Does this make you feel good?

Question

On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed in the State Penitentiary in Joliet, Illinois, by lethal injection, after finishing his last meal consisting of shrimp, fried chicken, fresh strawberries, and then fries. His execution was a minor media sensation, and large crowds of people gathered for "execution parties" outside the penitentiary, with numerous arrests for public intoxication, open intoxicants and disorderly conduct. In an unusual display of gallows humor, the so-called "Gacy's Day Parade" (a parody of the "Macy's Day Parade") ensued. Vendors sold T-shirts and Gacy merchandise, and the people cheered at the moment when Gacy was pronounced dead.

It's really very epic and heart warming. Like the end of Fantasy novel, in which people celebrate the slaying of a monster.

They also say there was a complication regarding his execution, and that it took him twenty-seven minutes to die.

All of this is in reference to John Wayne Gacy (the famous serial killer).

For the people who didn't get the question, I'll help you out. It's highlighted in YELLOW.

I dont give a **** who did what at whatever campaign. The point is, dullards, if you want to make wine you have to crush a few grapes. If you live in a glass house, dont throw stones.

This one was a real doozy for you guys huh? Dont worry this type of stuff will help to get rid of all the mildew in your heads.

*more clarification*
An execution based on equity and vengence does not constitute "murder".

Again, the actual question is highlighted in YELLOW. Please don't answer things I didn't ask, that defeats the point of a "question".

*more clarification*
According to reports, Gacy did not express remorse. His last words were to the effect that killing him would not bring anyone back, and it is reported his last words were "You can kiss my ***", which he said to a guard while he was being sent to the execution chamber.

After his execution, Gacy's brain was removed. It is currently in the possession of Dr. Helen Morrison, who interviewed Gacy and other serial killers in an attempt to isolate common personality traits held by such people. However, an examination of Gacy's brain after his execution by the forensic psychiatrist hired by his lawyers revealed no abnormalities. She has said Gacy did not fit into any psychological profile associated with serial killers, and the reasons for his rampage will probably never be known.

Answer 1

No. It makes me sick and sad that people displace their feelings to the point they celebrate the waste of a human life.

Do I think Gacy should've been executed? Yes.
Do I think people should have made it their personal, national holiday? No.

Answer 2

I grew up in Fla, near where Ted Bundy kidnapped and later killed a 12 year old girl named Kimberly Leach. He died in Fla for that particular murder.

When he was electrocuted (which I think is much worse than lethal injection), there were the same kind of activities surrounding his execution.

They had cookouts and sold "Bundy burgers".

I was pretty young at the time, but I remember it having that wild feeling to it... like the people were feral over it.

I don't have a problem with the death penalty. I really don't. But I do think it should be for the most serious crimes, and that it should be done in the most humane way possible.

I cannot speak for the families of the victims of a serial killer, and until I know what that feels like, I will not pass judgement on *their* celebration of that killer's death.

However, for the general public to celebrate in such a blase way is sick to me. The fact is that more often than not, these people are deserving of at least a little pity (though that's not to say that I think they should live). Even when it is appropriate to take life, it should never be taken lightly.

Most of these killers were abused, some horribly abused as children... and that's the main disease. The fact that they became killers is just a symptom of the disease.

In celebrating their death so, and placing the blame *entirely* on them, we perpetuate the problem by allowing the disease to continue relatively unnoticed - while fiendishly celebrating the demise of the symptom.

Answer 3

For every John Wayne Gacy, there is a Christopher Thomas. The worst part is, US state governments and prosecutors offices are covering up some of their transgressions by ruling that "cases where the defendant was executed will not be re-investigated".

Translation: "We don't want to know that we executed an innocent person."

I wonder how many dozens or hundreds of innocent people were.

Facts:

1. US states with the death penalty have higher murder rates, and the US has the highest rate of murder among industrialized nations.

2. Blacks who kill whites are ten times more likely to receive a "death sentence" than whites who kill blacks.

3. The conviction rates of those with inadequate defence is many times higher than those with barely competent lawyers; in many US states, the budget for public defenders - whom are inevitably the defence lawyers for the poor accused of murder - has been slashed drastically on the grounds that "These people are the worst and don't need protection" - so said George Bush when he was governor of Texas. (That doesn't sound anything like his comments about those at Guantanamo, does it?)

4. 150 people in the US have been removed from death row, either released or had their sentences commuted because of DNA testing. This does not include cases such as the "wilding" teens in New York convicted of murdering a jogger after being coerced into confession by pigs torturing them. And it does not include a man recently commuted to "life in prison" after the evidence which he wanted tested for DNA somehow "disappeared" while in police custody; his chance to prove his innocence was stolen by police, so he gets "life" instead of execution. And it does not include cases where innocent people were executed despite evidence proving their innocence (many were disallowed from producing evidence because of "time limits" on appeals) such as Cameron Todd Willingham.

The day a "death sentence" can be revoked, the "death penalty" will be ethical. "Life in prison without the possibility of parole" is more than sufficient for John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy or any criminal.

Answer 4

Well I'm no fan of serial killers and JWG was a particularly nasty one due to the fact most of his victims were children, but wouldn't it have been more gratifying if the donation of his liver or kidneys or lungs or whatever had saved the life of some poor sick person waiting for a transplant donor? Shouldn't that be the way to execute someone in this country? Put them under and harvest all their usable organs that anyone can make use of, Kill two birds with one stone so to speak... does anyone else agree with the wisdom of this? The only way I can see his death as a cause for celebration is if someone else truly benefits from it.

Answer 5

I don't understand the question, but if you mean does his death make me feel bad, then NO. I do find some comfort and joy in the fact that he may have mentally and physically suffered for 27 minutes. But I don't understand how it could make me feel bad, after all he was a monster. Personally, if the state would let me, I'd do the executing for them. Just give me a sharpened hack saw or swing blade (something HUMANE *cough cough*) and they could save their poisons. Do I think killing (actually, EXECUTING people for the state) is a sin? Absolutely not. God says that the Government must answer for its actions, and someone working in the capacity for the government as an executioner is just doing the work for the government. They won't be punished, the governmental system as a whole will be.

AND FOR THOSE WHO SAY "What makes us better than him?" Well for one thing I haven't raped, killed and buried 20 or 30 YOUNG MEN under my fu*king house, THANK YOU. That's why he deserves to die!

Answer 6

The parties were sick and wrong. I don't believe in capitol punishment. I believe in karma. This sounds a bit like the Salem witch trials people judging and celebrating over the death of another is just as bad as killing someone. Obviously serial killers are mentally ill this does not excuse their actions but nobody deserves to die that terribly.

Answer 7

I don't support taking a life for a life. Sorry! What makes us any better than him.. it is still murder. I think people like him should be dropped off on an island with supplies to create a hut and purify water and a way to gather food and that's it... good luck! They should have to live every waking moment with what they have done, not be able to rest in peace for the pain they have caused. We coddle our inmates... there are no lessons to be learned in prison (other than maybe how not to get caught next time from other prisoners). Why do we call prison punishment? Its not. Neither is the death penalty.

Answer 8

Does it make you feel good to know that one of the men at the forefront of the "Kill Gacy" campaign went on to kill his own wife and child 7 years later?

Answer 9

I'm curious, why do you leave out out the fact he was convicted of killing 33 men? You wait to the end to add "serial killer".

Answer 10

I don't blame killers for what they do, they have a mental condition that they can't help.

They should be kept away from society to prevent further killings, but as for blame - ? It is simply a fact of life that these things happen.