THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Cruel Executions!Federal Judge Rules California Executions Unconstitutional
Friday , December 15, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge who imposed a moratorium on executions in California ruled Friday that the state's method of lethal injection is unconstitutional because it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
California's "implementation of lethal injection is broken, but it can be fixed," U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel said.
Fogel said the case raised the question of whether a three-drug cocktail administered by the San Quentin State Prison is so painful that it "offends" the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
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Fogel's decision came on the same day that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suspended all executions in that state after a botched execution this week.
Lethal injection is the preferred execution method in 37 states. Last month, a federal judge declared unconstitutional Missouri's injection method, which is similar to California's.
Now, if what we want is quick and painless, get out your knitting needles:
However, considering the large number of folks who seem to be able to do themselves in, seemingly painlessly, with the non-judicious use of alcohol and pills combined, why can't we manage the same for death row?
If the function of the execution is to send a message to others as a deterrent, then it should be public and ghastly. (Giving pain to the condemned's family is an unfortunate part of the deal).
If the function is to ensure that the condemned never gets another chance to take a life, then pills and booze at bedtime should do the trick.
To permit unprofessional needle-jabbing in almost private conditions meets no social purpose.
For that matter, neither hanging or firing squad have been placed off-limits.
der Brucer.
For the record:
A. I believe society has a right to impose capital punishement.
B. As a practical matter, I believe capital punishment should be banned in all but a very few cases - where a criminal already incarcerated for a capital crime, commits murder.
By simply taking the death penalty off of the table, we could save vast sums of public funds (some of which might then be expended to provide for better trials in the first place). The system seems able to keep miscreants under lock and key for life - let's stick with it.
