Feb. 10


KANSAS:

It's a life-death-matter, so choose life



Is there a disconnect in the mind of the public between the execution of the fetus through abortion and the execution of adults facing capital crimes?

Lawmakers are drafting new rules each year to eliminate abortions in Kansas. On the other hand, there seems to be a lack of support for the elimination of state-sponsored murder of adults guilty of capital crimes. Our media frequently reminds people of high abortion numbers. No one is invited to see an abortion, but many pictures are provided showing vital and moving human figures in the womb that are examples of aborted fetuses.

The execution of adults is viewed by a select number of people, but seating is limited. There always is a curtain or blind that can be closed if a public murder becomes messy. Clayton Lockett's execution in Oklahoma went terribly wrong after the lethal injection process began. 43 minutes later, he finally died of a heart attack.

Kansas' original death penalty law was abolished on Jan. 30, 1907. To celebrate that event the Kansas Coalition against the Death Penalty designates Jan. 30 of each year as Abolition Day. In 1935, a new capital punishment law was written, partially in response to a list of famous professional criminals, such as Alvin "Old Creepy" Karpos, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd and, of course, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, moving through Kansas.

Hanging was the method of execution during those days, but Gov. George Docking gave life sentences to men on death row. He said, "I just don't like killing people." The last executions in Kansas were in 1965, with the hangings of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the infamous killers of the Clutter family in Holcomb.

The current death penalty law took effect in 1994. Today, 10 men are appealing their death sentence, as the law requires. When the new death penalty law was reinstated, it was estimated that it would cost the state $2.4 million to $4.2 million each year. With our governor and state lawmakers looking for ways to save money, I would hope serious consideration would be given to eliminating the death penalty as a way of saving money. It is estimated that the average cost of just 1 case ending with the death penalty is $1.2 million. In contrast, the mean cost of incarcerating someone for life is $740,000. Eliminating the death penalty saves money.

A recent study showed that under Colorado's capital sentencing system, death is not handed down fairly. It is arbitrary. As a former Colorado judge said, "The death penalty is simply the result of happenstance, the district attorney's choice, the jurisdiction in which the case is filed, perhaps the race or economic circumstance of the defendant." This is true throughout the nation. This is the reason 18 states have eliminated capital punishment, and governors in many more states will commute death sentences.

But where is the compassion for the family member who must go through the trauma of the many trials of the person who committed the crime? Where is the compassion for the many who are on death row only because they could not afford a good lawyer? Where is the compassion for all the inmates on death row that may be innocent? Since 1973, 150 people in the United States have been released from death row after new evidence found them innocent.

The Charter for Compassion says we must "honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect," especially when the issue of life or death is concerned - whether it is a preborn fetus or an adult charged with a capital crime.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said, even back in the 1990s, that the executions he had permitted had neither "made us safer" nor "more noble as a society." He could not "participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong." I would hope the citizens of Kansas would agree. I have not heard the latest from our governor about his stand on the death penalty. Perhaps he should hear from us about this question. There's also a chance to talk to legislators today. If interested, contact Mary at m...@ksabolition.org.

It is a matter of life and death. We should all choose life.

If you choose to comment, or even submit your own thoughts for our Compassion series, please visit our website at www.spiritualityresourcecenter.com.

(source: David Carlson is a member of the Spirituality Resource Center and a retired clergyman, active and residing in Lindsborg----Salina Journal)








MISSOURI----impending execution

Lethal injection concerns part of bid to spare Missouri man



An attorney for a Missouri inmate who's scheduled to die this week is seeking to halt the execution over concerns about the state's secretive process of obtaining and using lethal injection drugs.

Walter Timothy Storey is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for killing a neighbor in St. Charles in 1990. After a state-record 10 executions in 2014, Storey would be the 1st person put to death this year in Missouri.

Missouri refuses to name the compounding pharmacy where it obtains the pentobarbital used in executions and won't disclose details about testing of the drug. Attorney Jennifer Herndon said Monday that creates the risk that Storey could suffer a painful death, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Herndon also claims Missouri violates its own protocol by using a 2nd drug, midazolam. Missouri officials have said the state offers midazolam as a sedative to help calm the condemned inmate before the execution, but the state does not consider use of the sedative to be part of the execution process. The inmate can opt not to take it.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already turned down the stay request. Herndon has appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court and plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. She also will seek clemency from Gov. Jay Nixon, she said.

Storey, 47, has been sentenced to death 3 separate times in the Feb. 2, 1990, death of Jill Frey, a 36-year-old special education teacher.

Storey was living with his mother when he became upset over his pending divorce. He was drinking beer and ran out of money so he went to Frey's neighboring apartment to steal money for more beer.

Court records show he climbed her balcony and entered through an unlocked sliding glass door. He attacked Frey in her bedroom, slitting her throat, breaking 6 ribs and causing other injuries. Frey died of blood loss and asphyxiation.

The next day, Storey went back to the apartment and tried to remove incriminating evidence, even scrubbing Frey's fingernails to remove signs of his DNA.

Storey was first convicted and sentenced to death in 1990. The Missouri Supreme Court tossed the sentence, citing concerns about ineffective assistance of counsel and "egregious" errors committed by Kenny Hulshof, a special prosecutor in the Missouri attorney general's office who was later elected to Congress.

Storey was tried again in 1997, and sentenced again to death. That conviction was also overturned, this time over a procedural error by the judge. Storey was sentenced to death a third time in 1999.

