'There's one way to block Donald Trump's grim livestreamed execution plan - but chances are slim'

'There's one way to block Donald Trump's grim livestreamed execution plan - but chances are slim' Pete Hegseth, Trump's Secretary of War, gleefully announced the first public execution in America for 90 years has been scheduled for December 3 - but is there any hope of avoiding this grim spectacle? Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's Secretary of War, gleefully announced last night that America is going to hold its first public execution in about 90 years. In fact, it's probably the first public military execution since the Civil War. The condemned man is Nidal Hasan, a former US Army psychologist who was convicted of killing 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009. He said the attack was an attempt at sparking a jihad in retaliation for US wars in the Middle East. Hasan is on the US Military's death row now, and the Pentagon announced yesterday that his execution has been scheduled for December 3rd. But that didn't seem to be enough for Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's Secretary of War - who confirmed in an interview last night that the execution will be by firing squad - the first time the military have used that method since 1945. It will take place at Fort Hood, the base where he committed his crime, and soldiers - presumably stationed at the base - will perform it. The last public execution in the United States was in 1936 - it's 90 years since that particular barbaric ritual was done away with. And despite the United States still being in the grip of a scandal over a bungled execution - Pete Hegseth thinks now is the right time to bring it back. His justification was that: "People need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things." And as with a lot of things that tumble out of Hegseth's mouth, this is the most crushingly basic take. The evidence for capital punishment being a deterrent against crime is sketchy at best. The most recent study, published this year, found that it didn't reduce homicides by any more than long prison sentences do. Leading criminologists agree - with 88% responding to a survey in 2009 saying it was not effective as a deterrent. Another thing is that Capital Punishment is quite popular in the states. Trump and Hegseth probably feel they're on solid ground, because 66% of Americans support death as a punishment for murder. But if you want to see that approval number go down, the quickest way would probably be to do it in public, allowing more people see how grotesque the reality is. Also, if you think people like Nidal Hasan are going to be put off by the death penalty, I don't think you've understood the concept of jihad. Meanwhile, the UN have suggested holding a public execution "would breach the absolute prohibition of torture". So what, if anything can be done to prevent America suffering another day of shame? Well...not much. The only person who can commute a military capital sentence is the President, so that's not going to happen. Congress could, theoretically pass a law banning public executions, but again, that's not going to happen in a Republican controlled congress. And even after the Midterms, the new members don't take their seats until January. And even if a newly installed Democrat majority in both houses did pass a law, Trump would veto it in a heartbeat. Which just leaves the judiciary - and it's an extremely long shot. Hasan's lawyers could, theoretically, apply to the civilian courts with a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the plans for his execution are unconstitutional - and that turning it into a public spectacle turns it into a cruel and unusual punishment. As legal challenges go, it has the benefit of never having been tried, simply because it's been so long since there has been a public execution in America. But that would have to come from Hasan's defence team - and at the time of writing, there's no indication they're planning to do so. In all likelihood, this grim spectacle is going to go ahead as planned.