Posted on 03/17/2015 9:02:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Missouri cop killer Cecil Clayton was executed Tuesday night after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments he should be spared because he was missing a piece of his brain.
Clayton, who at 74 was the state's oldest death-row prisoner, was pronounced dead at 9:21 pm CT, eight minutes after his lethal injection was administered, prison officials said in a statement.
"They brought me up here to execute me," he said in his final statement.
Clayton was convicted of murdering sheriff's deputy Chris Castetter after a domestic disturbance in 1996. His case drew extra attention because of his brain injury, the result of a 1972 sawmill accident that forced doctors to remove one-fifth of his frontal lobe. His lawyers contended the damage not only sparked a massive personality change that may have turned him into a killer, but also rendered him mentally incompetent and therefore ineligible for capital punishment.
"Cecil Clayton had literally a hole in his head," his attorney, Elizabeth Unger Carlyle, said in a statement after the execution. "Executing him without a hearing violated the Constitution, Missouri law and basic human dignity.
"He suffered from severe mental illness and dementia related to his age and multiple brain injuries," she added. "The world will not be a safer place because Mr. Clayton has been executed."
Missouri had argued that medical experts found Clayton understood why he was being executed and that meant he was competent to face the needle. They argued that his intellectual deficits had to be present before he turned 18 to let him escape execution and that he waited too long to raise his claim.
Castetter's brother said in a statement that he had no doubt Clayton was in his right mind.
"We know this execution isn't going to bring Chris back," he said. "But it destroys an evil person that would otherwise be walking this earth."
Clayton's 11th-hour appeals delayed his execution for several hours. But ultimately, none of the U.S. Supreme Court justices accepted his claims arguments for a stay based on his brain injury.
Four justices from the liberal wing did say they would have granted a stay based on his claim that Missouri's secrecy-shrouded process for obtaining the lethal dose of pentobarbital could lead to an unconstitutional death.
Gov. Jay Nixon also denied him clemency in the final minutes, saying he agreed with the state's assessment that Clayton was competent.
"This crime was brutal and there exists no question of Clayton's guilt," he said in a statement.
I don’t know. It’s only recently that I’ve come to lose some faith in our justice system.
Well, I believe in our justice system although the penal code and prison system are way antiquated. By-and-large, we have the finest justice system in the world. Sometimes it takes a trip and maybe a stay elsewhere to see the value of what we have in this country. But just like anything, as long as people are fallible, nothing will be perfect.
Also, things would be better if people had more faith and trust in God and less in man.
My opposition to the death penalty is based more on practicality. To me, there’s none of the circus and liberal media/celebrity crap involved with life in prison, and watching a scumbag die in a 5x7 cell when he’s old is more enjoyable. I would support the death penalty in extreme instances, such as serial killers and killers of law enforcement and children.
Capital punishment is not vengeance. It is the only punishment that emphasizes the extreme sacredness of innocent life. When death is not exacted in non-extenuation murder crimes, then permission is given to commit atrocity against more innocent life.
So, it's not about vengeance. It's not about deterrence. It's about valuation and recompense.
Does God send unbelievers to hell?
Ok, so my life isn't as valuable as a law enforcement officer or a child? All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. Gotcha!
How does the death penalty uphold value and who is recompensed?
Does God send unbelievers to hell?
Actually, no, those who refuse the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ send themselves to hell. It isn't God's will that any should perish.
It upholds the value of life, and that there is no way to repay for a murder.
So, you believe in hell. And this is better than a death sentence how?
Jesus already went to hell so no one else would have to. I know that people being in hell is a very sad thing for God, but He did all he could through his Son. He never takes away free will.
Killing is a strange way of affirming life. I think that's what they say in the abortion clinics.
there is no way to repay for a murder
So no one is compensated? So how is the death penalty about recompense?
Again, you are justifying ETERNAL capital punishment in hell. How is that different?
It affirms the VALUE of life. There is no punishment that approaches the value of a life. The only equal payment for murdering a life is a life.
Not to require that life payment is to say that the first life was not valuable. That encourages murder.
Is 50 years in jail a fair trade for your child's life?
The gift of eternal life is a choice, as is eternal damnation. Why anyone would choose the latter, is beyond my ability to understand, yet choose it, they do.
I have no problem with that theology, Graybeard58. I’m talking to one who does not believe in capital punishment for brutal murder.
I’m asking if eternal damnation is not also capital punishment.
Jesus Christ already made that payment.
Is 50 years in jail a fair trade for your child's life?
Does an eye for an eye bring you closure and peace? You might want to check with the families of victims about that.
You are not talking about civil government when you talk about Jesus sacrifice for sin.
You avoided the question. Is your child’s life worth 50 years in prison? Do you consider that an equal trade?
Is it an equal trade if you give me a thousand dollars and I give you 50 dollars?
I’ve known real life mafia men afraid of death penalty
That’s all I have to go on
Life in prison is just fine for alpha prisoners
Just observances
Capital punishment cannot be compared to eternal damnation. One is imposed by men on a man and damnation is imposed on oneself and is infinitely a worse end than capital punishment, actually, it's not even an "end" as it never ends.
Death, through capital punishment, imposed by men is, in theory, unavoidable, eternal damnation is easily avoidable.
I’m not avoiding your question but why don’t you try answering a question first for a change: Does an eye for an eye bring you closure and peace?
I suppose. Aren’t they just as afraid of dying in prison?
Off to bed, will answer replies tomorrow.
By the way, wife and 15 year old son really sick, prayers appreciated
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