Herndon said Storey is remorseful and has spent "thousands of hours" working in a restorative justice program in prison, trying to help crime victims.

"I think that's how he expresses taking responsibility and his remorse," Herndon said.

(source: Associated Press)








OKLAHOMA:

Nitrogen Gas Death Penalty Bill Clears Oklahoma Panel



Oklahoma would be the 1st state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates under a bill that has unanimously cleared a Senate committee.

With no debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-0 Tuesday to authorize "nitrogen hypoxia," which depletes oxygen supply in the blood to cause death.

The bill's author, Moore Republican Sen. Anthony Sykes, says it's likely the bill will be amended before the session is over.

3 lethal injections remain on hold in Oklahoma while the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether Oklahoma's 3-drug method is constitutional.

A House committee studied the use of nitrogen gas to execute inmates after a botched lethal injection last spring sparked the legal challenge.

(source: Associated Press)

******************

Oklahoma Debates Use of Nitrogen Gas for Executions



With executions in Oklahoma on hold amid a constitutional review of its lethal injection formula, Republican legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the 1st state to allow the use of nitrogen gas in executions.

2 bills scheduled for hearings this week in legislative committees would make death by "nitrogen hypoxia" a backup method. Representative Mike Christian, an Oklahoma City Republican, said: "You wouldn't need a medical doctor to do it. It's a lot more practical. It's efficient."

The United States Supreme Court is reviewing Oklahoma's 3-drug method in a challenge sparked by a botched lethal injection last spring in which an inmate groaned and writhed on the gurney before a problem was discovered with an intravenous line.

The case centers on whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate unconscious before the 2nd and 3rd drugs are administered. 3 scheduled lethal injections in Oklahoma have been delayed pending the high court's review.

Oklahoma officials concede midazolam is not the preferred drug for executions, but death penalty states have been forced to explore alternatives as manufacturers of more effective drugs refuse to sell them for use in lethal injections.

(source: Associated Press)








UTAH:

Capital punishment legislation fails to consider real problems



State governments could save millions to even billions of taxpayer dollars simply by replacing capital punishment with life without the possibility of release. Capital punishment is too expensive an option to consider.

The state of Utah is considering legislation that would reinstate the firing squad as a method of execution. The decision to expend considerable time and taxpayer funds to deliberate on such a measure is in response to one of the many issues surrounding capital punishment - the difficulty in acquiring approved death penalty drugs.

However, this legislation will only add to the legal morass creating more litigation. The bill only attempts to address a single symptom of an irrevocably broken death penalty system that is afflicted with chronic and systemic dysfunction, which is increasingly being viewed as an affront to conservative values.

Capital punishment comes with an innate risk to innocent life. Because humans and governments are imperfect, the danger of executing the wrong person is real. It is impossible to say how many innocent people may have been wrongly executed, but it is known that around 150 people nationally have been wrongly convicted, sentenced to die and later released from death row. Mistaken eyewitness testimony, faulty and even forged forensic evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct continually drive wrongful convictions.

Adding to the unnecessary risk to innocent life is the fact that the death penalty is tremendously more expensive than life without parole, and capital punishment has even led to budget crises and tax increases. More than a dozen cost studies all point to similar conclusions - that state governments could save millions to even billions of taxpayer dollars simply by replacing capital punishment with life without the possibility of release.

Meanwhile, the death penalty doesn't fit within the framework of a limited government. Many conservatives are skeptical of government power, but there is no greater authority than the power to take human life. Our government currently retains the power to execute U.S. citizens, but conservatives should be aware of the dangers this authority can pose. Many don't trust the government to carry out prosaic actions, let alone making life-and-death decisions over U.S. citizens.

The death penalty comes with an enormous human and fiscal cost while it fails to satisfy any form of a positive cost-benefit analysis. Many murder victims' families have found that capital punishment fails them because of the structure of the death penalty system. The multiple trials, complex appeals process and constant media attention can inflict additional harm on family members. Capital punishment even fails at one of its most central purported goals. After reviewing 30 years of studies, the National Research Council found no valid evidence supports the notion that capital punishment deters murder.

The death penalty has become the proverbial ship with a thousand leaks. While the Utah Legislature considers the best method of executing people to attempt to address a single issue, conservatives are abandoning a broken death penalty system with increasing frequency. Icons including Col. Oliver North, Dr. Ron Paul, Jay Sekulow, Richard Viguerie and many others find capital punishment to be directly inconsistent with their conservative values of protecting innocent life, promoting fiscal responsibility and limiting the size and scope of government. Considering the death penalty's hefty human and fiscal price, it produces no real tangible benefits. It's just a failed government program.

(source: Marc Hyden was born in Salt Lake City. Today he is the National Advocacy Coordinator with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty. Marc has served in various legislative positions in North Carolina and Georgia----Deseret News)








WYOMING:

Execution By Firing Squad Goes To The House Floor



The House Judiciary Committee voted 5 to 4 to recommend a bill that would allow executions by firing squad in the state. The Department of Corrections says acquiring the drugs to provide lethal injections has become more and more difficult. Lawmakers says they need to find another option in case someone ends up on death row.

Thermopolis Representative Nathan Winters voted against the bill because he has concerns that such executions might be cruel and unusual.

"If society is going to execute an individual what is the most humane way of doing that? And without the evidence, I don't know that I can vote for another way of performing an execution."

Rock Springs Republican Mark Baker opposes the death penalty, but says there's no rush to find a solution since nobody is on death row. The bill heads to the House floor.

(source: Wyoming Public Media)

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