1. United States
2. Ore.
3. Letter

The idea of livestreaming an execution for public consumption is appalling. Turning the state-sanctioned killing of a human being into a public spectacle is the kind of behavior we associate with ISIS propaganda, not a modern democratic society that claims to value human dignity and the rule of law. An execution is already an irreversible exercise of government power. Broadcasting it live would add nothing to justice, public safety, or accountability. Instead, it risks normalizing cruelty, reducing a human life to entertainment, and inviting the public to consume another person’s death as a spectacle. There is a fundamental difference between transparency in the justice system and the deliberate spectacle of human suffering. The public deserves access to information about government actions, including the administration of capital punishment. That does not mean the government should turn an execution into a live broadcast. Regardless of one’s position on the death penalty, there should be a line that a civilized society refuses to cross. We should not imitate the propaganda tactics of terrorist organizations or confuse public access with the public exhibition of death. I urge you to oppose any proposal to livestream executions and to uphold standards of human dignity that should transcend political differences. The power of the state to take a life is already a grave matter. Turning that act into a broadcast would be a disturbing step toward normalizing cruelty as public entertainment.