Posted on 07/27/2014 3:27:06 PM PDT by Kaslin
The state of Arizona executed double murderer Joseph Wood this week. The convicted killer was injected with a combination of lethal drugs that eventually caused his death; however, it took too long according to some observers.
After being administered the drugs, Wood lingered for almost two hours before dying. Witnesses included reporter Troy Hayden who said the execution was “botched” and that Wood’s last words were similar to “a fish on shore gulping for air.”
While Hayden complained that the execution was “very disturbing to watch,” U.S. Senator John McCain noted that it was “terrible” and amounted to “torture.”
During the long ordeal, Wood’s attorneys unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. District Court in Arizona for a “stay of execution” claiming that the drugs caused “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer noted that Wood died in a “lawful manner” in contrast to the “gruesome, vicious suffering that he inflicted on his two victims.” Nevertheless, she ordered an investigation into the “process” used in this execution.
Not surprisingly, media critics and opponents of the death penalty did not waste any time in seizing on the incident. They claimed it was another reason why the United States should join other “civilized nations” and ban all executions.
On the contrary, civilized nations should executive murderers for one major reason. When regularly conducted and publicized, executions serve as a deterrent to other criminals and save the lives of innocent people.
Unfortunately, the process today is ludicrous as justice is delayed for decades in many cases. For example, Wood brutally killed his girlfriend and her father in 1989. The family members of these victims have been waiting 25 years for justice, an obscene delay.
In the United States criminal justice system today, there are too many appeals and too many delays in how executions are administered. After a conviction on death penalty charges and all appeals have been lost, a criminal should be swiftly executed, not given decades of taxpayer paid housing, food, clothing and legal representation.
The other serious flaw in the current system is the misplaced concern for the convict and the lack of consideration for the victim and the surviving family members.
In recent years, our society has become more worried about the criminals. Thus, more “humane” forms of execution have been used. Gone are the firing squad, the hanging at the public square and even the electric chair.
Today, almost all states use lethal injection as the preferred form of execution. Yet, as pharmaceutical companies have refused to supply the needed drugs, corrections officials have been forced to utilize creative drug combinations that lead to a longer survival period after injection.
The cry from liberal activists is to stop the “bungled executions,” but this infuriates the family members of victims.
Jeanne Brown, who had two family members killed by Wood, said “You don't know what excruciating is….what's excruciating is seeing your dad laying there in a pool of blood, seeing your sister laying there in a pool of blood. This man deserved it.”
He deserved death and was lucky that he was able to prepare for his death and have twenty five years as a prison inmate, with all of his expenses paid by the taxpayers, to continue his life. Jeanne Brown’s family members were not as fortunate as Wood killed them with no warning or consideration.
This public outrage is misplaced and inappropriate. If convicted killers die painful deaths due to lethal injection, it should not be a national tragedy.
What is a tragedy is that it takes too long for our country’s criminal justice system to dispense justice. When justice is delayed, it is denied, and that is the only tragedy worth discussing.
One thing I don’t understand about these supposed botched executions is just how hard is it to put a person to sleep?
I have undergone anesthesia 3 different times and each time the Dr. put me under in mid sentence. They probably could have done anything they wanted after than and I would never have known.
How long did it take for his victim to die?
For an execution you can’t beat a bullet.
The family of the victims said he was snoring, not gulping for breath.
I guess that doesn’t fit the narrative.
Me too. Total dark. Maybe I talked in my sleep but I have no memory of it. The hard part each time was waking up.
I would sentence vermin like this criminal to solitary confinement, no outside stimulation other than cspan 1 on tv, 24-7, 364 days a year. When the family of the victim(s) can see their loved one again, then the perp can see the light of day and other people again.
Sort of a take off of the prison in "Silence of the Lambs" without any/none of the perks shown in that movie.
That’s the truth!!
Although a lot of the euthanasia drugs are difficult to obtain, anesthesia doesn’t seem to be (thank goodness).
The only "botched execution" is one where the criminal doesn't die
Who amongst us hasn’t gone through this with a beloved dog, cat or horse?
The Enemy-Media has GOT to be making this sh#t up, because they sedate you, then give you an injection to stop your heart muscle.
Who the feck CARES about these mongrels that should be put down immediately upon conviction? These jerks are getting off, easy. They should be killed in the same manner in which their victim/s died.
I know. I’m SO mean, LOL!
I guess that doesn’t fit the narrative.
Knowing how the media loves to find a story with a narrative that supports their agenda, I am believing the family victims' account of the execution.
Besides, at this point in time, what difference does it make?
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
McCain spoke with his usual mediaspeak..”...it was “terrible” and amounted to “torture.” and this from the lawyer “...the drugs caused “cruel and unusual punishment.” The only torture and cruel and unusual punishment was the stated “obscene” length of time it took to deliver the punishment due to our appeals system. The tax-payers pick up the tab for 25 years of free room, board, and medicine plus the perks prisoners have in most prisons....Frankly a bullet is cheaper by far and probably the choice of most on death row.
One .30cal. round between the eyes from an M-1 Garand. ‘Course there’s going to be a mess to clean up.
I have had a few dogs put down over the years (sadly). The vet first puts the dog to sleep and then administers another drug that stops their breathing. What is so difficult about that?
I believe I would choose the firing squad if I were being executed.
I recall some WWII video of German “werewolfs” caught during the Battle of the Bulge. They were tied to a post and shot by a firing squad. They appeared to die instantly and immediately become a rag doll.
Imagine the "cruel and unusual punishment" the victim went through. Besides when it comes to these butchers and animals, a little suffering is good for the soul.
NOT the point at all. I Prosecuted for 25 years and did my fair share of Capital cases. I have prosecuted those for whom my thought was “so this is for whom they made the death penalty”.
But that is not the argument whatsoever. Barbarism bleeds into a society. Why on EARTH do you think “cruel and unusual punishment is in the Bill of Rights”?
You do not want a State, especially this burgeoning Police State, to have the power to execute it’s citizens. Perhaps my viewpoint is unique, but I don’t think people really appreciate just how much power the State has. If they want you guilty of something, rest assured you will be.
And finally, the System makes mistakes. Innocents have been put to death. And anyone that thinks that STILL makes it OK with an argument of something like “well, we still get 9 out of 10 and that’s just the price of execution” needs to seriously consider a position with the guy who chops off hands for theft.
This is not a LibTard thing. QUITE the contrary. We want to be in control of our State. That is what our Constitution does. Libs want the State to control us. That is what the death penalty does.
This article is terribly misguided and arguing an irrelevant point on the issue.
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