Thread: DP ? - is lethal injection inhumane ?

Where did I say anything about safe? There you go trying to find one word in a whole response to pick at again and this time it isn't even there... I'm done w/ this... I used to think it was fun to debate w/ you, this time around you just seem to be acting like a bully.

... this time around you just seem to be acting like a bully.

You don't like the way a discussion is going so suddenly I am a "bully" ??

I'd rather see them actually punished by being cut off from the free world in every way possible until they die of natural causes

I am pointing out the mistaken impression that just because they are in prison doesn't make them "safe" - violent criminals will continue to act out violently... no one hears about the attacks on the other inmates, the guards, nurses, and other staff who are there to help them.

(if you must live by it ( "an eye for an eye" )then you must also realize that it covers all offenses and not just murder)

I was simply saying that God did not intend for it to only be used for murder. You can't throw that quote out every time you want to see someone "fry" and then steal a song off the internet and consider it ok because you didn't kill anyone.

Okay ... "an eye for an eye" means - to my understanding - that the punishment should be equal to the crime. If you do violence, then violence shall be returned to you. So to imply that the DP be applied to illegal downloads is more like "an eye for a stubbed toe" as the punishment is WAY out of proportion to the crime.

I am sorry that you feel that I am "Cherry Picking" but I am trying to understand your point of view. If you feel like you are not making your point clearly doesn't make me a "bully"....

Georgia man executed, ending 7-month moratorium
By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer
19 minutes ago

JACKSON, Ga. - A Georgia man who killed his live-in girlfriend was executed Tuesday, the first inmate put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of lethal injections.

William Earl Lynd was pronounced dead at 7:51 p.m. EDT, Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Mallie McCord told The Associated Press. It came less than an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected efforts to block it.

The roughly three dozen states around the country that use lethal injection held off on carrying out any executions for more than seven months while the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the constitutionality of the three-drug cocktail that's used. It was the longest pause in U.S. executions in a quarter century.

The Supreme Court last month upheld the legality of lethal injections.

Lynd, 53, was sentenced to die for kidnapping and shooting his live-in girlfriend, Ginger Moore, three times in the face and head two decades ago. After he buried Moore's body in a shallow grave near a south Georgia farm, authorities said Lynd fled to Ohio, where he shot and killed another woman who had stopped along the side of the road to help him.

Lynd never denied killing Moore, 26, two days before Christmas in 1988. But his lawyers had sought a last minute reprieve from the courts, arguing that new forensic evidence showed he could not have kidnapped her because she was already dead when he stuffed her in the trunk of her car.

Prosecutors allege that Moore was still alive when Lynd placed her in the trunk — despite two gunshot wounds to the head. They say Lynd confessed to authorities that he fired the final, lethal shot when he heard her "thumping around" in the trunk.

The kidnapping had been an essential "aggravating" circumstance that made Lynd eligible for the death penalty.

Lawyers say Lynd and Moore had a volatile relationship and were in a heated argument over a trip to Florida when he shot her. His attorney, Tom Dunn, argued that the shooting was not premeditated, and took place after the two had taken Valium, marijuana and alcohol. In the days leading up to Lynd's execution, Dunn asked several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, to block it but was turned down each time.

Lynd's execution came about 30 minutes after its 7 p.m. EDT scheduled time as officials waited to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court would step in and halt it, and as they awaited the final go-ahead from the state attorney general.

The procedure began at 7:34 p.m. EDT with Lynd's heavily tattooed arms and neck strapped down to a gurney. He did not have any last remarks and declined a final prayer. As the chemicals began to flow into his arms, he blinked repeatedly, shuddered and yawned several moments into the procedure. He was pronounced dead 17 minutes later.

About three dozen people watched Lynd's execution, including the brother and sister-in-law of Lynd's girlfriend.

Death penalty opponents staged vigils around the state Tuesday night to protest the first of an expected wave of executions around the country. At the state Capitol in Atlanta, more than 40 people protested and unfurled a red, white and blue banner that said "Stop the Death Penalty."

