Posted on 06/29/2015 7:22:30 AM PDT by Zakeet
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday against three death row inmates who had sought to bar the use of an execution drug they said risked causing excruciating pain.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote the majority opinion in the 5-to-4 decision. He was joined by the court’s four more conservative justices.
The drug, the sedative midazolam, played a part in three long and apparently painful executions last year. It was used in an effort to render inmates unconscious before they were injected with other, severely painful drugs.
Four condemned inmates in Oklahoma challenged the use of the drug, saying it did not reliably render the person unconscious and so violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Lower courts disagreed.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Why mess around with drugs when about ten heavy caliber rounds fired simultaneously via mechanical means to the back of the head would be instant and all but foolproof?
Well Todd Willingham comes to mind.
That said I’m not necessarily opposed to the death penalty. In principle I’m certainly for it.
My concern after ten years as a prosecutor and defense attorney is the danger of an innocent person being executed. For that matter I don’t care for the innocent being put in prison either.
If you are interested there is a very good documentary called “An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story”.
He was imprisoned for over 24 years for the murder of his wife. The trouble was that the DA held back serious exculpatory evidence from the defense.
After years of help from the Innocence Project and obstruction by the DA he was exonerated by DNA evidence. The IP also solved the murder of his wife in the process.
So Mr. Morton lost his wife, his child (obviously reasons), and a huge chunk of his life because of a malicious prosecutor. Personally I can’t imagine going through such a thing.
Morton is a strong Christian and has a very good attitude despite all this.
He made a chilling remark the Texas Supreme Court (during a very unusual Court of Inquiry at the time of his official exoneration) about how he was glad it wasn’t a capital case.
Just some information for you in case you didn’t know.
The Willingham story is quite lengthy too, but he’s already dead so that story isn’t getting much attention.
I’d agree. I’m certainly for the death penalty, but I’d kind of like to see the standard for its imposition higher simply because there is no reversing it.
I’m not a lawyer and dont play one on TV, but I know the standard we have to convict is “beyond a reasonable doubt”. My thinking is that for the death penalty to be imposed, the standard should be “beyond a shadow of a doubt”, meaning video evidence, or conclusive DNA findings, confessions, etc.
So for people like Ted Bundy, the Night Stalker, The Boston Bomber, and their ilk, no question. But in a case where its sure looks like it, everything points to it, but its not 100% certain, life in prison.
With you on the KCl only, cheap and the std solution works. For express processing up the % for a fast hot shot. Bam... next in line.
Thanks Covenantor.
Glad we’re on the same page.
So, you've got one “maybe.”
I see you have a balanced position in your post. I'm going to call out a series of questions as if to a more certain capital punishment opponent.
Is the administration of justice so flawed that we may not convict anyone because of those flaws? Of course not.
Is the deterrent value of justice so little that we may not have harsh penalties that fit harsh crimes? Of course not.
Is imprisonment without the possibility of parole that much more humane? This is open to debate.
Doesn't capital punishment permanently close off the possibility of eventual exoneration of the innocent? Certainly. And society has decided that's okay anyway.
Isn't it for society to weigh these things to determine whether or not it believes capital punishment is a properly available punishment and deterrent? Of course society may judge these things, unless, like 0bamacare and marriage, legislative authority is removed from the people and arrogated unto our masters in black robes.
And, isn't that judgment legislatable? Of course, that's why some states virtually require capital punishment and others definitely ban it.
Even a Conservative who abhors the fact that the occasional innocent may be put to death has to agree that society gets to decide.
My respect for the police and the judiciary is at such a nadir that I think mob justice would be roughly equivalent. Nearly arbitrary. I have no trust in the system at all. Nonetheless, insofar as we're to have our civilization for a few more moments, I'll take capital punishment with its warts. When capital punishment too is completely undermined by the uniparty juiciarchy police state, we may as well foment armed revolt.
All good and important questions and points.
There are no real good solutions for when evil people have come to rule.
I’m pretty sure the “safeguards” will amount to nothing anyway when they finally come after us Christians.
The rules and due process really only work when a moral society legitimately governs itself.
That day went bye bye a while back. IMO of course.
So are the manufactures of Midazolam gay? :)
Is Midazolam covered under Obamacare? :)
Is Midazolam required to vote? ;)
Did the EPA not consider the high cost of Midazolam? :)
Is Texas requiring Midazolam to be used in abortion clinics? ;)
SCOTUS is so inconsistent. /sarc
air piston. If it’s good enough for the slaughterhouse, it’s good enough for the pen.
Had anyone survived and complained vis a vie guillotine??
Easy. Put the vermin in the electric chair and turn n the switch already.
Guillotine is the only way to be sure. It’s 100% guaranteed and there is no time for the convict to experience pain.
The only reason I can think of a the reason why the left is against the death penalty, like everything else, it has to do with emotion. The walk to the death chamber, the strapping in, the last right. All of this takes an emotional toll on the convict.
We have to be more humane. I would suggest, when the convict goes to sleep, pump nitrogen into the cell. Convict will never wake up.
Thank goodness Anthony Kennedy, the apparent personification of the Constitution, got this one right. All four of the Liberal Justices want the death penalty abolished, but only Breyer and Ginsburg were honest enough to say so.
They deserve hellfire. So do I.
I think we should be satisfied with sending them on their way efficiently. Breathing pure, dry nitrogen for a few minutes will do the job perfectly.
And may God grant them the grace of repentance and conversion ...
Is Lead considered a Drug?
How about Rope?
One of my labs makes heavy use of liquid nitrogen ... glass windows in the doors give a clear view of the oxygen sensors BEFORE entering ... and the emergency ventilation switch is on the outside.
“Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote the majority opinion in the 5-to-4 decision. He was joined by the court’s *four more conservative justices.*”
I guess Kennedy reverts to being a conservative when the MSM doesn’t like how he voted?
Thanks Zakeet.
I am in favor of Nitrogen.
It is quick and painless.
If we want it to be more interesting, we could switch and use liquid Nitrogen.
That might be painful...
It would be very difficult for them to ban liquid Nitrogen.
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