Tag Archive for execute

Not So Unusual but Should Be

July 25, 2017 2 comments

Ohio executed Dennis McGuire over three years ago.  It took him 25 minutes to die, during which time he snorted loudly and gasped several times.  Is this “cruel and unusual punishment”?  The courts looked at the case, then agreed to let Ohio resume executions using the same drug combination.  Despite the fact that the drug that’s supposed to render the person unconscious didn’t do so in many cases, leaving the condemned writing in pain for long periods (like McGuire’s 25 minutes).

Now Ohio is about to carry out a quick series of 27 more executions using that same drug combination, making the practice definitely cruel and, unfortunately, not unusual.

With all the studies showing that the death penalty is not a deterrent, is far more expensive than life-without-parole, and can’t be carried out humanely, no wonder support is widespread in the U.S. for discontinuing this practice.  When are we going to make our laws catch up to our reason?

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Who is that Masked Man?

September 26, 2016 Comments Off on Who is that Masked Man?

Ever notice how many protesters have their faces covered?  This is true all over the world, including here in the U.S.  Yet we have freedom of speech.  If I’m expressing beliefs and opinions I truly believe in, why don’t I want people to see my face?  If I’m hiding my identity because I’m doing something illegal, like smashing the store windows of people not involved in what I’m protesting against, and if I think that’s the right and moral thing to do, I should stand up to be counted–and let everyone see my face.

I understand the cover-up in countries where the regime will arrest and execute me just for speaking out, but not here in America. Come on, protesters, let’s see your proud, righteous faces as you sling that brick or peacefully carry a sign.

 

 

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Help Save a Life

August 21, 2015 Comments Off on Help Save a Life

[This is a plea from Susan Sarandon.  I think it’s important enough to get the word out to as many people as possible.]

Sister Helen Prejean, who I played in “Dead Man Walking,” is fighting her every waking hour to save an innocent man Oklahoma plans to execute in just 26 days. We need your help—and we need it right now.

Sign our petition asking Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin to stop the execution of Richard Glossip.

Richard is scheduled to be executed on September 16. He was convicted of murder solely on the testimony of Justin Sneed, who confessed to the murder but claimed Richard had hired him to do it—even though there is not a shred of physical evidence to support his claim. By implicating Richard, Sneed avoided the death penalty himself and is serving a life sentence in a medium-security prison.1

Ten men on death row in Oklahoma have been exonerated in the past 35 years, four of them convicted based on the false testimony of criminals who had their sentences reduced in exchange for their testimony.2

Despite this, Gov. Fallin has said the state will go ahead with the execution.3 Our only hope is that a groundswell of public outrage forces the governor to issue a 60-day reprieve—giving Richard’s pro bono lawyers time to prove his innocence.

Add your voice to help save an innocent man’s life. Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends right away.

Sneed’s own daughter wrote to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board last October that she “strongly believe[s]” Richard is innocent. “For a couple of years now, my father has been talking to me about recanting his original testimony,” she wrote. “I feel his conscience is getting to him.”4

Decades of research and investigations show that the death penalty is discriminatory and is used disproportionately against people who are low-income (like Richard), and Black, and in cases where the victim is white.5

As Reverend Adam Leathers of Oklahoma City said, “Sixty days is a small price to pay to avoid killing an innocent man.”6

Thanks for all you do.

–Susan Sarandon

Sources:

1. “Save Richard Glossip!” Ministry Against the Death Penalty, accessed August 7, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=305872&id=129822-28025447-Opva7Rx&t=5

2. “What Happened in Room 102: Oklahoma Prepares to Execute Richard Glossip,” The Intercept, July 9, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=305994&id=129822-28025447-Opva7Rx&t=6

3. “Fallin says state is prepared ‘to hold [Richard Glossip] accountable,’ activists plead for his life,” The City Sentinel, August 10, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=305986&id=129822-28025447-Opva7Rx&t=7

4. “Clemency letter from O’Ryan Justine Sneed,” Scribd, October 23, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306051&id=129822-28025447-Opva7Rx&t=8

5. “Death Penalty 101,” American Civil Liberties Union, accessed August 14, 2015
https://www.aclu.org/death-penalty-101

6. “Fallin says state is prepared ‘to hold [Richard Glossip] accountable,’ activists plead for his life,” The City Sentinel, August 10, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=305986&id=129822-28025447-Opva7Rx&t=9

 

 

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Charlston: Peaceful Closure

June 22, 2015 Comments Off on Charlston: Peaceful Closure

It’s amazing: families of the people shot to death in a Charlston, SC church, during Bible study, are saying they forgive Dylynn Roof, the killer.  They refuse to let hatred breed more hatred.

Hearing their response to cold tragedy brought me to a realization–that forgiveness is the only way to reach the elusive “closure” that everybody talks about.  Execution and life-imprisonment punish the perpetrator but are forms of vengeance.  Anyone who has ever kept a grudge for awhile knows that “getting even” doesn’t make us feel a lot better. In fact, it gives more power to the person receiving our retribution, because of time and psychic energy we wasted on thinking about him and because now we, too, have done something negative.  Besides, his wrong act and our reaction will haunt us forever as we call up memories about how he got his comeuppance.  It’s a far cry from closure, which, by definition, brings an end, a conclusion to a situation.  It’s even farther from what people expect closure to bring them, which is peace.

Forgiveness closes off the gut-churning blame process and it doesn’t involve a soul-shattering battle of negatives.  Most importantly, it brings peace.

Forgiveness–what a concept.

 

 

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Kill off the Defectives

December 12, 2014 Comments Off on Kill off the Defectives

What kind of society kills off its mentally disturbed and low-IQ citizens?  Us, as is shown by two executions earlier this week.  A Missouri inmate who was considered mentally disturbed was executed, as was a Georgia man with an IQ of 70.  This is not uncommon in our American justices system.

I find this VERY unsettling.

 

 

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