Opinion: A Livestreamed Execution Cheapens Justice

A livestreamed execution is the wrong answer to a fair question about state power. This is an opinion column, and it begins with a fact. The Pentagon said on Thursday that the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan will be broadcast, as the Associated Press reported.

Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 at Fort Hood in 2009. The Army says the execution will take place there on 3 December. It would be the first military execution since a hanging in 1961. It would be the first by firing squad since the Second World War.

Why a livestreamed execution is the wrong kind of transparency

There is a serious case for openness. Fordham law professor Deborah Denno told the AP that a livestream could make the process more transparent. I take that point seriously.

But transparency and spectacle are different things. Transparency means independent witnesses, accurate records and courts that can review. Spectacle means a public audience for a killing. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said people should “be able to watch it.” That is the language of display, not oversight.

The details deepen the unease. The execution is set for the 1 p.m. hour, the same time of day as the 2009 shooting, according to Colorado Politics. Hegseth said he did not care about any final requests. A state that wants moral authority cannot treat its gravest act as theatre.

The legal questions are also open. Hasan’s former lawyer, John Galligan, says Hasan lacks access to counsel. The Army says it made reasonable efforts to reach his lawyers. Yale’s Eugene Fidell warned that a habeas challenge could delay the execution for years.

Religious voices have objected too. Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the US Catholic bishops, called the plan “a barbaric promotion of a culture of death.” One need not share his theology to share his unease. A secular argument reaches the same place: dignity does not vanish at a crime scene.

Amnesty International counted at least 17 public executions worldwide in 2025, 11 of them in Iran. Washington should ask why it wants to join that list. For a related case, read our opinion on the Christa Pike execution.

Justice should be done seriously and seen to be done carefully. It should not be staged for an audience. The Pentagon should reconsider.

Opinion column. Fact basis: Associated Press via Hawaii News Now (8 October 2026) and Colorado Politics (9 October 2026). The views are the author’s.