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    Tennessee Prepares to Commit Mass Murder

    Today, The Tennessean newspaper reported that the state plans to execute 10 people beginning in the new year ("TN makes unprecedented push to execute 10 killers"). This is almost double the number of people executed in Tennessee over the past 40 years. 

    While it may seem hyperbolic to describe these planned executions as a form of "mass murder," I believe that the hyperbolic nature of capital punishment warrants such a description.  And the state of Tennessee seems to agree, at least on some level.  The standard way of recording the "manner of death" on an executed prisoner's death certificate in Tennessee is as "homicide."  A homicide committed by the state, and by proxy by the people of Tennessee. 

    Over the next few months, I will explore some of the issues raised by state homicide in a series of blog posts on New APPS.  I welcome your constructive and critical feedback.

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    30 responses to “Tennessee Prepares to Commit Mass Murder”

    1. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      I never harmed anyone. They did. And loved it.

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    2. Jon Cogburn Avatar
      Jon Cogburn

      I think “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” was supposed to be a counter-possible.

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    3. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      It is not a metaphor. There are really evil people who kill and do other atrocities.

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    4. Neil Levy Avatar
      Neil Levy

      “There are really evil people who kill”. Yes: like the state of Tennessee.

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    5. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      would you like to meet one of those killers and live with him and be killed or tortured?
      why the state of Tennessee wants to kill them? Because?

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    6. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      they dont care about morals, many of them just like what they are doing.
      they are like that. dont have mercy for bastards who just enjoyed killing and seriously harming other people.

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    7. Mark Avatar
      Mark

      While it may seem hyperbolic to describe these planned executions as a form of “mass murder,” I believe that the hyperbolic nature of capital punishment warrants such a description. And the state of Tennessee seems to agree, at least on some level.
      There is no level on which the state of Tennessee agrees. Homicide neither is or entails murder (cf. ‘justifiable homicide’). To list a manner of death as homicide is just to acknowledge that death was brought about by a human agent.

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    8. Jon Cogburn Avatar
      Jon Cogburn

      This is too quickly degenerating into a useless web back and forth of quips, and I’m sorry if my quoting scripture at you contributed to that.
      Let me just say that I understand and share your discomfort with Professor Guenther’s seeming to equate capital punishment with the horrific crimes of the people being put to death. So when I quoted Jesus I wasn’t trying to minimize that (I would have quoted the thing about the log in one’s eye if I were doing that, and it would have been much more inappropriate exactly along the lines of your objection).
      However, the rationality of such discomfort is consistent with the recognition that desire for vengeance and retribution is a monstrously deformative evil in its own right, so monstrous that I don’t think calling what is about to happen “mass murder” is hyperbole. In some ways it is more monstrous because people of good will who do not love evil are so seduced to evil by it. Part, and only part, of the deformation is that when we abrogate such rights to ourselves we end up thinking that we ourselves never harmed anyone, which is just patently false with respect to every human being.
      Anyhow, I just wanted to say that I don’t think your discomfort is irrational and am sorry if my quick quip has led to one of the internet things where everyone reads everyone else in maximally uncharitable ways. For example, while I’m against capital punishment, I have no idea what I’d say to a victim’s family member who is for it (actually I do, I’d say nothing). These are not easy issues. Sister Helen Prejean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Prejean) is pretty amazing because she can manage to do this kind of thing in a loving manner; its one of the hardest things I can imagine.

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    9. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      “because people of good will who do not love evil are so seduced to evil by it.”
      this is twisted. I am a good person. I think people who do so much evil should be punished, as being killed.
      why keeping them alive?
      if they would be tortured like they did to their victims, I agree for them to be kept alive.
      I agree with this.
      call it normal human reaction. and not being holy.

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    10. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      “when we abrogate such rights to ourselves we end up thinking that we ourselves never harmed anyone, which is just patently false with respect to every human being.”
      there are huge differences.
      I said I never harmed anyone, meaning I never killed anyone, or seriously harm someone.
      otherwise, I am subjective to being human, as being normal.
      some people are really evil, they indulge themselves in being evil, they are like that and they get a thrill being like that. can you understand this?
      like being a psychopath.

