The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Although the news is reporting the execution was "botched", which is disputable since the inmate died and there was apparent (and common) IV infiltrate, this could be a signal for the end of the death penalty as we know it.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/execution-botched-before-inmate-dies-of-heart-attack-second-execution/article_80cc060a-cff2-11e3-967c-0017a43b2370.html

What's bad is that his death ended up being hyper political.  He said the drugs being used may not be the correct cocktail to lead to a human death.  He said the cocktail mail result in cruel and unusual punishment.

IMHO, that was never actually reviewed.  The political decision wasade to move forward as fast as possible. A "double execution tonight only!" was scheduled to grab media attention.  We look like blood thirsty revenge driven idiots who cant even execute our own citizens properly.

Maybe it wasn't the drugs, but I've never seen an animal being put to sleep react as described here.  Something went wrong. The State of Oklahoma had absolute control.  Ergo... the State seriously f#¢ked up.

Suppose the next guy gets to review that cocktail now?

If you can't do something right, don't do it.

We know we belong to the land (yo-ho)
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.!

Yet again MY state is all over the national media, headline story in the news cycle.  And yet again, it isn't for something good.  This story is international.

A personal disaster for some, massive PR disaster for Oklahoma.  Is THIS good for business? Tourism?

Idiots.

I wonder how the impeachment of the Oklahoma Supreme Court justices that tried to stop this from happening is going to work now.  Hey Rep Mike Christian, who’s showing “incompetence” and “personal bias” now?

And yet, the LWRE is once again glossing over the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT part of this case.... not even glossing over, but ignoring it completely!  Would one suppose that maybe Stephanie would have had just a little bit of  "breathing heavily, writhing, clenching his (her) teeth and straining to lift his (her) head off the pillow (dirt being piled around her head to suffocate her"  ??  I bet it was MUCH more - and went on for a much longer time!!  Oh, yeah

"A four-time felon, Lockett was convicted of shooting 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman and watching as two accomplices buried her alive in rural Kay County in 1999. Neiman and a friend had interrupted the men as they robbed a home."


Yep, it's a really bad PR thing for this state - as I have noted repeatedly, we have our idiots we keep electing running things.  BUT the LWRE response to this is just as bad as the "birthers" nonsense about a birth certificate!!


And as for Warner - well anyone who would rape and murder an 11 month old is not human!  And deserves NO human considerations!

The BS began to flow almost immediately... "bad vein" (there were IVs in each arm) and any candystriper can see if you have a bad venipuncture.
They used him as a Guinea pig for new drugs, and hid behind secrecy.  Here are the results.

Heir:

Is ANYONE arguing that the sentence was unfair?  Is anyone arguing that he did not commit a horrible crime?  No. 

But the fact is we are better than he is.  Criminals torture people to death on dispicable ways.  Going back to the founding of our country, those condemned to die by the power of the State were executed in as "clean" a manner as was practicle.  Nazis. Saddam Hussein. Arnold west outlaws.

When We the People decide to kill a fellow citizen, we are doing it because we are better than them.  The fact that the condemned is a bad person should be a given.  That does NOT enable us to emulate his behavior, rather it requires us to set ourselves apart.

But not to worry.  These ones are sub human.  As history as taught us, I this perfectly fine to brand some things sub human.  Never leads to a problem.

He was sentenced to die for his crimes.  He has died.  He served his sentence.

I guess in that light, a successful execution,

It’s not about the crime. I am anti death penalty, but not because I don’t think that there are people that deserve to die, there certainly are. But because I think locking someone up forever is the greater punishment, the death penalty is a very poor crime deterrent, it costs less to lock them up than to put them to death, and because mistakes are made by the courts. A report came out this week that said that as many as 5% of death row inmates are innocent. We can’t undo killing someone.

Most of all, short of unavoidable war to protect people, I don’t want our government to take part in the barbaric practice of killing people for the sport of revenge. I certainly don’t want the government to be torturing people as pay back for crimes. Even if this guy was a monster, and it certainly sounds like he was, do we as a people have to descend to his barbaric level? What does it say about the mouth breathing posters on the World site that so many are happy this happened?

