In newly independent US, Americans debated whether public executions taught a lesson or just showed off the state’s power to destroy

The conflict over the wisdom of Nidal Hasan’s public execution is not a new one. Americans at the republic’s founding debated – and doubted – whether watching someone die would teach a useful lesson.

By: Maurizio Valsania, Università di Torino, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 14, 2026

Words: 1,469

Last Updated: 1 day, 17 hours ago

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By Maurizio Valsania, Università di Torino

The proposed livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution by a U.S. military firing squad gave an old question a new audience. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist convicted by a military court of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3, 2026.

Explaining the plan to make his death public, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “people need to understand …

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