Post by MXB on Dec 10, 2007 8:20:53 GMT -5
This week, Ohioans are supposed to learn how, exactly, our state kills people.
Oh, we already know the basics: A three-drug "cocktail" first induces sleep, then paralysis, and finally heart failure. Quick and painless.
In theory, anyway.
Put it this way: When the state of Ohio executed Christopher Newton this spring, it took so long - more than one hour, for a procedure that typically takes 20 minutes - the 37-year-old convicted murderer was actually given (no exaggeration) a bathroom break .
And in the spring of 2006, it took more than an hour for the state to dispatch Joe Clark, who at one point sat up and observed: "This don't work."
On Tuesday, we're finally to learn the ins and outs of lethal injection as practiced in Ohio. It's an early step in eyebrow raising Lorain County murder cases in which the constitutionality of lethal injection is under deep scrutiny.
Two defendants in separate murder cases - Ruben Rivera and Ronald McCloud - asked Judge James Burge to rule on the legality of lethal injection.
What distinguishes their cases from other legal gyrations against the death penalty is that the judge (a former defense attorney himself) agreed to do this even before trial. And this fall, the Ohio Supreme Court backed him up 5-2.
Toledo attorney Jeff Gamso is legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and a defense attorney for Ruben Rivera.
He'll be in Judge Burge's courtroom Tuesday to see if state corrections officials obey the order to disclose details of the state's lethal-injection methods.
"All the other cases . across the country are brought on behalf of
somebody who is on death row," said Mr. Gamso. "Here, we've got a guy who's not even convicted.
Our argument is different: If Ohio's method of killing people is unconstitutional, then you can't give him that sentence."
Executions nationwide are under a de facto moratorium until the U.S. Supreme Court next year looks at a Kentucky case's argument that lethal injection is so painful that it's cruel and unusual punishment.
But in Ohio, Judge Burge's constitutional review can't proceed until the lethal-injection protocol is finally and fully outlined. He ordered delivery this week of records for each Ohio execution; ists of equipment and supplies; descriptions of the handling and maintenance of those items, and details about the qualificationsand training of Ohio's executioners.
"The judge's order told [corrections officials], `You back your pick-up truck to the court and unload all this stuff, or be prepared to explain why I shouldn't punish you for being in contempt," said Mr. Gamso, who predicts further legal wrangling.
Ohio is hardly the only state piling up stories of problematic lethal-injection executions. We are coming to realize, however slowly, that it's downright hard - maybe impossible - to kill people "quickly and painlessly," as state law mandates.
Sparring lawyers will continue legal maneuvers in courtrooms from coast to coast, even as some of Joe Clark's last words echo on many different levels: "This don't work."
Oh, we already know the basics: A three-drug "cocktail" first induces sleep, then paralysis, and finally heart failure. Quick and painless.
In theory, anyway.
Put it this way: When the state of Ohio executed Christopher Newton this spring, it took so long - more than one hour, for a procedure that typically takes 20 minutes - the 37-year-old convicted murderer was actually given (no exaggeration) a bathroom break .
And in the spring of 2006, it took more than an hour for the state to dispatch Joe Clark, who at one point sat up and observed: "This don't work."
On Tuesday, we're finally to learn the ins and outs of lethal injection as practiced in Ohio. It's an early step in eyebrow raising Lorain County murder cases in which the constitutionality of lethal injection is under deep scrutiny.
Two defendants in separate murder cases - Ruben Rivera and Ronald McCloud - asked Judge James Burge to rule on the legality of lethal injection.
What distinguishes their cases from other legal gyrations against the death penalty is that the judge (a former defense attorney himself) agreed to do this even before trial. And this fall, the Ohio Supreme Court backed him up 5-2.
Toledo attorney Jeff Gamso is legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and a defense attorney for Ruben Rivera.
He'll be in Judge Burge's courtroom Tuesday to see if state corrections officials obey the order to disclose details of the state's lethal-injection methods.
"All the other cases . across the country are brought on behalf of
somebody who is on death row," said Mr. Gamso. "Here, we've got a guy who's not even convicted.
Our argument is different: If Ohio's method of killing people is unconstitutional, then you can't give him that sentence."
Executions nationwide are under a de facto moratorium until the U.S. Supreme Court next year looks at a Kentucky case's argument that lethal injection is so painful that it's cruel and unusual punishment.
But in Ohio, Judge Burge's constitutional review can't proceed until the lethal-injection protocol is finally and fully outlined. He ordered delivery this week of records for each Ohio execution; ists of equipment and supplies; descriptions of the handling and maintenance of those items, and details about the qualificationsand training of Ohio's executioners.
"The judge's order told [corrections officials], `You back your pick-up truck to the court and unload all this stuff, or be prepared to explain why I shouldn't punish you for being in contempt," said Mr. Gamso, who predicts further legal wrangling.
Ohio is hardly the only state piling up stories of problematic lethal-injection executions. We are coming to realize, however slowly, that it's downright hard - maybe impossible - to kill people "quickly and painlessly," as state law mandates.
Sparring lawyers will continue legal maneuvers in courtrooms from coast to coast, even as some of Joe Clark's last words echo on many different levels: "This don't work."