Clarence Ray Allen, a septuagenarian who is legally blind and nearly deaf, is scheduled to be executed by the State of California on January 17, 2006. Allen will turn 76 on the eve of his execution and will have to be pushed to the execution chamber in a wheelchair. His attorneys are appealing his death sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds that Allen is so feeble that his execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Why has this poor old blind man, who cannot even walk to the execution chamber,been sentenced to death? In 1980, while serving time in prison for another murder, a hit man hired by Allen killed three people. Thus, it can be said that Allen is not on death row for singing off key in the prison chapel choir.
Allen's execution has been delayed for more than 23 years by numerous appeals. At the time of the triple murder he was 50 years of age. It is not the fault of the State of California that he has become feeble while sitting on death row - that is his own fault and that of his attorneys. And, there is something wrong with a justice system that allows the filing of appeal after appeal for a period of over 23 years. After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denied Allen's request for clemency on Friday the 13th, his attorneys filed the latest appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If Allen is executed as scheduled, he will become the second oldest inmate to be put to death since capital punishment was reinstated in this country. Last month, Mississippi executed John B. Nixon, Sr. at the age of 77. The oldest death row inmate, 90 year old Viva Leroy Nash, is awaiting execution in Arizona. It should be noted that all these old folks are awaiting execution as punishment for heinous crimes. They should not be rewarded for achieving feebleness while their attorneys extended the appeals process year after year.
Hey, where is Jesse Jackson? Oops, this guy is white. If the Supreme Court turns down Allen's last minute appeal, I will wish him a happy 76th birthday and adios!
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