Alabama is set to perform the second-ever nitrogen gas execution in the United States on Thursday.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was sentenced to death for the 1999 murders of his then-coworkers Lee Holdbrooks and Christoper Scott Yancy, and his former supervisor Terry Lee Jarvis.
Miller was to be executed in September 2022 via lethal injection, but it was called off after officials had trouble inserting an intravenous line to administer the fatal drugs and were concerned they would not be able to do so before the death warrant expired.
Power structures are indeed partly designed and in practice used by upper classes, and especially the owner class to keep their wealth and maintain the hierarchy that is beneficial to them. And this ended up being the case even in the Soviet Union.
It’s probably an oversimplification to say that is their sole purpose, but I understand why it is said that way to get the point across.
An interesting modern example of state sanctioned killing that occurs in nations that don’t necessarily have an army or legal executions. Is in some countries with lax euthanasia/assisted dying laws. Poor people who become unable to work due to disability, are often financially pressured to kill themselves through the official routes, as it can be hard or nearly impossible to survive solely on disability benefits.
Governments don’t really have much pressure to improve the situation, as it saves them, and by extension the upper classes, money. And the dead people don’t have votes to punish them with.
Maybe if we stopped seeking retribution, and seek solutions, we can get past this point. That includes punishing the poor for a system created by those who hoard resources, creating conditions of despair. If people are terminally ill and suffering, there’s no reason to deny humane euthsnsia, but writing laws that won’t be abused and codified via Congress will be messy.
