Lethally Injected

STATES ARE CAPITALLY PUNISHING AGAIN

FITSNews – May 7, 2008 – The State of Georgia, which unlike South Carolina has a really good football team, broke a seven-month moratorium on executions yesterday by putting to death William Earl Lynd, some redneck who was convicted of killing two people back in 1988. From the Washington Post:

Lynd’s execution at 7:51 p.m. was the first since the (U.S. Supreme) court ruled April 16 that the three-drug protocol most commonly used in executions by states and the federal government did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

First of all, why is it that any time a white guy is being put to death in America for some crime that took place 20 years ago he’s got “Earl” somewhere in his name. Must be a redneck Death Row requirement or something.

More importantly, our whole approach to executing people in this country is ridiculous. Aside from not doing it as often and as expediently as we should (in order to make in an actual deterrent), we sit around and wonder whether peacefully putting somebody to sleep who violently bashed in other people’s skulls is somehow ”cruel and unusual.”

Want to make capital punishment work? Institute an “Execution A Day” rule and allow victims families to carry out the sentence themselves in a manner consistent with the crime. That’ll show those violent criminals a thing or two, not to mention keep us taxpayers from feeding and housing these animals any longer than we have to.

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