I don’t know if it’s small penis syndrome or what, but this obsession we have in general with guns and killing and our bloodlust for criminals is more than a little sick.

Do you think that just maybe a bloodthirsty society breads bloodthirsty criminals?

A head shot would have been cleaner, but we are foolish to continue to think that capital punishment is some sort of deterrent or “justice".  It’s an archaic way of meting out punishment and terribly expensive from the time the prisoner enters death row vs. general population or solitary.  For the worst in society like Clayton Locket, lock them up in solitary for the rest of their miserable life.

Florida uses Midazolam in their executions but they administer 500 milligrams. Oklahoma used 100 milligrams instead.

Flordia is still tops for idiots in the news department

Still.....ironic. It took 45 minutes for him to die.

I saw the Yahoo article that described over 300 death row inmates over the last few years that had been found innocent. Unacceptable. Even for the Murrah murderer.

Timothy Mcveigh practically begged to be executed. And look how long it took for that to happen.

I tried to locate that, there’s been 144 whose charges were dropped, were pardoned, or acquitted since 1973 according to this list:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row

According to Barry Scheck’s Innocence Project web site, there have been 316 post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence.  That includes capital cases as well as life sentences for sex-related crimes.

http://www.innocenceproject.org/know/

In the case of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, a case from Pontotoc County in the book: “An Innocent Man” by John Grisham, not only were they exonerated, the real suspect was identified by the DNA evidence when it was examined on behalf of these two.

Regardless, there is little doubt there are innocent people sitting on death row as we speak.

I saw the number 300 and jumped. My bad.

We pay for these mistakes twice. We pay for years of incarceration at what, $35-50K per year? Then when they are exonerated we pay again for lost potential income, assets etc. Maybe thats why prosecutors are hot for the death penalty. Permanently hides mistakes and costs less.

Why not just use a bullet to the head? it's fast painless and quick. I would favor hanging too. I never was a big fan of drug execution but it's still better thyan having no death penality.  This makes me wonder if someone has been tampering with the execution drugs.

What's the hold-up for the 2nd guy? This is very unfair to the victims family. The death penality needs to be carried out ASAP  as per the juries wishes and for justice. Drum up a firing squad and get the job done, then bring out the next guy from death row and clean out death row- 100 years ago we had the same constitution we do today so why are death penality cases taking longer & longer with more appeals, with DNA testing the cases should be speeding up.

This must be the most national and international attention OK's gotten since the Murrah building.

It's on every news feed I have.

International leaders with less than stellar human rights policies are talking about the prisoner torture in Oklahoma.

Obama's weighed in that it was bad.  That might get Oklahoma some support from the GOP.

Funny how they don't talk about the victims and their families along with the horrific murders he commited. He should have  been executed long ago. When he took a life he gave up his right to live.

Just "how bad" is it? The guy that drones people to death from the sky is critical of Oklahoma's "humane" delivery of the death penalty.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/white-house-clayton-lockett-s-execution-fell-short-of-humane/article_a0a29e66-d07a-11e3-8c4d-001a4bcf6878.html

And if we are gonna argue the "kinder, gentler machine gun hand", then, as I have stated before, a bullet (.30-06) through the head from behind at an unknown random time is by far and away the most humane way to do it.  


Or how about just using whatever a veterinarian uses for euthanizing dogs/cats.  I have had to do that a few times over the decades, and it was always painless and peaceful.

And this whole nonsense about "cruel and unusual" has come about ONLY because of our redefinition of the term.

I read that general population maximum security (OKDOC’s web site) is $75 a day or $27K per year in Oklahoma.  It seems I read somewhere before that Death Row is about double that in Oklahoma, and I don’t believe that includes the cost of legal work for all the appeals.  In other states, residence on Death Row is as much as $250K per year (California).  California has over 700 inmates on DR and has executed 13 since re-instating the death penalty.  One statistic put the cost of the death penalty at $300 million per execution in California.  That’s kind of a reach, but if you average the total cost of the death penalty program vs. the number executed.  

Thankfully, it appears the trend in the death penalty sentencing has fallen by nearly 2/3 in the last 14 years.  From roughly 260 in 1997 to about 80 last year.

