Military police officially charged sleeper jihadist Nadal “Saddam” Hasan with 13 counts of premeditated murder yesterday for his terrorist attack on Ft. Hood, leaving many Americans wondering if he will get the death penalty. I generally think that the death penalty should be limited to “beyond a shadow of a doubt” cases given its historic problems of accuracy, and I am all for it in this case. A public hanging would probably be best, followed closely by a firing squad, then electric chair, then lethal injection, and finally, vigilante justice as a last resort. The military performed their last execution on April 13, 1961 on Army private John Bennet for rape and attempted murder. Method of execution? Hanging. The military currently uses lethal injection as the method of execution now, and the execution chamber is located at U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Death Penalty Info reports that 8 people are on military death row: Kenneth Parker, Wade L. Walker, Jessie Quintanilla, James T. Murphy, Ronald Gray, Dwight J. Loving, Asan Akbar, and Andrew Witt. No executions are currently scheduled. The President of the United States must sign the execution order for a military prisoner to be executed as a result of a court martial trial. Note to my Republican friends: your hero George W. Bush didn’t sign any.
