Killing is killing, no matter what other name we try to justify it
with. Certainly there are times when killing another human being is
the only solution to one's survival.
But it's still killing. But to try to cover killing by legalizing it
and calling it, "execution", is simply a thin cover for murdering
unwanted humans.
In a flawed legal system, such as we have in the USA, legalized
killing cannot be justified. Far too many legal murders have turned
out to have been wrong. But even if only one person is killed by the
state, the System needs to be outlawed. Murdering a person convicted
of rape or murder is nothing but vengeance. Murdering those convicted
of such crimes has never been a deterrent for others. Legal murder is
nothing more than extreme punishment. And that's what we are all
about. Punishment. Come down hard on those who fail to obey our
laws...the laws put in place to protect the property and the lives of
the privileged. Our prisons, public and private, are full to
overflowing with people being punished for breaking our laws. Their
punishment is not only that of losing their freedom, but the
punishment continues during their incarceration, often at the hands of
the guards who are supposed to be keeping order among the inmates. We
have a history of punishing one another. Rather than taking the time
and effort to teach our young, we wait until they break a family rule,
and then we punish them in order, we believe, to "teach them a
lesson". What we really teach them is that Might Makes Right. Look
about you and you'll see how well this lesson is being learned. Our
entire approach to "law and order" is dead wrong. And now we have a
new Attorney General who is going to double down on crime. If you
have a few dollars and you don't have any moral values, invest in the
private prison industry. They're springing up faster than super
markets.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/10/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://themilitant.com/2017/8119/811952.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 19 May 15, 2017
State of Arkansas executes 4 prisoners over 8 days
The state of Arkansas conducted its fourth execution over eight days
April 27, putting to death Kenneth Williams, 38, through lethal injections.
The Arkansas Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court turned down an appeal
to halt the execution, as they did in the killings of Jack Jones, 52,
and Marcel Williams, 46, three days earlier and for Ledell Lee, 51. The
executions are the first in the state in 12 years.
Protesters, above, gathered at Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock
April 14 to demand a halt to the executions.
With the state’s supply of the drug midazolam set to expire at the end
of the month, Gov. Asa Hutchinson had ordered the killings of eight
inmates in an 11-day period in April. Four of these were stopped by
court orders.
Midazolam is a sedative that is supposed to render inmates unconscious
while two other drugs administered afterwards paralyze and kill them.
Use of midazolam has resulted in prolonged agony in executions in
several states, including Alabama, Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma.
After being administered midazolam, witnesses report Kenneth Williams’
body jerked about 20 times. He was “lurching, jerking, convulsing and
coughing,” The Associated Press reported.
Kenneth Williams had been on death row for 17 years for the killing of
former deputy prison warden Cecil Boren after escaping from prison. In
the getaway, he crashed into a water-delivery truck, killing the driver,
Michael Greenwood.
“When he took my father from us, Mr. Williams caused us all a great deal
of pain,” Michael Greenwood’s daughter Kayla wrote to the governor.
“That does not mean that asking you [to] spare Mr. Williams is not the
right thing to do. It is.”
She had heard that Williams’ daughter Jasmine was trying to raise funds
to see her father before the execution. She got Jasmine’s phone number
from Williams’ lawyer and called her. Greenwood’s family paid for her
ticket to come see her father, and Kayla and other family members drove
her to the prison where the meeting took place. Prison officials refused
to allow the Greenwood family members to meet with Williams.
— BRIAN WILLIAMS
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