses old age." http://www.executedtoday.com/2008/05/10/1987-sadamichi-hirasawa-teigin-incident-unit-731/
Of course, natural death is a fairly common way of getting off of death row.
Posted by: Jack | April 07, 2010 at 12:38 PM