The uncut Saddam’s execution video and death penalty aesthetics

All over the blogosphere, one can now access an uncut video of Saddam Hussein’s hanging.  Here’s one of many links, along with commentaries from folks at TalkLeft, Appellate Law & Practice and Capital Defense Weekly.  S. COTUS at AL&P has this provocative statement with the link:

Anyone who favors the death penalty, or the procedure applied in this case, should watch this and share it with their children.  If you can’t stand to watch it or you won’t show it to your children, you need to re-evaluate your position.  US lawyers approved of the procedure and authorized the hand-over of Saddam….  Hopefully, this will encourage the videotaping and dissemination of future executions in the US, so that they can be shown in schools, and future generations can have an honest discussion about the merits of the death penalty.

I have a mixed reaction to these matters of death penalty aesthetics in general and the Saddam execution in particular. 

First, there are a lot of acts many would condone as worthwhile that we sensibly do not want to watch or share with our children: e.g., slaughtering of animals for food, required amputation of human limbs, violent acts in a justifiable war.  The fact that we may be squeamish about certain sights and want to shield children does not conclusively make a case against an activity.  (I doubt many folks would readily watch (or show children) a video of their parents engaged in consensual sexual relations, but few would argue this suggests a need to re-evaluate our position on such activity.)

Second, compared to what is shown at the local multiplex and in action video games and even in most episodes of CSI, the Saddam execution video strikes me as quite tame.  I concur that everyone interested in death penalty debates should watch this video in order to get a sense of death penalty aesthetics.  I also think it would be valuable to have video recordings of all executions; I do believe sunlight (or camcorder light) is one of the best disinfectants.  (I can’t help but wonder how many lethal injection executions were botched before we started watching them closely.) 

I encourage all viewers to use the comments here to share reactions or insights.