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    11. Jon Cogburn Avatar
      Jon Cogburn

      John,
      Yes. I agree with you. I think some people love evil and also that some people are psychopaths, and the two groups intersect. As a Christian I am supposed to love such people, but honestly find it impossible to do so (I do not think that ought implies can). The fact that psychopaths love no one else makes this doubly difficult.
      I also think that evil is dangerously seductive and that some people who love evil start out pretty decent and are slowly seduced. One of the ways decent people get seduced is through the desire for revenge, and that the state’s monopoly on violence should never be used to accomplish this for people.
      I don’t philosophize about any of this as my day job and am not trying to say anything profound. The only reason I’m sharing this is to note that it’s possible to agree with much of what you are saying and still find capital punishment to be itself a great evil.

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    12. Lisa N Guenther Avatar
      Lisa N Guenther

      This is a fair point. But I think it also raises philosophical and political questions about the sense in which state execution is brought about by a human agent or agents. On one hand, a small group of human agents plan, prepare, and carry out executions. These include the executioner(s), the warden, the correctional officers who supervise death watch and bring the prisoner to the gurney or the chair. They also include, less directly, the attorney general who requests an execution date, the judge who grants it, the prosecutor who asked for the death penalty, the jury who sentenced the prisoners, the voters who support capital punishment, the “tough on crime” candidates who endorse them, and most broadly, the public that may or may not vote, but that implicitly supports the death penalty by not opposing it. Lots of human agents there, very few (if any) of whom would regard them as the agent of a homicide. Because one of the conditions under which “good” people support capital punishment is by displacing their own individual agency onto “the state,” understood not as a human agent but as an impersonal dispenser of justice. By not recognizing their own role as agents of legalized homicide, they can maintain an absolute distinction between murder and execution. This is a distinction that, while fueled by intense emotions (as we can see from the comments above), falls apart under closer scrutiny. Who exactly commits the act of homicide? Is it the executioner? No, they’re just performing a service to the state. That’s one of the reasons why those who are directly involved in carrying out an execution are guaranteed anonymity; they are not supposed to be acting on their own behalf as individual agents, but rather on behalf of the state. Who is the state? Is it you and me, understood as individual human agents? No, we’re just innocent, law-abiding citizens. We don’t kill people, they do! The violence of execution as an act of homicide is effaced by this ambiguity of agency, but a trace of this violence remains on the death certificate that baldly states: homicide.

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    13. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      I dont find capital punishement a great evil.
      Or be holy, so not to loose your mind.
      I like hat you said in this post:
      “For example, while I’m against capital punishment, I have no idea what I’d say to a victim’s family member who is for it (actually I do, I’d say nothing). These are not easy issues.”
      its fair.

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    14. Lisa N Guenther Avatar
      Lisa N Guenther

      I think it’s important to engage with the views of people who have actually lost a loved one to murder, many of whom have found no solace in the execution of the convicted murderer and a complicated sense of pain that only compounds their loss. See, for example: http://www.mvfhr.org/, http://conservativesconcerned.org/why-were-concerned/victims/, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18791726, http://reachcoalition.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/reflections-on-love-loss-and-the-death-penalty-by-a-murder-victims-family-member/

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    15. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      I dont think the state or the agents who are anonymous are innocent. I think they kill a criminal, thats what I believe. Because he did atrocities. So they are not the perfect innocent people, by some very tough standards.
      the criminal can take as much time to commit a murder, planning and following the victim, it goes to a lot of extent.
      they dont fear, there is no such a great punishment for them. and some are really smart to believe that they ill never be caught.
      they cant help themselves, they have a urge to fulfil their needs.
      and you think we, the rest of us, who are humans, must be tolerant. we must understand how is it like to be a complete idiot.

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    16. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      what is it that you are fighting for?
      the general idea of “not to kill” under any circumstances?
      what will be accomplished with this?
      if you have a death punishement, isnt it possible that there will be less crimes out of fear for those ho have the urge to kill?

