Florida Legislator: Bring Back the Firing Squad

Saying it's time to stop letting convicted killers "get off that easy," a Florida state lawmaker wants to use firing squads or the electric chair for those on Death Row, according to the Miami Herald.

Rep. Brad Drake filed a bill this week that would end the use of lethal injection in Florida executions. Instead those with a death sentence could choose between electrocution or a firing squad, under the proposal.

Drake told the Herald the idea came to him after having a conversation with a constituent at a DeFuniak Springs Waffle House over the legal battles associated with the Sept. 28 execution of Manuel Valle.

Valle's lawyers tried to stop the execution by arguing that a new lethal drug cocktail would cause him pain and therefore constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Courts, however, rejected that argument and let the execution go forward.

He told the Herald, that government is spending too much time listening to advocacy groups and instead should put in place a death sentence that forces convicted murderers to contemplate their fates.

Drake said lethal injection just allows a person to die in their sleep while a firing squad or electrocution would force Death Row inmates to think about their punishment "every morning."

"I think if you ask a hundred people, not even talking to criminals, how would you like to die, if you were drowned, if you were shot, and if you say you were put to sleep, 90 percent of some of the people would say I want to be put to sleep," Drake told the Herald. "Let's put our pants back on the right way."

To read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/12/2451194/fla-lawmaker-wants-to-bring-back.html#ixzz1acZgYVB8