News you can use
News you can use
Because of the bedlam over how to best execute condemned prisoners, Montana’s death penalty is on hold.
District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock has ordered further hearings on use of phenobarbital as the primary drug used in executions.
Montana’s Legislature specified that “ultra-fast acting” drugs be used in executions. That’s getting harder and harder. Many companies are refusing to sell drugs to states for executions, reacting to a change of attitude from the general public about the death penalty.
State governments are morbidly scurrying around to find drugs that will do the trick.
All Food and Drug Administration approved channels for buying the needed drugs are shut off, and some states have resorted to buying the drugs underground or using untested combination of drugs such as the deadly recipes recently used in Oklahoma and Ohio that resulted in botched executions. The condemned man in Oklahoma gagged, writhed in pain and tried to get up from the gurney during nearly 40 minutes of agony. The curtain was drawn and official witnesses were prohibited from seeing any more of the spectacle. Officials called off the execution during the horror show, but the man soon died of a heart attack.
A second Oklahoman was scheduled to be executed, but state officials wisely decided they’d better get their act together before they went about the ugly process of execution again.
Now they are working on how to concoct a better execution recipe.
Excuse us if it seems very unseemly to be spending so much time and effort trying to come up with ways of killing people.
There is no evidence that executing people has any deterrent effect on others contemplating murder. There is certainly no evidence that the death penalty is any more of a deterrent than the possibility of life in prison.
No doubt most of those executed are guilty of the crime as prosecutors charged and jurors found. But even death penalty supporters concede that up to .2 percent of those executed are actually innocent. Even if that percentage is accurate, that’s way too high for a civilized society to tolerate. Not many years ago, a broken Illinois criminal justice system had so many people on death row after questionable convictions that the Republican governor pardoned all of the condemned, including the man convicted of murdering the governor’s neighbor and friend.
And there is the question of whether killing someone is an ethical practice for a civilized society to take part in.
People who have engaged in the brutal practice of murder should be severely punished They should be removed from society in perpetuity. They should be denied the personal relationships that we take for granted.
But should we take their lives from them? If they killed someone, should we kill them?
We hope that Montana government and the people of Montana have a higher standard than those who have murdered others.
In 2011, the Montana Senate voted to eliminate the death penalty, but the state House balked. It’s time to take another look at this outdated practice.
Montana’s Constitution prohibits use of cruel and unusual punishment. It ensures the right of privacy for all — even the most detestable among us.
It’s time to call on Montanans’ better instincts.
It’s time to stop debating how to kill people and time to start debating whether the state should be killing people.
Reader Comments(9)
MtVelveteen writes:
Though the contradiction in the old (stone em!/pounda flesh) and new testament (belief in redemption) is often either overlooked or denied, it is clear from many of these comments that many believe that society should choose the old pound of flesh revenge and punishment approach! An irony: science now can describe how the part of our brains that wants revenge/punish is the same as the one in the person that is usually in charge when they did their crime! Emotional Reactivity makes bad policy!
05/27/2014, 6:26 pm
sophiepower12 writes:
Way to go, Havre Daily News! Capitol punishment does not deter crime. Justice is indeed flawed. Killing to seek vengeance is morally wrong. We sometimes kill an innocent person. We need to listen to other countries who are refusing to sell the US killing drugs. Execution is passé, ineffective and costly. Let's stop doing it.
05/27/2014, 4:51 pm
Lizzie writes:
Thanks for this thoughtful editorial. I understand the gut feeling that speeding up or limiting the process for death penalty appeals ought to help, but the fact is over 140 men have been exonerated from death row because they were innocent of the murders they were convicted of. We can't make mistakes doling out the death penalty. Serving life without parole costs taxpayers less then all the death penalty appeals and guarantees we won't execute the wrong person.
05/27/2014, 2:32 pm
hhs66 writes:
Man's justice is always flawed. We can not and do not know everything. The courts get it right most of the time, and that is why we have the appeal process. It is as good as it gets this side of God's judgment day. However after the appeals and on solid grounds then the death penalty should be administered. Hanging always worked before and was quick and painless. Also it is cheaper!
05/26/2014, 5:05 pm
Rick writes:
I also agree with the death sentence for many of reasons I wont bore you with. But on the other hand it makes me sick to think of maybe all the innocent people that were sentenced to death. As we all know they dont get the correct murderer every single time 100% imagine how you would feel if your child was sentenced to death and later find out it was an incorrect conviction??
05/21/2014, 2:11 pm
2smart4u writes:
This, and the abortion issue, needs to go to the VOTERS to decide what should be done, so the Legislature can stop wasting time on these issues and get to the real work of creating jobs, fixing our roads, etc. Every poll that has ever been taken in Montana comes in between 75 to 85 percent IN FAVOR of the death penalty, which is PUNISHMENT for a crime willingly committed upon another person, NOT a deterrent!
05/20/2014, 11:19 am
Slickyboyboo writes:
I also agree with the death penalty and there should also be a one limit time on an appeal. As far as cruel and unusual punishment I said there is no such thing with lethal injections. No more cruel than the way the victim was killed. Be sure to wipe the injection area with alcohol to prevent the sentenced person from getting an infection.
05/19/2014, 5:44 pm
2long writes:
The only problem with the death penalty is that it takes too long before the sentence is carried out. A couple of years for appeals is more than enough time to determine if mistakes were made.
05/19/2014, 2:04 pm
Lola writes:
I agree with the death penalty. Someone knowingly and wanting to kill another person. Torturing that person. Taking everything away from them and hurting whoever loves them. The murderer deserves punishment and I believe death. Don't like the needle way? Get the noose out boys!!!
05/19/2014, 11:57 am