Nothing Less than the Dignity of Man: Evolving Standards, Botched Executions and Utah\u27s Controversial Use of the Firing Squad

While outrage boils to the surface when Utah uses its firing squad option, there is little substantive legal development concerning the firing squad\u27s use. Few cases have challenged the firing squad\u27s constitutionality. This article discusses the legal and political implications of the firing squad. Using the Supreme Court\u27s everdeveloping Eighth Amendment jurisprudence as a guide, this article discusses whether the firing squad, both historically and in its present application, passes constitutional muster. Beyond those factors that trigger constitutional protection, this article discusses those elements of the firing squad\u27s use which define society\u27s humanity and demonstrate our dignity. In the end, those factors are framed and fashioned by each individual\u27s view of decency and dignity

No, the Firing Squad Is Not Better than Lethal Injection: A Response to Stephanie Moran’s A Modest Proposal

In the article A Modest Proposal: The Federal Government Should Use Firing Squads to Execute Federal Death Row Inmates, Stephanie Moran argues that the firing squad is the only execution method that meets the requirements of the Eighth Amendment. In order to make her case, Moran unjustifiably overstates the negative aspects of lethal injection while understating the negative aspects of firing squads. The entire piece is predicated upon assumptions that are not only unsupported by the evidence but often directly refuted by the evidence. This Essay critically analyzes Moran’s claims regarding the alleged advantages of the firing squad over lethal injection. Topics covered include: the alleged burning sensation from lethal injection, length of lethal injection pain, constitutionality of administering an intravenous injection (IV), inmate preferences in method of execution, constitutionality of firing squads, overlooked firing squad safety measures, and deceptive botch rate statistics. Additionally, potential motivations for why one would want to promote the firing squad over lethal injection are examined

An Optimal Self-Stabilizing Firing Squad

Consider a fully connected network where up to $t$ processes may crash, and all processes start in an arbitrary memory state. The self-stabilizing firing squad problem consists of eventually guaranteeing simultaneous response to an external input. This is modeled by requiring that the non-crashed processes "fire" simultaneously if some correct process received an external "GO" input, and that they only fire as a response to some process receiving such an input. This paper presents FireAlg, the first self-stabilizing firing squad algorithm. The FireAlg algorithm is optimal in two respects: (a) Once the algorithm is in a safe state, it fires in response to a GO input as fast as any other algorithm does, and (b) Starting from an arbitrary state, it converges to a safe state as fast as any other algorithm does.Comment: Shorter version to appear in SSS0

The Firing Squad Problem Revisited

In the classical firing squad problem, an unknown number of nodes represented by identical finite state machines is arranged on a line and in each time unit each node may change its state according to its neighbors\u27 states. Initially all nodes are passive, except one specific node located at an end of the line, which issues a fire command. This command needs to be propagated to all other nodes, so that eventually all nodes simultaneously enter some designated ``firing" state. A natural extension of the firing squad problem, introduced in this paper, allows each node to postpone its participation in the squad for an arbitrary time, possibly forever, and firing is allowed only after all nodes decided to participate. This variant is highly relevant in the context of decentralized distributed computing, where processes have to coordinate for initiating various tasks simultaneously. The main goal of this paper is to study the above variant of the firing squad problem under the assumptions that the nodes are infinite state machines, and that the inter-node communication links can be changed arbitrarily in each time unit, i.e., are defined by a dynamic graph. In this setting, we study the following fundamental question: what connectivity requirements enable a solution to the firing squad problem? Our main result is an exact characterization of the dynamic graphs for which the firing squad problem can be solved. When restricted to static directed graphs, this characterization implies that the problem can be solved if and only if the graph is strongly connected. We also discuss how information on the number of nodes or on the diameter of the network, and the use of randomization, can improve the solutions to the problem

A Minimal Time Solution to the Firing Squad Synchronization Problem with Von Neumann Neighborhood of Extent 2

Cellular automata provide a simple environment in which to study global behaviors. One example of a problem that utilizes cellular automata is the Firing Squad Synchronization Problem, first proposed in 1957. This paper provides an overview of the standard Firing Squad Synchronization Problem and a commonly used technique in solving it. This paper also provides a statement of a new extension of the Standard Firing Squad Synchronization Problem to a different neighborhood definition - a Von Neumann neighborhood of extent 2. An 8 state 651 rule minimal time solution to the extended problem is described, presented and proven, along with Python code used in running simulations of the solution

A Genetically Evolved Solution to the Firing Squad Problem

In 1957, J. Myhill presented the firing squad problem. A special case of k-color cellular automata (CA) synchronization, the firing squad problem offers more stringent rules allowing for a provable minimal running time. To date, CA solutions have been found that run in minimal time using as many as sixteen states and as few as six [5]. There have also been arguments against the existence of solutions using only 4 states [11]. Due to the extremely large search space involved with such problems, the existing solutions have all been analytic in nature. We attempt to apply genetic algorithms and genetic programming to create transition tables that solve the firing squad problem. Ideally, the solutions would run in minimal time. No generalized solutions were found, but progress was made towards determining the best strategies for an evolved solution

Frank Davey and the Firing Squad

Frank Davey's analyses of popular culture, nationalism, the media, and both print and material culture call to attention some of the hypocrisies practised behind the canonical drapes of Canadian literature. His early wrestlings with the discontents and self-deceptions of our critical practice taught critics and readers to be suspicious of paraphrase. But despite his sounding other alarms, his later discussions of our culture's continuing love affair with paraphrasis have been ignored. The critical silence that met his public and political texts Reading Kim Right (1993), Karla’s Web (1994) and Mr. and Mrs. G.G. (2003) is an indictment of our national collusion with a limited and limiting annotative or glossographic readerly practice. These “media” texts merit consideration as careful as that given Davey’s other poetical interventions

When Police Volunteer to Kill

The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection, yet states continue to struggle with drug shortages and botched executions. Some states have authorized alternative methods of execution, including the firing squad. Utah, which has consistently carried out firing squad executions throughout its history, relies on police officers from the jurisdiction where the crime took place to volunteer to carry out these executions. This represents a plausible--and probable--method for other states in conducting firing squad executions. Public and academic discussion of the firing squad has centered on questions of pain and suffering. It has not engaged with the consequences of relying on police officers as executioners. Police participation in executions deserves the same scrutiny as physician participation in executions. Using police officers as executioners is inconsistent with the normative and idealized functions of policing, but consistent with the culture and powers of policing. This Article explores the potential consequences of using police officers as executioners. Relying on police officers as executioners will destabilize policing because it encourages negative aspects of policing culture and undermines officers\u27 ability to work within their communities. This practice also risks adding impermissible features to executions, further undermining the retributive justifications for capital punishment. Using police officers from the jurisdiction where the crime occurred has a significant association with retributive and expressive functions of punishment. Pain alone should not be the primary way to assess the constitutionality of an execution. The Eighth Amendment prohibits punishment that fails to serve legitimate purposes. The Supreme Court has justified capital punishment as an expression of a community\u27s moral outrage and a way to preserve the legitimacy of the justice system by preventing vigilantism and mob violence. This means that punishment must not be undertaken in a way that endorses vigilantism and vengeance. Relying on police officers as executioners in firing squads illustrates that the search for a less painful method of execution may not be without its own serious constitutional defects