Killer Rapist lives another day
The warden announced that the 3 chemical potion method of lethal injection was going to be changed to a lethal injection of barbiturates.
The method was expected to lengthen the execution time from 11 minutes to 45 minutes. It was one of three choices offered by US District Court Judge Fogel after the defense team contested ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ means used by the state.
A week ago, U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel responded to defense claims that lethal injection violated a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by offering three options: A lethal injection of only barbiturates; having an anesthesiologist on hand to ensure Morales was unconscious when the standard three-chemical injection was administered; or a stay of the execution pending a hearing.
Of course further hasty maneuvering in the Ninth Circus Court of Appeals didn’t clear things up. In the end there was a mutiny due to ethical concerns.
Doctors said the ruling raised serious questions about the possibility of having to intervene in the execution “if any evidence of either pain or a return to consciousness arose.”
The goal is death by the simplest method possible and without any intentionally prolonged pain. Obviously the most effective method should have been employed when the court’s ruling and subsequent concerns were raised by the doctors. Since no hangman’s platform was available, I am sure a impromptu firing squad could have been arranged. Bullets are less expensive than doctors and drugs. There is also no 11 – 45 minutes of ’suffering’ to endure by the victim creep. If they can’t find guards able to shoot straight then they might ask some of the sniper teams to participate. They will make sure they are on target and that justice is executed. Hmmmm. Lets say that justice would be enacted. It seems as if the courts have already begun to execute justice themselves, putting the rest of us in pain.