About a dozen protesters were outside the state prison. "I just feel a profound sense of sadness that our state has rushed to be the first in the country to resume executing people," said Laura Moye, of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Jeanne Zittrauer was among eight people who stood outside the city hall in Savannah, about 250 miles east of Atlanta, to protest Lynd's execution. "It makes me ashamed that Georgia is the first one to do this, that we would jump right in there," the 65-year-old Zittrauer said. "I'm not saying he's guilty or innocent, but I don't believe any man deserves to be put to death."

Texas conducted the nation's last execution, putting Michael Richard to death on Sept. 25, 2007, the same day the Supreme Court agreed to consider a Kentucky case brought by two prisoners who claimed the lethal injection method violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/georgia_e...NAeQU9Ssms0NUE



DC Sniper Muhammad seeks to halt death-row appeal
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 6, 7:42 PM ET

McLEAN, Va. - Washington-area sniper John Allen Muhammad is asking prosecutors in a letter to help him end legal appeals of his conviction and death sentence "so that you can murder this innocent black man."

In a two-page letter obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Muhammad said he has tried without success to stop his defense attorneys from pursuing the appeals, and that he was counting on the state attorney general to assist him.

Muhammad told the prosecutors' office that he is waiving all rights to appeal his 2003 conviction and death sentence for the sniper killings in 2002 that terrorized the Washington, D.C., region. "I've written to you all because I know you will make sure this letter will get to the right people — so that you can murder this innocent black man," Muhammad wrote in the letter, dated April 23.

In the letter, Muhammad writes in the margin, "Muhammad innocent and on death row."

He does not state why he wants to end the appeal but writes that he has informed his appeals lawyers of his desires, and that any appeals they have filed "have been done against mine will."

Last month, Muhammad's appellate lawyers did indeed file a petition asking a federal judge to overturn Muhammad's conviction and death sentence in a Virginia court.

Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were convicted in 2003 of a random killing spree that left 10 people dead in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia over a three-week span in October 2002.

Muhammad was sentenced to death, and Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.

Muhammad's lawyer, Jonathan Sheldon, declined to comment Tuesday.

The recent appeal filed by the lawyers cited evidence of brain damage that may render Muhammad incompetent to make legal decisions. Therefore, they argue, he should never have been allowed to represent himself, as he did for a disastrous two-day stretch at his Virginia trial.

Muhammad also represented himself in a subsequent trial in Maryland, in which he was also convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Katherine Baldwin, a lawyer in the attorney general's office who is representing Virginia in the case, wrote a letter Tuesday saying she had received Muhammad's letter and was forwarding it to the defense lawyers and the judge "for whatever action you deem appropriate."

Tucker Martin, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080506/...ANQ23bDutH2ocA

Lethal injection is a nice, comfortable, cozy way to get rid of the loser bottom feeders. JMO - and, it is correct that it be reserved only for killers.

Oh, I guess another option I would agree with is turning the killers over to their victims families... yea, that would even be more in the line of true 'justice'.

Keeping in mind that the DP in the USA is reserved for the worse type of killers ... that is not the case in other parts of the world.

A CHRISTIAN ON TRIAL

Via VOA News http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-03-18-voa7.cfm

An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country's strict Islamic legal system. The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan's new constitution and democratic government.

The case is attracting widespread attention in Afghanistan, where local media are closely monitoring the landmark proceedings.

Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested last month, accused of converting to Christianity. Under Afghanistan's new constitution, minority religious rights are protected but Muslims are still subject to strict Islamic laws. And so, officially, Muslim-born Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and not for practicing Christianity.

Appearing in court earlier this week Rahman insisted he should not be considered an infidel, but admitted he is a Christian. He says he still believes in the almighty Allah, but cannot say for sure who God really is. "I am," he says, "a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ."

Rahman reportedly converted more than 16 years ago after spending time working in Germany. Officials say his family, who remain observant Muslims, turned him over to the authorities. On Thursday the prosecution told the court Rahman has rejected numerous offers to embrace Islam. Prosecuting attorney Abdul Wasi told the judge that the punishment should fit the crime.

He says Rahman is a traitor to Islam and is like a cancer inside Afghanistan. Under Islamic law and under the Afghan constitution, he says, the defendant should be executed. The court has ordered a delay in the proceedings to give Rahman time to hire an attorney. Under Afghan law, once a verdict is given, the case can be appealed twice to higher courts.

