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| FromAlbum4 |
I remember in the early 1980s my very conservative dad telling me, in a mildly incredulous tone, that one of his co-workers thought lethal injection was a bad idea because it “didn’t make the criminal suffer enough.”
Must be the same sort of mentality thatthrows a tantrum over last meals of the condemned.
Last week the state of Texas said it would no longer let condemned prisoners order practically anything they want for their last meals before execution.
Aswe reported, “the huge meal that white supremacist Lawrence Russell Brewer ordered and then left untouched before his execution … convinced Texas officials to end the state’s traditional practice.” Among the foods he was given: a bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, a pound of barbecue, a pizza and a pint of ice cream.”
Here’s a quick update on the Texas decision:
Brian Price, who when he was an inmate in Texas worked in the prison kitchen and prepared about 200 last meals, now runs a restaurant in East Texas. He’s offered to prepare future last meals for free. “Taxpayers will be out nothing,” he told The Associated Press.
The state says thanks, but no thanks.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyonstold theLos Angeles Timesthat Price’s proposal is “a kind offer.” But, she said, “it’s not the cost but rather the concept we’re moving away from.”
So, what’s next? Will we require them to mix their own “cocktail” of lethal drugs or maybe dig their grave? Or will we dispense with the whole idea of a trial in the first place? After all, actual guilt or innocence hardly matter in places like Texas — or Georgia — andAntonin “Fat Tony” Scalia’s said as much officially.
Maybe they could have the condemned man walk through the public streets carrying the gurney upon which he’ll be executed, all the while letting people throw shit and spit on him on the way to the killing chamber.
Government is too big and powerful and costly and socialist and jackbooted, etc… But we always trust the government to kill the right people.
proud to be meaner.
I think what a lot of American call “justice” is really just a code word for vindictiveness, vengeance, and bloodlust, wrapped up in an ugly self-righteousness–rancid leftovers of the harsh Puritan/Calvinist ethics of certain of our ancestors.
Hunter Thompson had a great term for this: he called it “The Punishment Ethic.”
Even if the last meal were free to the Taxpayers, they wouldn’t accept it.
Denying any sort of mercy. Like denying blindfolds at firing squads. Let’s take away the coup de grace also so the condemned can suffer. Better, aim at their kneecaps to make sure their death is prolonged over weeks.
I’m thinking they’ll move to making them dig their own grave. I mean, that’s well and truly medieval, isn’t it?
The one thing they don’t point out is that the outrageous last meal could have been vetoed by the warden.