ACLU Defend Privacy? Nah

[Hobbit]

The ACLU in Ohio is trying to get the prison where that guy had such a long execution to publicize the names of his executioners, a group of people whose identities have been kept secret since Medieval times.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/state/17320447.htm

[Monkeybone]

so if a family member of an executee caps/beats up/whatever one of the executioners, they gonna make it better? help the persons family?

[Abbey Marie]

Apart from the valid privacy issues you have raised, someone should inform the intentionally clueless Anti-Christian Liberties Union that the "executioner" is the state of Ohio, and imputedly, every elected official and voter of the state. The men in the room are merely proxies or surrogates in the matter.

I can almost always bank on the fact that whatever side the ACLU is taking on an issue, I will be on the opposite (and honorable ;)) one.

[Lightning Waltz]

http://www.aclu.org/religion/tencomm/16254res20050302.html

ACLU's Defense of Religious Liberty (3/2/2005)


The right of each and every American to practice his or her own religion, or no religion at all, is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The Constitution's framers understood very well that religious liberty can flourish only if the government leaves religion alone.

The American Civil Liberties Union has a long history of working to ensure that religious liberty is protected. From the famous 1920 Scopes trial-in which the ACLU challenged a Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in schools-to the current Ten Commandments case before the Supreme Court, the ACLU remains committed to keeping the government out of the religion business and protecting every American's right to believe as he or she wishes.

Recent ACLU involvement in religious liberty cases include:

September 20, 2005: ACLU of New Jersey joins lawsuit supporting second-grader's right to sing "Awesome God" at a talent show.

August 4, 2005: ACLU helps free a New Mexico street preacher from prison.

May 25, 2005: ACLU sues Wisconsin prison on behalf of a Muslim woman who was forced to remove her headscarf in front of male guards and prisoners.

February 2005: ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully defends the right of an African American Evangelical church to occupy a church building purchased in a predominantly white parish.

December 22, 2004: ACLU of New Jersey successfully defends right of religious expression by jurors.

December 14, 2004: ACLU joins Pennsylvania parents in filing first-ever challenge to "Intelligent Design" instruction in public schools.

November 20, 2004: ACLU of Nevada supports free speech rights of evangelists to preach on the sidewalks of the strip in Las Vegas.

November 12, 2004: ACLU of Georgia files a lawsuit on behalf of parents challenging evolution disclaimers in science textbooks.

November 9, 2004: ACLU of Nevada defends a Mormon student who was suspended after wearing a T-shirt with a religious message to school.

August 11, 2004: ACLU of Nebraska defends church facing eviction by the city of Lincoln.

July 10, 2004: Indiana Civil Liberties Union defends the rights of a Baptist minister to preach his message on public streets.

June 9, 2004: ACLU of Nebraska files a lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim woman barred from a public pool because she refused to wear a swimsuit.

June 3, 2004: Under pressure from the ACLU of Virginia, officials agree not to prohibit baptisms on public property in Falmouth Waterside Park in Stafford County.

May 11, 2004: After ACLU of Michigan intervened on behalf of a Christian Valedictorian, a public high school agrees to stop censoring religious yearbook entries.

March 25, 2004: ACLU of Washington defends an Evangelical minister's right to preach on sidewalks.

February 21, 2003: ACLU of Massachusetts defends students punished for distributing candy canes with religious messages.

October 28, 2002: ACLU of Pennsylvania files discrimination lawsuit over denial of zoning permit for African American Baptist church.

July 11, 2002: ACLU supports right of Iowa students to distribute Christian literature at school.

April 17, 2002: In a victory for the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the ACLU of Virginia, a federal judge strikes down a provision of the Virginia Constitution that bans religious organizations from incorporating.

January 18, 2002: ACLU defends Christian church's right to run "anti-Santa" ads in Boston subways.

[Lightning Waltz]

I have to ask if you guys even read the article...


Though the hooded executioner is so common as to be iconic, the ACLU and other death penalty opponents say they have new cause for seeking complete information on the people carrying out state-sanctioned deaths by injection.

They point to the case of Dr. Alan Doerhoff, a participant in Missouri's execution process who was revealed in press reports to have been sued for malpractice more than 20 times.

They also point to the December execution of Angel Diaz in Florida. An autopsy found the needles were pushed through Diaz's veins into the flesh of his arms, possibly limiting the effectiveness of the drugs. A commission created afterward to study the incident called for more training and better protocols for executioners.

They aren't asking because they want to publicize the names on some sort of "hit list" (like anti-choice folks do to abortion doctors), but to make sure that these people are even qualified to carry out these executions...

[Monkeybone]

good for them, but what does that have to do with privacy? or are you saying that it is a religious thing to know who the executioner is?

that is understandable, but it is not up to the public to decide on the doc, that is all in the prison/who ever hires the docs to do it

and why spend the money on drugs? a bullet would do just as good

[Lightning Waltz]

good for them, but what does that have to do with privacy?

Who said that someone fulfilling a role in a government agency necessarily should have that role be "private"? Where has the ACLU made this claim?
Straw man.


or are you saying that it is a religious thing to know who the executioner is?

Strange question in general. If you really cannot follow where I got my first post from, re-read Abbey's post.


that is understandable, but it is not up to the public to decide on the doc, that is all in the prison/who ever hires the docs to do it

The prison is still accountable to the public, as any branch of the government, is.

[Monkeybone]

ok so if you were the executioner of someone's family memeber you would like your name to be know? i don't think that i would, cause most of the time 'just my job' doesn't work. and they wanna know the names. i can understnad the names of this guy since he screwed up, but that is about it

ok, sorry about that, didn't take it into context with Abbey's...that is why i thought it was weird.

and agreed, but the public doesn't hire them or should screen them for a government job

[Lightning Waltz]

ok so if you were the executioner of someone's family memeber you would like your name to be know? i don't think that i would, cause most of the time 'just my job' doesn't work. and they wanna know the names. i can understnad the names of this guy since he screwed up, but that is about it

<snip>

and agreed, but the public doesn't hire them or should screen them for a government job

If I were a criminal, I wouldn't want anyone to know that it was me who committed the crime, too...

Yes, I understand the motivation for why the executioner wouldn't want his or her name to be published, but that doesn't dismiss the responsibility of the government to make sure an execution is carried out by competent professionals. Who is going to hold the government accountable? Itself?

Or, how about a watchdog group like the ACLU that is fighting for government accountability, in this case?

[Gaffer]

There is no purpose in making public names of executioners. If there is a problem the prison system knows who they are and can take the appropriate action. This is just an attempt by the anti-death penalty people to intimidate. And the american communist lawyers union is happy to jump on the case.

[Nukeman]

and why spend the money on drugs? a bullet would do just as good

I love this part!!! Excelent point!!!!

[Black Lance]

Gaffer is correct. The system knows who these people are, and can hold their own employees accountable. If the ACLU (or some less partial organization) wants to do some oversight, fine, but there is no reason why a simple system of identification, based on assigning executioners an ID number or even a color code, could not be designed to protect these volunteers from retaliations. The ACLU probably understands this full well, and is simply trying to undermine the death penalty by threatening those who carry out the orders of the state, and by extension the peoples will.

[nevadamedic]

The ACLU is as big of a pain in the ass as the UN, bot should be dismantled.