This is the first case in which the defendant has admitted to converting and is refusing to back down, even while facing the death penalty.

----

Here, via the Middle East Times, is the "evidence" against Rahman that may lead to his execution:

Christian convert faces execution in Afghanistan
March 19, 2006

THE EVIDENCE: Supreme court judge Mawlavizada on March 19 holds a Bible that belongs to Abdul Rahman, who converted from Islam to Christianity.
(REUTERS)

KABUL -- An Afghan man faces the death penalty for converting to Christianity, an Afghan supreme court judge said on Sunday.

Supreme Court Judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada said that Abdul Rahman, who converted from Islam to Christianity, is in police custody and that he could face the death penalty if he refused to become a Muslim again.

Abdul Rahman was detained two weeks ago after his relatives reported to the police about his conversion which is forbidden under Islamic Sharia law.

"Yes that's true, a man has converted to Christianity. He's being tried in one of our courts," Supreme Court judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada said, adding that his trial began early last week.

He said the man could face the death penalty if he refused to revert to Islam as Sharia law proposes capital punishment for any Muslim who converts to another religion. Afghanistan's constitution states: "No law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam."

If sentenced, the man will be the first to be punished for conversion since the ouster of the Taliban who introduced and implemented tough Sharia law.

The hardline Taliban regime was toppled by a US-led invasion in late 2001 for not handing over Al Qaeda chief, Osama Bin Laden, wanted for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

http://www.metimes.com/articles/norm...9-072838-8361r

Attorneys say Delaware execution went bad
By RANDALL CHASE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 37 minutes ago

DOVER, Del. - Delaware prison officials botched the execution of a murderer who was put to death three years ago, attorneys challenging Delaware's use of lethal injection said in court papers filed Monday.

Attorneys representing Delaware death row inmates in a class-action lawsuit claim that Brian Steckel was executed in 2005 without the proper anesthesia. They are seeking to have Delaware's use of lethal injection to be declared unconstitutional.

Prison officials noticed that the anesthetic being administered to Steckel before he received doses of two lethal chemicals began leaking into tissue surrounding the needle in his arm, the attorneys said. "Mr. Steckel was administered a paralytic drug and then an extremely painful heart-stopping drug without having received adequate anesthesia," federal public defender Michael Wiseman wrote.

Steckel was sentenced to death in 1997 for the 1994 murder of Sandra Lee Long in her apartment near Wilmington. Long was burned to death in a fire Steckel set after strangling her into unconsciousness and raping and sodomizing her.

Steckel's execution was so drawn out that Steckel himself wondered aloud why it was taking so long. Wiseman contends that Department of Correction officials never conducted an inquiry into Steckel's execution, and that there have been dosage errors in more than one-third of Delaware's lethal injection executions.

Prison officials have repeatedly said there were no technical difficulties, and have suggested that they simply wanted to give Steckel more time to say goodbye to loved ones.

DOC spokesman John Painter refused to respond in detail to the assertions in Wiseman's pretrial brief.

"The Department of Correction disputes the plaintiff's allegations and will address them at the appropriate time," Painter said in a prepared statement.

U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson scheduled a Monday afternoon hearing to help her decide whether Delaware's lethal injection procedure is significantly different from Kentucky's, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in April, and whether it presents a substantial risk of unnecessary pain to the condemned inmate.

Wiseman and other attorneys representing ax murderer Robert Jackson III and other death row inmates argue that Delaware's execution protocol is significantly different from Kentucky's. But deputy attorney general Elizabeth McFarlan has argued that Delaware's protocol is even more detailed than Kentucky's, leaving even less to chance.

Nearly three dozen states use lethal injection. Despite the Supreme Court's decision upholding the procedure, it remains under legal challenge in multiple states.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/...7EuPgBY1VH2ocA

Steckel was sentenced to death in 1997 for the 1994 murder of Sandra Lee Long in her apartment near Wilmington. Long was burned to death in a fire Steckel set after strangling her into unconsciousness and raping and sodomizing her.

The SOB kidnapped a woman; raped, sodomized, strangled, and left her to burn to death and we are supposed to feel sorry for HIM ??