Here’s some more stats that should make fiscal conservative’s heads explode, it does mine:


http://www.fnsa.org/v1n1/dieter1.html

Heir:

You are incorrect.  The 8th Amendment application to the death penalty goes way back to England.  Yes, definitions have changed,.. but a quick death is THE GOAL of an execution.

A death sentenced carried out otherwise is what we call torture.

The Archbishop of Oklahoma puts it well:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/opinion/sutter-oklahoma-botched-execution/index.html?hpt=hp_t4

Didn't get the Archbishop quote/link....repost?

When was a quick death a criteria?  Hanging was pretty common for a long time - neither quick nor "neat and orderly".  Not exactly the same as cruel and unusual, as far as I am concerned.  Since the last one I can find info about was 1996, I guess maybe unusual, by default.  Or lack of practice.

I've covered what would be the epitome of a quick death.  Most humane, least suffering, least relative stress involved for the recipient.  No other method has all the advantages and practical implications for all involved.  And it is extremely cost effective....one capital expenditure of about $1,000 and some kind of clamping mechanism to hold it in place, then one bullet at about $1.00 each.  Easy, peasy....



And we don't call waterboarding torture....go figure.  We gotta be one of the most whacked-out society in the history of the planet.

Guns and killin' are really important to you, why?

It's pretty whacked out how many of our bible-thumping fellow citizens have a moral framework that is no better developed than that of the people we execute.

No, what is important is that we make it as humane and fast as possible to minimize or better yet, eliminate, any suffering or discomfort for the person being executed - keep it from falling into the purview of "cruel and unusual".  That is the only way we can legitimately claim to be a caring/compassionate society with our killing.

The REAL question is why would it not be important to you to reduce their pain and suffering while killing them?    If you think there is a better way - we now know drugs aren't the answer - let's hear it... inquiring minds want to know!!

No, that's NOT the question. I don't think we should be killing them at all.

The more and more I think about this, a society that is bloodthirsty enough to kill criminals for revenge is a society that breeds criminals that are bloodthirsty enough that they might deserve to be killed.

Read the comments on the Tulsa World site that celebrate the pain Oklahoma caused this killer. It's disturbing, especially from such purportedly "Christian" state. we are the Christian Taliban.

18 states and DC don't have the death penalty but 6 of the 9 states with the lowest murder rates don't have the death penalty. Only three death penalty states have a murder rate greater than 4 in 100,000. 26 states that do have the death penalty have a rate greater than 4.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates

And that's setting aside the cost of the death penalty and the mistakes that have been made with putting innocent people to death.

I am more and more with you on whether to even do this or not - mostly based on past history of Texas and Ohio putting innocent people to death - especially in Texas when it has been conclusively shown that the person could have had nothing to do with the crime way before the execution event.  Even redder than OK.... dipsticks.

As for studies - well, maybe.  Any study looking at a state by state comparison is not looking at the real data.  It is a metro by metro area basis that counts.  If you take out the top 15 or 20 murder metros, the entire rest of the nation - even the high murder rate states - have a massively reduced rate...to the point where instead of being 4 or 5 times (?) Europe it is many areas on a par with or up to 1.5 or 2 times... still not great, but not the kind of killing fields we have the rep for.

The metros are the problem....well, unless you are Navaho, living on the res..... 18.8 per 100,000 !!!  Yikes!  What is going on there??

State-by-state is quite relevant considering it is state law, not local law that sets capital punishment.  I don’t really see relevance between a state having the death penalty and murder rates.  I don’t believe the death penalty makes people murder.

At any rate, reading the comments from the mouth-breathers, it’s obvious people don’t understand the difference between retribution and justice. 

New revelations are coming out. He refused to come out of his cell and they tased him. I guess to the point that his right arm could not be used for the injection. They chose to administer the drug through his groin. I wonder if that is the vain they are saying collapsed?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/report-killer-clayton-lockett-shocked-with-taser-had-self-inflicted/article_779a0698-d161-11e3-89c4-0017a43b2370.html?_dc=782735315850.0045

I was actually talking about the murder rates, separate from death penalty - the transition right after TX comments wasn't clear.  States really don't have much of a murder rate, comparatively speaking - it's all concentrated in a few select metro areas... we just "keep score" on the state wide basis.

