This is a petition to employ death by starvation and dehydration as the death penalty in every state that allows the death penalty.
To: United States Congress
Whereas thirty-nine states and the federal government allow the death
penalty to be imposed:
We, the undersigned residents of said states are petitioning the United States Congress to be allowed to change the manner of death for condemned prisoners from injection, electrocution, hanging and shooting to Death by Starvation and Dehydration.
Death by Starvation and Dehydration has been ruled by state district, federal and appeals courts, specifically the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeals, Florida Supreme Court, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Atlanta, Georgia to be a totally humane, peaceful, painless and even euphoric form of death. I.E. Terri Schiavo. Numerous specialists and neurologists have also confirmed Death by Starvation and Dehydration to be a clinically humane, preferred form of death. This method of death sentence has been upheld, without comment, by the Florida Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, as well as Federal Appeals Courts.
After appeals have been exhausted: The day the execution is to begin, the condemned inmate would simply remain in his/her cell on death row. The condemned prisoner would be restrained on a bed already in the cell, the room would be darkened and Death by Starvation and Dehydration will commence. The darkened room will enhance the condemneds' sense of tranquility. Besides being humane, this method of execution has the added advantage of no additional costs whatsoever to taxpayers. There's also the advantage of public safety. The whole process would be videoed and tapes provided to the legally allowed witnesses.
Said manner of death could possibly save taxpayers approximately 22% or more of current costs on average per prisoner, depending on the number of inmates actually executed. Those funds could then be used for crime prevention programs, additional law enforcement, drug rehabilitation programs and other education and social programs as determined by the legislatures of each state.
The Death by Starvation and Dehydration process would last approximately two weeks, more or less.
As previously stated, a major benefit of this form of execution is the financial savings to states with the death penalty. Also, Death by Starvation and Dehydration would effectively do away with the main argument of death penalty opponents, i.e.; that death by injection, electrocution, hanging and shooting are 'cruel and unusual' punishment. As stated above, Death by Starvation and Dehydration has been deemed by numerous courts and doctors to be painless, blissful lapses into a coma-like sleep, then death. An additional benefit: Activist judges would be more likely to uphold a lower court death sentence.
Our condemned brutal murderers deserve no less than our condemned disabled and mentally impaired.