Executions should be televised

Zachary B. Shemtob and David Lat

The New York Times

It’s time to invite cameras into the execution chamber, said Zachary B. Shemtob and David Lat. Only the press and a handful of witnesses are now permitted to observe state executions, but last month, when Andrew Grant DeYoung received a lethal injection in Georgia, cameras recorded his final moments to help determine whether he suffered unnecessarily. His lawyers want the footage of DeYoung’s death kept from public view. “We respectfully disagree.”

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If we are to continue executing criminals in the U.S, we ought to do it in an open and accountable way. We videotape congressional hearings, courtroom sessions, and, in some states, homicide confessions. Surely “society’s ultimate punishment” deserves the same scrutiny? Critics say that broadcasting executions could numb viewers or make the condemned seem sympathetic. But hiding capital punishment away cushions society from the reality of what goes on in the death chamber and stifles honest debate on the issue. In a democracy that chooses, rightly or wrongly, to execute its most heinous criminals, the people should have the right to “see what is being done in their name”—no matter how grim or disturbing it may be.