Here’s the letter Robert Patton of the DOC sent to the Guv regarding the events that happened that day:

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/tulsaworld.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/30/730fc99c-d160-11e3-81b1-0017a43b2370/536295f37cbe3.pdf.pdf

That used to my father’s job. He was the Psychologist at Big Mac for a number of years. He talked with the inmate, tried to calm them and got instructions on what to do with the inmates belongings like his shoes, toothbrush  and dirty clothes.

So it really wasn't botched at all - he fought and thrashed the whole time, even to the point of hurting/cutting himself....


Can't say I blame him, but the corrections people need better strap/restraint skills.  I would be kicking and screaming the whole time.

Turns out the guy did not drink water for 48 hours and that affected the drugs, plus the dose was too low. Cap. Punishment is a good deturant if it's carried out fast and swift not with 22 years of endless appeals. If I had my way it would be 90 days or less after the jury rules and the sentence is carried out and  with DNA you know ya got the right guy. . I'm no fan of injection anyhow yes it's still better than having no death penality- but I would faver a change to hanging or the firing squad. The fastest method  with no pain is the firing squad. I wish they still would of gone on to the 2nd guy after the first- both those men did horrific murders.

Yep he didn't wanna die- but he had no problem killing his victims, my guess is his victims wanted to live too, he took innocent lives so now he needs to give up his life. He also won't be able to kill again..  Maybe it's time for Oklahoma to use a  firing squad and do away with injection, anti-death penality people are using injection  as a back door way to ban cap. punishment. The 20 years on death row really frost me the endless appeals need to stop.

You don't read much do you?

Apart from the horrific shock for the spectators. A Guillotine and a basket seemed to be quite effective and most likely painless. A bullet does not always kill 100% of the time. i.e. the Boston Bomber trying to shoot himself in the head.
Now if you want to go with a device like the one Anton Chigurh used in No Country for Old Men. We might have something there.
But a good ol sharp angled, stainless steel, Gillette blade dropped at the appropriate height and speed should take the guess work out of the task at hand.

I wonder how much of this story has been ginned up or is spin by the reporters/witnesses because of either bias or lack of comfort over watching someone put to death. For example, was this killer taking steps to defeat the death penalty meds, was he thrashing about as a means to not cooperate, did the meds cause the thrashing, did the drugs infiltrate, etc. I know I would have a hard time being unbiased given my views of the death penalty.  

Instead of spending all this time, thought, arguments and money on death penalties, "revenge justice", etc. why don't we work to create a society that doesn't have such a high crime/murder rate in the first place.  There are cities/areas in the world with populations larger than all of Oklahoma that have less murders for the entire year than just the city of Tulsa averages in a few weeks.

It's sad that we have a society that has so much crime and murder in the first place. We put all this passion into being angry at the outcomes of that society, and then after we kill the person perpetrating this horrible crime, we don't have the same passion to do what it would take to keep from having these crimes happen again and again and again. I hear people say "That person made the choice to kill someone."  Why don't we as a society make the choice to create a society having far far fewer people who would ever make that horrible choice?  Instead we kill them and go on about our business as if that's all that needed to be done. Then get all upset and in a rage once again with the next murder and the next and on the cycle goes.  Perhaps, if we weren't allowed to kill them, we might then have more of an incentive to turn our attention to creating a culture/society where so many murders wouldn't happen in the first place.

   Was reading something the dad of the boy from Germany who was studying in the US and shot dead after he walked into someones open garage, had said.  He also said something to the effect of "Why don't they work to create a low crime culture instead of a cowboy gun culture?"

Maybe if we all get together and sing kum-by-yah and give the world a coke it will end wars, pestilence and famine.

I vote we bring back the guillotine...    Publicly...     Bloody, and it might just scare a few people who do things like bury people alive or rape infants into rethinking their plans.

The guillotine was a slow kill.  The head can remain conscious for some time after removal.  The only thing you stop with the blade is blood flow - and that can take several minutes to die from.  Gonna have some shock going on, so may not be much sensory input....

Maybe like Henri Languille?

Be careful if you go down the "rabbit hole" of looking for him....you won't see video of him, but there are some gruesome things related to the topic.