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    17. Jon Cogburn Avatar
      Jon Cogburn

      Yeah, one of the most inhumane things I’ve ever heard was when I was almost on jury duty for a capital case for the murder of Baton Rouge police officer Vicki Wax by Shedran Williams.* I forget whether it was a lawyer or another juror, but the idea was that Wax’s family members needed Williams to be killed so that they would have “closure.” I mean this struck me as inhuman to the family members, as if things would ever be fine with them if this one thing just happened.
      [*Who is mildly mentally retarded and still due for execution- http://off2dr.com/smf/index.php?topic=7451.0 . The day after I was released from jury duty I was talking to the bus driver as we drove by the downtown courthouse and I told him why I’d been there all week. It was a horrible synchronicity, because the bus driver had actually gone to elementary school with the killer, and he said to me, “I came up with Shedran; I could tell you from day one something wasn’t right with him.” During one day of jury selection I sat in the seat behind Williams and he kept turning around and looking at me, and I got the same sense that he didn’t really understand that much.
      I was removed from the jury the day I corrected the prosecutor on whether someone could be guilty of first degree murder and still not get the death penalty. The prosecutor tried to tell us that the set of extenuating circumstances were the same in the state of Louisiana in both cases, but I knew that they weren’t and the judge agreed with me that someone found guilty on first degree could still be determined by the jury to not be executed due to a different set of extenuating circumstances. So the prosecutor used his last veto to get me off. This is another huge issue I think, how jury selection works to prevent people from having a fair trial. If you disagree with the death penalty or the war on drugs, you will get out of almost any jury selection with the exception of things like financial crimes. This seems horrible for all sorts of reasons.
      Sorry for threadjacking, but the issue of juries seems really important here. I also think it’s a horrible thing to do to jurors to put them in the situation where they have to live with having put someone to death.]

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    18. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      you seem to be more tolerant for a criminal ( not not be killed ) rather than for the victims.
      it pays to be a criminal, I have to say.
      the victim is dead and tortured and the criminal, there are people fighting for his life.
      because it is wrong to kill.
      not for the criminals, but for normal human beings.
      but we still need to save their lives. but they dont care about other peoples lives.
      and if its not that, there is religion. we must be tolerant.
      this planet is a paradise for criminals.

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    19. Lisa N Guenther Avatar
      Lisa N Guenther

      Wow, what an amazing story — thank you for sharing this. Yes, I agree that jury selection is a huge issue, and so is prosecutorial misconduct. This four-part series on prosecutorial misconduct in Arizona found that it played a role in 50% of all capital cases. That’s above and beyond the perfectly legal power of prosecutors to exclude someone from the jury because they were rude enough to correct the prosecutor when he is actively misleading the jurors! http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20131027milke-krone-prosecutors-conduct-day1.html?nclick_check=1

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    20. M. Anderson Avatar
      M. Anderson

      Just to register my dissent: I myself (resident of TN) don’t regard capital punishment as necessarily driven by a “desire for vengeance and retribution,” nor do I regard such a desire when present necessarily “a monstrously deformative evil in its own right.” In some cases both points might apply, but the assumption that they are true in all cases just is not plausible (not immediately anyway).

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    21. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      you seem to be decided in your believes.
      and so am I with mine.
      just to point out, it strikes me as crazy to fight for a criminal life.
      but nobody seem to notice this much.
      thats not a normal reaction.
      I think you do not understand what must be done to stop criminals and evil people from doing what they are doing.
      I do not think you regard this as seriously as possible. I do not think committing a murder is a joke and must not be taken as such.
      I think the right punishment is right, not for the victims, but for inducing fear into these criminals.
      Anything that can help.
      Not tolerance.

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    22. Jon Cogburn Avatar
      Jon Cogburn

      M.,
      As far as the first, C.S. Lewis actually makes the best case one can (I think) for capital punishment and it is that justice requires both retributivism and a proportional amount of retribution.
      As far as the second (ironically, given Lewis’ defense), it’s a (perhaps the) central moral claim of the Christian theological tradition. It’s also a (perhaps the) core moral truth in the Star Wars expanded universe. Obviously these two occurrences don’t automatically make it true, but I think they make it clear the bar of mere plausibility.
      Jon

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    23. Jon Cogburn Avatar
      Jon Cogburn

      My God, 50%.
      In the Wax case, Williams’ new lawyer is arguing (among other things) prosecutorial misconduct with regard to jury selection ( http://theadvocate.com/home/6892635-125/attorney-pushes-new-trial-effort ) involving the racial makeup of the jury.

