Tag Archive for Clayton

Torture that Many Approve Of

Granted, Clayton Lockett committed a despicable crime, and he was legally sentenced to death.  Like it or not, however, we must remember that he was a human being, and no humans should be subjected to torture like he was.

If you missed the story, yesterday he was strapped onto the table in the Kansas death chamber and given the first of three shots of a new, unproven “cocktail.”  It didn’t take.  He didn’t lose consciousness as he was supposed to; he began convulsing and talking and tried to get up from the table, obviously in great distress.  Some 43 minutes (yes, 43) later he finally died–of a heart attack.

Botched executions are not uncommon, although this one was particularly bad.  Our country claims to abhor torture, yet there are people who will say he deserved it, and so do all the others being executed.  I disagree.  Even the Old Testament law (supposedly replaced by New Testament mercy) of “an eye for an eye” didn’t include torture.  Plain and simple, it’s against the 8th Amendment, being cruel, and it’s out-and-out barbaric.