Sunday, March 12, 2006

THE LATEST ASSAULT ON THE DEATH PENALTY: THIS RED HERRING MAY HAVE LEGS

You've got to give them credit. The death penalty abolishionists are persistent. Now they've come up with a new idea - that lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusal punishment in that the condemned may suffer extreme pain while undergoing execution. It is amazing that it has taken them all these years to come up with that red herring, albeit a red herring that may have legs. These claims have stopped executions in Florida, Missouri, and California. In the Missouri case, even newly sworn-in U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, a staunch conservative, voted to stay an execution on those grounds.

The Florida case is unusual, in that it was filed as a federal civil rights lawsuit, rather than as the traditional appeal of a criminal conviction, and should it succeed, such lawsuits will be filed for every pending execution. In this case, a bank robber who killed a police officer and wounded his partner, was granted a stay of execution by the U.S. Supreme Court while he was already in the death chamber, strapped to the gurney with IV tubes inserted, as the executioner awaited orders to start the flow of lethal drugs. His lawyers had argued that the lethal doses used by Florida can cause pain and thereby denied this cold blooded cop killer his civil rights to protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

In the California case, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel was concerned that the condemned are not unconscious and may suffer extreme pain during executions. The San Francisco jurist ordered the State of California to change its lethal injection method of execution. He ordered the usual mix of injections replaced with a lethal dose of barbiturates to be administered by a physician. No physicians were willing to do this because they believed it would be a violation of their Hippocratic oath - to do no harm. The doctors' refusal to participate in an execution amounts to a moratorium on the death penalty in California.

Pardon me while I shed some crocodile tears for those who kill their victims in cold blood. God forbid that they should suffer any pain during executions. If it were up to me, I would bring back the electric chair. The condemned were scared shitless at the sight of "Old Sparky" and they probably experienced some extreme pain while they were getting fried. That method of execution definitely acted as a deterrent to murders.

The abolitionists, who are so concerned for the condemned, claim that they are not unconcerned for the victims and their families. Maybe so, but they are certainly not concerned for any future victims since abolition of the death penalty would eliminate the deterrent of executions.

Why do I believe that this latest claim is a red herring? Ten years ago, our veterinarian advised that it was time for Suki, our beloved 15 year old dog, to be put down. I held Suki in my arms, and while she looked at me with her trusting eyes, the vet gave her two injections. Then he said to me, "That's it, she's gone." It is still gut-wrenching for me to recall those final moments with Suki, but I feel it is important to do so in the context of this execution by injection controversy. While holding Suki, I did not detect the slightest twitching or any other indication whatsoever, that she was feeling any pain in her final seconds of life. She just went to sleep and I really did not realize that she was dead until the vet told me so. That is why I am convinced that the condemned do not feel any pain during their execution. On the other hand, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has noted that three veterinarians claim Florida's method of lethal injection would be "prohibited if done to dogs and cats." Hmmm, three veterinarians? That sounds like one of those old "three doctors say" ads.

Even if the condemned were to suffer some pain, it does not come anywhere near the pain suffered by their victims. It must be noted that the overwhelming majority of convicted murderers are not sentenced to death. Only those convicted of the most heinous killings are likely to receive the death penalty. So why are we so concerned about the possibility that they may suffer some pain during the final seconds of their lives? Unfortunately, it is not inconceivable that this latest assault on executions may eventually result in the abolition of the death penalty.

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