Now, if you aim the blade through the middle of the skull....

Yea we all know there was so much less raping and murdering back when they used the guillotine.  Truly an age of blissful world peace.

Let's see, try something that is shown to work or go back to trying something that did not work.  Hmmm….

So your solution is what again?   I suppose we could legalize raping infants and burying people alive....

Remove the cowboy gun culture?   I suppose that you believe that we can get criminals to turn in all their illegal guns?   (Note, that felons can't own guns now, so yes, they already have them illegally.)

That makes perfect sense.
(http://test435.sunnewsnetwork.ca/media_files/CL66.jpg)

Coupla' nice big jumps there T.

The death penalty certainly hasn’t proven to be a deterrent.  If it were that effective, our murder rate would be nearly nil.  Instead it’s an expensive pain in the donkey which solves absolutely nothing in lowering crime rates.

One would think sociologists have studied what makes other countries with much lower violent crime rates and tried to start implementing or at least sharing what they are learning.  IMO, I believe it’s a shift away from personal responsibility, nuclear families, spirituality/religion, and a lack of respect for human life that’s been missed somewhere in the first three issues I mentioned.

You know who I blame. 

You'd think but, at least in Western Europe, violent crime rates are lower than they are here as is self-reported religiosity. They typically deal with more property crime and pickpocketing and the like. The biggest difference is the number of guns in circulation. It's not completely unreasonable to think that assaults are more likely to turn into manslaughter or murder when guns are around.

Without intent to harm someone, a gun doesn’t get used.  Still plenty of people killed without the use of firearms.

Tulsa World Breaking:

Obama troubled by botched Oklahoma execution

Anyone think the comments on that story will go to plaid?

I wonder which "truth" we should believe, the earlier account or this more polished (yet contradictory) version.

Nazi Germany was the last to use the Guillotine on a regular basis (though occasional use persisted until the 1970's). 
When it was invented, the goal was to be humane, but it made executions so easy that whoever was in power found that they could effortlessly lower the bar for what constituted a capital crime.  See Reign of Terror.

Neither does a knife, but you're a lot more likely to die from a gunshot wound than you are from a knife wound. Obviously, people intent on killing other people will succeed with either, but the vast majority of unlawful shootings are related to arguments that get out of hand and would be mainly injurious to pride without deadly weapons immediately at hand.

You have to listen to his own words two days later on what happened that night. Him, Shawn and Alfonso are all guilty. I can only hope his friends are still suffering for their part in this crime. He gets no sympathy from me.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2618893/He-deserved-Friends-victim-weigh-botched-execution-video-surfaces-chilling-1999-taped-confession-Oklahoma-murderer-showed-no-remorse-did.html

Maybe I'm deluding myself, but I like to think that I'm not as sick as the people we are putting to death.

Watch that interview about 18 minutes in and tell me he didn't need to die.

The only thing that went wrong with that execution was that it took 15 years.

Where did someone argue that point?
I thought the issue here was whether or not We The People can hold the moral high ground by being more humane than those that commit monstrous deeds.

Instead, our politicians have violated international law just to placate the RWE. 
If that becomes the norm, what do we become?


(http://realiran.net/illustration/gbig/8771-cae46d7836ac53dcb4f282a2f23506cb.jpg)

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/oklahoma-turning-it-11

Our esteemed governor is getting some more attention...

...as is the Christian Taliban:

“I realize this may sound harsh,” said Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian, a Republican lawmaker who pushed to have state Supreme Court justices impeached for briefly halting Tuesday’s execution. “But as a father and former lawman, I really don’t care if it’s by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions.”

http://www.statecolumn.com/2014/05/obama-botch-execution-is-troubling-oklahoma-lawmakers-vow-to-continue-killing/

“It is absurd to think that the same group of people that unnecessarily rushed last night’s execution and fought openness at every turn can now be expected to hold themselves accountable in an investigation.”

Did anyone know what they were doing? We may never find out.

In a letter to the governor released Thursday afternoon, the director of the state corrections department, Robert Patton, said he supported an “external investigation” of the execution. He appeared to be referring to the review proposed by Ms. Fallin, since he said a report by his staff and his inspector general would not be as credible as one “conducted by an external entity.” But a true external review would not be written by an employee of the Fallin administration.

