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So of course this article raises some interesting questions. The first one being the fact that this man was allowed to choose his method of execution. It is sort gristly choice, and this man seems to be making the best out of it by choosing one final message to convey. However, this also raises the question, "should death row prisoners be allowed to choose the method?"
By allowing the prisoner to choose the way that they want to die it is only another acknowledgement that these people are human and capable of somewhat of a rational thought process.
The purpose of a penitentiary is to rehabilitate prisoners, and the death penalty is to be used when the person is unable to be rehabilitated. However, "A 2002 study survey showed that among nearly 275,000 prisoners release in 1994, 67.4% were rearrested within three years and 51.8% were back in prison". (US Department of Justice). This is a fairly good indicator that our legal system really isn't doing a good job at rehabilitating inmates.
As a matter of fact, prisons are riddled with crime and violence. They attempt to reduce medical care in order to increase their profits, and as a result they are keeping ill people confined who could otherwise receive better medical care outside of the prison.
Indeed, the crimes themselves are not right, but if the prison's themselves attempted to be more like a "correctional facility" and less like a time-out corner maybe the judiciary system would benefit. Initially it may take more effort to counsel prisoners, but if it reduces the imprisonment rate then it just might be worth it.
There may be some prisoners who can't be "corrected" by being sent to prison, and these are the people who deserve the death row. The people who need slightly more effort do not deserve the death row.
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