Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Stay of Execution
I hadn't heard this! I've been somewhat out of the loop today. But I think this is big news:
Clarence Hill was strapped to the gurney in Florida last night, the IV tubes already implanted in him, when Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a temporary stay, made permanent today by the entire court.
Go to the link and read the entire post. Also, click through on the links in the post to get some interesting stuff on the drugs used in executions.

Hint? It's not pretty at all according to studies published in Lancet.
2 Comments:
Blogger Lynne said...
The drugs are only used to make it easier to watch the condemned die. It is for the spectators' benefit, not the prisoner's.
I used to advocate the death penalty. I have since seen the light, or rather the darkness: A film called Faces of Death depicts an electrocution. It was one of the grisliest sights my young 20-something eyes had ever seen. I began rethinking my position that day.
In our mad race to the bottom, the U.S. is in great company when it comes to executions. The United States, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia account for over 80% of the executions recorded by Amnesty International. We are one of two nations in the world that execute juveniles. Iran is the other one.
The death penalty is not applied evenly. It does not deter crime. It turns our law enforcement people into murderers. There is truly only one reason we have a death penalty in this country: revenge. And, as Gandhi pointed out, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
We need to stop this barbarism.

Blogger Deb said...
I wrote a post titled Scalia Believes Lethal Injection is Illegal. I wonder what is going on behind closed doors.