Justice requires restraint, not spectacle
Secretary Pete Hegseth’s proposal to broadcast Nidal Hasan’s execution deserves unequivocal opposition. I believe it would turn an act of governmental power into a celebration of state violence.
Hasan’s crimes were horrific. The victims and their families deserve justice and lasting respect. But inviting the public to watch a human being killed risks encouraging cruelty and diminishing the moral restraint that should guide our government.
Benjamin Rush, a Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence, warned in 1786:
“[F]or these reasons, executions should never be public. Indeed, I believe there are no public punishments of any kind, that do not harden the hearts of spectators, and thereby lessen the natural horror which all crimes at first excite in the human mind.”
A livestream would carry that danger far beyond the spectators Rush imagined. Once circulated online, the footage could reach children and unwilling viewers indefinitely.
Whatever our views on capital punishment, we should reject the government’s promotion of killing as a public spectacle. Justice requires dignity and restraint. Our elected representatives should insist that this broadcast never take place.