...only this time piloting a new lethal injection on a death row inmate called Kenneth Biros, someone I've written to for many years.The rest of the issue is the usual paen to the cause of not humanely executing a man who slaughtered a woman in a fit of rage and then cut up the body and spread various parts over a wide territory. The poor wee lamb...
And a glance at Karen Torley's photo will explain any questions you may have about what sort of women are pen-friends with killers and rapists.
The article is so rambling and confused, you might wish for a lethal injection yourself by the time you get to the end of it:
Execution by lethal injection is supposed to be "humane and clinical". Ohio promises a "quick death". But there is nothing humane, quick or painless about any of it. Even when lethal injection "works" there's evidence that its cocktail of drugs paralyses the prisoner, trapping them in what Amnesty International calls a "chemical straitjacket". They're conscious, in pain, but unable to move a muscle or cry out.Which is precisely why a new method, a massive overdose of sedative, was tried on your pal, Karen.
It seemed to work well enough. And as DumbJon points out, if it's slower, you only have yourself and your fellows to blame...
She objects to the long wait for execution (hey, we do have something in common after all!) yet ignores the fact that it is the long-drawn-out appeals process, mainly driven by the convicted and his lawyers, that sustains this. And even when the condemned accpts guilt and drops this, she's still not happy:
In 1999 a mentally ill man called Wilford Berry was executed, the first judicial killing in Ohio since the early 60s. I wrote to Berry begging him to reconsider: I reminded him that there were people like Kenny Richey on Ohio's death row who were probably innocent – Berry's death might open the floodgates.Well, I bet he was glad to get that letter!
Of course, the time to ask Berry to 'reconsider' might have been before he murdered anyone, eh, Karen?
I want to know: how can a prison officer go home to their family and act normally after something like this? Aren't they another victim of this barbaric, inhumane system?Perhaps they know their charges a little better than some misguided fool who writes a few letters and blocks her mind from the awful things they did to land them where they are, Karen?
And this is not just prison, it's imprisonment plus death. Capital punishment exceeds the calculated cruelty of the most heinous of murderers. It's like a criminal saying to his victim: "I'll kill you, but first I'll confine you for years ahead of that appointment with death."I get the feeling Karen isn't a fan of prison either...
But she has no alternative proposal, it seems. Like so many bleeding hearts.
This form of lethal injection is nothing new; a massive overdose of barbiturates is the method of choice for euthanising dogs, cats, and even horses. Injected intravenously by a skilled operator, this method causes firstly unconsciousness, then progressively shuts down the rest of the brain and finally the heart. Having seen a much-loved pet dog put to sleep by this method, I can attest that the only real problem is finding a suitable vein (the animal in question here was a small dog of about 16 years old, hence very decrepit due to age); once the substance is injected into a vein the animal loses consciousness very quickly and does not regain it.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that were a similar method used on humans, the effects would be similar; loss of consciousness fairly rapidly and provided a steady input of drug was maintained, say by an intravenous saline drip as a carrier, the victim should not wake up again and should sleep into death. All in all, about as humane as you could wish for; after the victim goes to sleep it really shouldn't matter how long they take to snuff it as long as they do not and cannot wake up.
> But she has no alternative proposal, it seems.
ReplyDeleteShe does it's just that it's "don't punish or separate criminals from civilisation".
Just posted on the Guardian site, lets see how long it will last;
ReplyDelete"" But there is nothing humane, quick or painless about any of it.""
Good.
You think that of their INNOCENT victims WAS?
You think for ONE DAMN SECOND that the suffereing of the families of the victim will be "humane, quick or painless"?
As MUCH pain as POSSIBLE for these murdering bastards
And they do NOT re offend very often either.
vonnSpreuth
9 Dec 2009, 11:25AM
Sounds like she's one of the usual murder junkies who rubs one out at the thought of psychopathic violent men.
ReplyDeletehttp://roissy.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/through-the-valley-of-the-shadow-of-human-nature/
I'd be very interested to see their letters. Lot's of marriage proposals from her, no doubt.
As per usual I'll leave my traditional objection to capital punishment by any means. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that governments are untrustworthy. If stuff like the roundabout routine collection of DNA or the increasing use of anti terrorist legislation to harass amateur photographers etc etc is at all worrying then I find it strange that anyone would trust the same bunch of bastards responsible for that with the power of life and death as well. Look, by all means lock up crims, and the most dangerous recidivists should have only the most remote chance of release, if any. And don't waste time and effort making the prisons all comfy and tastefully done out with Laura Ashley or something. But does anyone really want the power of life and death ultimately resting in the hands of Gordon Brown or some other cunt like him?
ReplyDeleteAngry Exile got there before me. Far too many innocents have been convicted for me to support the death penalty.
ReplyDeleteI have precious little trust in the state - to trust them to get this right is a stretch too far.
That said, I do have an alternative; life without parole.
"This form of lethal injection is nothing new; a massive overdose of barbiturates is the method of choice for euthanising dogs, cats, and even horses."
ReplyDeleteAnd if it's good enough for a beloved pet, it's... actually, far too good for these people...
"Sounds like she's one of the usual murder junkies who rubs one out at the thought of psychopathic violent men."
It's a source of macabre fascination for some, I think...
"That said, I do have an alternative; life without parole."
Which was the understood 'second prize' when the DP was abolished. What happened to it?
I was once also a supporter of life without parole until chatting with a screw from Pentonville one day. He wasn't keen on the idea. He had little love and less sympathy for those he kept locked up for the rest of us, but felt that if there was absolutely no prospect of release some of them would have nothing to lose and become very hard to handle. Hence my suggestion that for the most violent repeat offenders the chance of release should be slim. I know I also said 'if any' in my last comment but really I think there should always be at least a theoretical chance of eventual release for each prisoner.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a moral question - is it just for the rest of us, or those acting for us, to completely write someone off as being utterly beyond redemption? As a practical matter it seems likely that most of the scumbag supply in and out of jail is beyond redemption, but it's almost a certainty that a small number will reform. If we knew which were which it'd make the task of deciding who to lock up for how long, or who to put up against a wall, much easier. Unfortunately we don't, so we're left with attempting to work out who is really reformed and safe for early release and who's just saying it. It's a nice idea in theory but the bugger is that it goes wrong way too often.
Here's my suggestion for what to do with lifers. Some can certainly be let out eventually as now because the sentence was only ever about punishment and not public safety. We're talking crimes of passion etc. For the real murdering bastards who do represent a risk if released this is what we do - we say that the key is not being chucked away but you've got to earn your way out of the nick. There will be a minimum sentence and it will be long, but after that genuinely reformed characters can work towards release. My litmus test for a reformed character, inspired by Catch 22, would be one so cut up with remorse for what they'd done that they would ask not to be released ;-)
Anyhow, none of that takes away from the point that I think letting people like the snot muncher have that power again is ultimately more dangerous than the sort of scum that people want executed.
Hmm. WV 'eupunwin' - I'd have said eujokefail would have been more appropriate.