re: Oklahoma to execute two condemned inmates on same day

It's not about sympathy, just being better than the people you're executing. They're still humans, as tempting and easy as it is to find excuses to treat them as something less; gratuitous pain should still be avoided where reasonably possible.

Of course, mild discomfort is a different matter from significant pain, and efficiency needn't be sacrificed in the name of avoiding it. I don't support the death penalty at all, but if it's still going to exist, then I see no reason why execution by hanging isn't acceptable. Done properly, it's instantaneous; there is no gratuitous suffering. It's not costly at all, and unlike shooting (which is the other method that comes to mind), all funeral options are still open, if the families of the condemned wish for one.