National Public Radio secured
audio recordings of
Georgia Department of Corrections
officials who were
monitoring executions starting in
1983. (They got the tapes after a
lawyer made an
FOIA request for a
client who is facing a
death penalty case.) The
tapes were recordings of
phone calls from the
prison where the
electrocutions occured, to state officials in
Atlanta.
On May 2nd on NPR, Talk of the Nation host Ray Suarez hosted a 1 hour radio program where he discussed the nature of these tapes, and played back the edited sequence of a man reporting on an execution of a person committed to death in 1984. Afterwards they had various people, including Mike Wallace and a representative from a victims rights group, as well as the former Attorney General of Georgia at the time.
It was a bit disturbing , yet not for the reason you'd think. The narrative was very matter of fact, almost emotionless, as the execution played out. Afterwards, there's a bit of tense humor over the phone as people are thanked for their efficiency and professionalism.
The question of public executions--whether they should be televised and available to the public was discussed. Wallace says, why yes, of course--it's a policy our government has, the people have asked for it, they should be seeing what they're voting for. The victims rights advocate was against it, saying televising executions would further dehumanize the victims of violent crime. The attorney general had the most interesting opinion, though--when asked what purpose executions served, his response was a very firm, "Retribution. Revenge." He didn't think it was a deterrent, or anything like that, it's just a simple way to get back at the criminal for their act.
It was a fascinating thing for NPR to do, both because I believe the tape should be public, but they also marketed it in a curious way, (the catchy name for instance, and the fact that it's May sweeps). And honestly, it's not a tape of an execution--it's a tape of someone describing an execution, which is in my opinion very different.