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/the-investigation-of-the-horrific-oklahoma-execution-will-not-be-independent/?_php=true&_type=blogs&hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

Random blogger as retort.
"And I’m sorry that his execution changes nothing, big picture or small. He ended up where he should have, just 43 minutes late."

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/clayton-locketts-victim-had-a-name-stephanie-neiman.html/

Eighth Amendment as retort.

Oklahoma Constitution as retort.

Conveniently, death is not cruel nor unusual.   Apparently it isn't cruel or unusual even when the electric chair fails and you have to reschedule.

The cruelty against which the Constitution protects a convicted man is cruelty inherent in the method of punishment, not the necessary suffering involved in any method employed to extinguish life humanely. The fact that an unforeseeable accident prevented the prompt consummation of the sentence cannot, it seems to us, add an element of cruelty to a subsequent execution.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/FrancisvResweber.html

That assumes a certain level of competence among those carrying out the sentence, which was clearly absent here... a factor that could have been addressed had those involved not been under unnecessary (and foreseeable) political pressure.

I will concede that I can't understand how they failed to knock him out (having had surgery a couple of times, I am completely at a loss how they could not knock him out in about 30 seconds.)   

I still stand by the fact that he needed to be removed permanently from the gene pool.   He confessed to an extraordinary crime and showed no remorse anywhere along the way.   Much like this next guy who raped an 11 month old.   I won't feel bad that he died, regardless of how it happens.

Maybe that comparison would be valid if the electric chair failed in a way that still fried the guy, but took over half an hour to do it. Nobody said it would have been cruel and unusual punishment to decide at the last second that, hey, maybe we ought not try an untested drug cocktail on a person. Seems to me we ought to build a gas chamber if we're going to insist on killing people. You can suffocate people with nitrogen and have them never even know it's happening...

I bet if someone sat me down in that room, I'd have a pretty good idea I wasn't about to get a puppy.

Only government can make it this hard to kill a person.

Why not in your cell during your sleep while you dream about puppies and rainbows?

Death by red tape

Obamacare?

They'd need to clean the brown noise.

In 1924, the use of cyanide gas was introduced as Nevada sought a more humane way of executing its inmates. Gee Jon was the first person executed by lethal gas. The state tried to pump cyanide gas into Jon's cell while he slept. This proved impossible because the gas leaked from his cell, so the gas chamber was constructed.

OK somebody cue the Nazi reference.

Having to read your comments is cruel and unusual.

Governor had her new Prison Czar remodel the death chamber, use higher doses, and cut the number of media witnesses from 12 to 5.


All fixed now.

Frilly curtains?

My guess was cheery wallpaper to replace the Soviet-mental-asylum-esque tile walls.


The new execution protocols are a slap in Oklahoma’s face. The government took a process already corrupted by secrecy and made it even more difficult for the public to know anything about it. Director Patton and Governor Fallin may not understand what “accountability” means, but the people of Oklahoma do. The ACLU of Oklahoma will continue its fight to ensure the people are able to exercise that right.

http://acluok.org/2014/10/statements-from-aclu-of-oklahoma-in-response-to-new-oklahoma-execution-protocol/

The new protocols feature a glaring attempt to escape public accountability and erect new walls of secrecy surrounding Oklahoma’s dysfunctional execution process. It is appalling that when the need for government transparency is at its greatest, our government’s response is to run and hide. The doubts expressed recently by the federal court as to whether Oklahoma could be ready for its next scheduled executions are no longer in question–the state is not ready, nor will it ever be ready so long as those charged with carrying out this ultimate exercise of government power lack the basic courage or maturity to bear the public responsibility that comes with their power. The new protocols were an opportunity for the state to clean up a corrupted process, and instead our government chose to reach for the nearest broom and rug.

http://acluok.org/2014/08/aclu-and-news-organizations-sue-over-closed-blinds-during-botched-lockett-execution/


My belief is that there are a very small number of instances where capital punishment might be appropriate, but our state government has demonstrated it is not competent.

Apparently you didn't type "oklahoma executions" into google.  If you do, number one is this little gem.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma prison officials unveiled new execution procedures Tuesday to replace those used in April ....

