Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Okla. execution goes awry

Problems in the execution of an Oklahoma inmate resulted in his dying shortly thereafter of a heart attack.  Execution of a second inmate was delayed until later. The disclosure of execution drug sources has been a controversial topic in Oklahoma and other states.  Abolitionists have attempted to use such disclosures to put pressure on manufacturers of the drugs.  However, the cause of the execution that went awry may have been "vein failure," or the process rather than the drugs themselves.  At any rate this incident provides further ammunition for abolitionists.  I am not an abolitionist as there are a minute percentage of murderers who deserve the penalty (e.g. the Oklahoma City bomber, Osama bin Laden, etc.).  There have been too many documented convictions of the truly innocent and once the person is executed, there can be no correction of any errors.  The punishment should be limited to mass or serial murderers, murderers who torture their victims, and perhaps murders of children.

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