Crist takes a kill pill
July 18th, 2007 by max linsky in News
Last December, after a botched lethal injection forced a prisoner to endure an unusually lenghty and painful death, then-Gov. Bush declared a temporary suspension of all executions in Florida so the state could review the process. At the time, The Guardian wrote that the decision “mark[ed] an important victory for human rights campaigners who have argued that lethal injections are unconscionably cruel.”
It appears the “victory” was more of a “halftime lead.” Today, Gov. Crist signed his first death warrant, for Mark Dean Schwab. From the Tallahasse Democrat:
“I am confident that the training, organization and communication processes established by the Commission on Administration of Lethal Injection and adopted by the State of Florida Department of Corrections are consistent with the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” said Crist, a former attorney general. The Eighth Amendment forbids “cruel and unusual punishments.”
We don’t pretend to know much about the “training, organization and communication processes” involved in lethal injection. But when it comes to killing people, we tend to think it’s one strike and you’re out. Is this really the arena for trial and error?
Leave a Reply