Yesterday in McCalaster, Oklahoma a criminal was executed. The thing that makes this unusual is that the governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin and the legislature decided to use experimental drugs to do it. Not only did they use experimental drugs, they threatened to do it over the objection of a state supreme court Justice. The man visibly suffered so much that the closed the blinds so the witnesses couldn't see what they came to see and halted the execution. He finally died of a heart attack 43 minutes later.
The President has said Oklahoma failed. We executed this man in a cruel and unusual manner. I agree. I also believe that the blinds should have remained open and the man's attorney permitted to stay in the room. If we are going to continue to execute people, and I don't think we should, those who show up to watch should get the full show. Even when it all goes terribly wrong, those blinds should be open.
Clayton Lockett was a bad man. He was so broken that he did a terrible thing and let's face it, he's a great case for killing the killers. I hear all the time that it's about closure for the family of the victim or justice. Justice? For who? Is being a terrible broken person some kind of happy life? I have a friend who did some time, prison isn't a cakewalk. Justice for society? Does killing this man bring his victim back? We know it doesn't deter crime. I can't imagine watching this asshole writhe in pain made her family feel better.
But why does it matter? It matters because he was a person. He was someone's son. He was made in the image of God. He wasn't an animal we were experimenting on to find a cure for a a terrible disease, he was a man. He was a man. We aren't animals and neither was he. We don't have the right to murder our fellow human beings any way we see fit because we're mad the companies we buy our killin' drugs from grew a conscience.
Governor Fallin has failed as a human being. Our legislature has failed. I hope we all have bad dreams over this.
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