The new guidelines allow the state to keep using midazolam, a sedative used in flawed executions earlier this year in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona, although it calls for increasing by five times the dose it gave Clayton Lockett in April. Other changes include more training requirements for prison staff and members of the execution teams, and having contingency plans in case of problems with execution equipment or an inmate's medical condition. The new protocols also reduce the number of media witnesses from 12 to five.

Probably keeps the screaming from the gallery to a minimum.

On a positive note, surely Faillin created some new jobs and did more to help the state then Brad Henry did.  ;) ;D

Well there were a lot more executions under Henry so far.

 
ACLU:  “The people do not have a right to know how the government is exercising its greatest authority.”

Where did that quote come from, Patric?

Ed W

?
http://www.fox23.com/news/news/local/aclu-criticizes-new-oklahoma-execution-protocols/nhbHh/

This makes it all better:

Oklahoma Prison Officials Unveil New Death Chamber

(http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kwgs/files/styles/card_280/public/201307/McAlester_Prison.jpg)

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/oklahoma-prison-officials-unveil-new-death-chamber (http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/oklahoma-prison-officials-unveil-new-death-chamber)

The Hello Kitty motif is a nice touch.  Very humane.

(http://housefm.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/all_about_a_little_girl...__hello_kitty_bedroom_hello_kitty_bedroom_curtains_.jpg)

Love the trundle bed so they can do a twofer.

Why not just get rid of lethal injection, gas chambers and anything else that is not 100% idiot-proof.
(http://shoqvalue.com/wp-content/uploads/markosboom.jpg)
We should institute the VACUUM CHAMBER! 
100% effective
No environmental hazards
No expensive drugs
No need for windows
No vital sign monitoring equipment required
Soundproof (sound does not travel in a vacuum)
Low carbon footprint (Can run on stored solar or wind power :D)
Easy cleanup with a hose and mop


Conan, I believe your company could respond to such an RFP with some minor retooling.

Yes, why yes we could!  Pressure vessel is a pressure vessel.

Can you make that with the Hello Kitty upholstery inside?  Easy clean vinyl, of course....

The death penalty could end anytime killers stop killing innocent people. If you don't kill there is no death penalty. People don't get on death row for being boy scouts and helping old ladies across the street. I think of the victims not the cold blooded killers. I'm no fan of injection it's slow & becoming problematic - but it's still better than having no death penalty.  I would favor replacing injection with a firing squad or hanging, faster and painless. With hanging the rope can used over and over. If it's not allowed in Oklahoma the law in Oklahoma needs to be changed to allow it. I understand the state of TN now allows firing squad.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/lawsuit-names-mcalester-er-physician-as-execution-doctor/article_7615331d-76b5-59ae-a700-f69a6bae6699.html

I wonder if Stephanie Nieman’s family sued Lockett over her botched and painful execution.

Hopefully, when "the government is exercising its greatest authority" it is doing so while being held to a higher standard than that of a common thug.

Government (all agencies, departments, bureaucracies, and individuals) have a set hierarchy of purpose that does not change.
1. Self preservation & insulation from public/political/market forces
2. Expansion

Any "standard" would come tertiary to these foundational principals, and would be subject to them.

Doctors question sedative dose used in Oklahoma execution

While medical experts say it’s unclear why an Oklahoma inmate began convulsing and vomiting after the first of three drugs used to execute him was administered, all agree the dosage was massive compared with what’s standard in surgeries — with one doctor calling it “insane.”

“It’s just an insane dose and there’s probably no data on what that could cause,” said Jonathan Groner, an Ohio State University medical school surgery professor and lethal injection expert.
“There’s a reason these drugs are given by anesthesiologists and not prison guards,” he said.

The state almost surely will face new lawsuits over its execution protocols, said Robert Denham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a capital punishment clearing house that opposes the death penalty. The Corrections Department’s statement indicating that the execution wasn’t botched could provide proof of the protocols’ unconstitutionality, said Denham.

“Either they lied to the public and they can’t be trusted or they told the truth and the protocol can’t be trusted,” Denham said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doctors-question-sedative-dose-used-oklahoma-execution-n1282765