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    24. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      “I also think that evil is dangerously seductive and that some people who love evil start out pretty decent and are slowly seduced. One of the ways decent people get seduced is through the desire for revenge, and that the state’s monopoly on violence should never be used to accomplish this for people.”
      I think there are people who love doing evil. period. they love to torture, they love the pain they produce in the victim, they love seeing the victim strugglering and gasping for help, screaming, without any help, the helpless of the victim, the ultimate pain, twisting the victim, mocking her, etc.” That is evil and there are people who enjoy doing this and much more.
      you cant possible have more sympathy for a criminal than for a decent person who wants the capital punishment. It is just not normal, I simply dont understand why would you say that.
      It is an immense shift from being a human being to end up torturing a victim to such degree. That death sentence does not take that long. And I dont think it is equally painful. I would actually prefer much better for them to receive the same treatment as their victims. Dont you?
      ” The only reason I’m sharing this is to note that it’s possible to agree with much of what you are saying and still find capital punishment to be itself a great evil.”
      I dont see that. I dont think that punishment actually is that much for them to endure.

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    25. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      when you plan to kill and torture someone for pleasure is different than when planning the capital punishment.
      in the first case, there is great pleasure involved. it is like watching for you your favorite movie or playing your favorite game. its a thrill. even a sexual thrill.
      in the second case, there is so much evil that you had to face and take into consideration, that the death punishment seems like the right thing to do. To get rid of someone who is so evil and to pay for what he did.
      but you think that just by doing that, choosing the death punishment means that you will end up evil?
      how many people ended up like that?
      you cant just do anything and harm other people to unbelievable degree and having other people being tolerant, it must stop at some point.

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    26. Charles R Avatar
      Charles R

      John Smith, you offer a number of details about the kinds of killing and torturing someone does for which you think a comparable response is necessary, but what you don’t give is a reason for why, if the deeds that person did are evil, they are not evil if done in response.
      Suppose A tortures and kills B, and enjoys it, satisfying your descriptions of people who need to be killed. Now, let’s consider some cases:
      1. C, who is a family member of B and is not an agent of the state, then tortures and kills A in exactly the same way, tit for tat. Is C committing evil?
      2. D, who is not a family member of B and is not an agent of the state, then tortures and kills A in exactly the same way, tit for tat. Is D committing evil?
      3. E, who is not a family member of B and is an agent of the state, then tortures and kills A in exactly the same way, tit for tat. Is E committing evil?
      4. F, who is a family member of B and is an agent of the state, then tortures and kills A in exactly the same way, tit for tat. Is F committing evil?
      Suppose, for this, that ‘exactly the same way’ also involves all the planning and enjoyment and thrill. Does this change any of the answers?
      Suppose, now, that ‘exactly the same way’ involves the planning but neither the enjoyment nor the thrill. Does this change any of the answers?

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    27. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      I did give an answer.
      this is my answer:
      “in the second case, there is so much evil that you had to face and take into consideration, that the death punishment seems like the right thing to do. To get rid of someone who is so evil and to pay for what he did. ”
      it refers to the death punishment, and involves the state.
      for the first two cases, my answer is yes, they are committing something evil. I dont think I can do that.
      for 3, I actually would like that. but I dont think I can get that much. at best the death sentence, without the torture of the criminal.
      your cases, in general, are beautifully written.
      but I do not think they answer the problem.
      there are criminals who enjoy torturing and molesting women and killing people and I dont like the tolerance as a response to their behaviour.
      they dont have any pity for the victim, they dont feel anything.
      unless you really understand this, you will believe the horror of someone being like this.

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    28. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      consider the case of someone who likes having sex with children, but also torturing women and killing people. He just enjoys doing these.
      and he can do these.
      he has the perfect family and the perfect job. He owns a company, he is respected.
      now put him in jail and then dont give him the death sentence because it is evil to just kill someone but it is allowed to take so much horror of knowing what he did.
      its insane.

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    29. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      “but what you don’t give is a reason for why, if the deeds that person did are evil, they are not evil if done in response.”
      he is killing and torturing innocent people.
      if something done in response, that would be the opposite.
      it is a very important detail.

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    30. John Smith Avatar
      John Smith

      The violence of execution? How about asking the criminal how is he torturing the victims and what fetishes he has?

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