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the atlantic - in TX a brave new lethal injection

beethoven

Well-known member
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/04/in-texas-a-brave-new-lethal-injection/236800/

Raymond Bonner - Raymond Bonner, a former foreign correspondent and investigative reporter for the New York Times, lives in Britain. He is the author of a book about a death penalty case, Anatomy of Injustice, which will be published next year by Knopf.


In Texas, a Brave, New Lethal Injection



Apr 5 2011, 7:53 AM ET

A drug so painful that veterinarians aren't allowed to administer it to animals will soon be used to execute Cleve Foster

Updated 12:12 p.m.: The Supreme Court granted a temporary stay of the execution of Cleve Foster based on whether he received adequate counsel during the course his trial.

Texas prison officials are about to carry out an execution with a combination of drugs and procedures that they have not used before, and that a veterinarian is proscribed from using when terminating an animal's life.

In order to minimize pain and suffering of animals being put to sleep, Texas has adopted detailed regulations. Only a licensed veterinarian may administer the drugs, the dosage is determined by the animal's weight, and even the lighting in the room is regulated by law.

When it comes to carrying out executions of death-row inmates, however, the state does not take the same care. The Texas legislature has given the director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice the absolute power to decide on the drugs used and how they will be administered. The current director is a former corrections officer with no training in anesthesiology, pharmacology, or science.

"Death-row inmates appear to have fewer rights than domesticated animals," concludes a study released on Sunday, "Regulating Death in the Lone Star State: Texas Law Protects Lizards from Needless Suffering, But Not Human Beings" (PDF). The 10-page report was written by the ACLU of Texas, the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, and the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law.

The study is part of a last-minute effort to block the execution of Cleve Foster, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Texas at midnight Tuesday. Foster, an army veteran who fought in Desert Storm, was convicted for the murder of a woman he and a friend had met in a bar. Foster has said he had passed out from a drug overdose and that the other man killed the woman.

In executing Foster, Texas will use a protocol of three drugs that it has not used before, and this is where the anti-death penalty activists come in. The first drug in the protocol, pentobarbital, is intended to anesthetize the condemned man (or the animal), so that he does not suffer when the next two drugs are administered. They are pancuronium bromide, a paralytic agent, which paralyzes lung muscles and disguises any outward signs of pain before the third drug, potassium chloride, which stops the heart, is injected.

The Supreme Court has held, 7-2, that the Eighth Amendment proscription on cruel and unusual punishment does not bar lethal injection as a means of execution. In a concurring opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens noted nevertheless that most states do not allow pancuronium bromide in the euthanasia of animals.

Until now, Texas, as well as the other capital punishment states, used sodium thiobarbital as the anesthetic. But the American company that manufactured it ceased production last year, and states have had difficulty procuring it from abroad. Britain has prohibited the drug's export for execution purposes, and Germany and Austria have indicated they will not allow companies in their countries to export it. That has led capital punishment states to turn to pentobarbital.*

The major supplier of pentobarbital is the Danish company Lundbeck. A British-based human rights organization called Reprieve has launched a campaign to persuade the company not to sell the drug to states for use in executions. The company has said that it strongly opposes its drug being used for this purpose but that it has no control after selling the drug to wholesalers in America.

Clive Stafford Smith, founder and director of Reprieve, made an "extremely urgent" plea to Lundbeck last Friday asking the company to conduct an analysis of the use of pentobarbital with the other two drugs before they were used to execute Mr. Foster. The three drugs "have never been used together in clinical procedures," nor have there been any controlled trials, Mr. Stafford Smith wrote the company. (Ohio has used pentobarbital in an execution last month, however).

"The effects of the new procedure could be torturous," Mr. Stafford Smith wrote. If the Lundbeck drug does not work properly, Mr. Foster will be subject to "excruciating pain that has been likened to having one's veins set on fire," he wrote.

In response to Mr. Stafford Smith, Lundbeck said that its pentobarbital was not intended for use in executions and, therefore, it could not conduct the analysis.

In response to an email seeking comment, a company spokesman, Anders Schroll, added that Lundbeck had notified the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that it was "adamantly opposed" to the use of its pentobarbital "for the purpose of capital punishment." Such use "contradicts everything we are in the business to do -- provide therapies that improve people's lives."

When it comes to putting animals to sleep, pentobarbital is not an appropriate anesthetic in combination with pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, according to guidelines by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Thus, "veterinarians in Texas are prohibited from using the combination of drugs that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has deemed suitable for the execution of human beings," the report by the Northwestern University law students says.

"It is no exaggeration to say that Texas regulates the euthanasia of reptiles more strictly than the execution of human beings," the report concludes.
Image: Reuters/STR New

* This story originally said Texas used sodium thiobarbital as the anesthetic. We regret the error.

comments follow
 

Steve

Well-known member
Ex-recruiter's execution for 2002 Fort Worth slaying is halted at last minute

The U.S. Supreme Court gave a last-minute stay of execution Tuesday evening to a Desert Storm veteran and former Army recruiter convicted of raping and killing a Sudanese immigrant in Fort Worth in 2002.

Mary Pal was seen talking with the pair at a Fort Worth bar the night before her body was found in a ditch in the 9800 block of Heron Drive near Lake Worth.

A gun recovered from the motel room where Foster and Ward lived was identified as the murder weapon. It was also identified as the gun used two months earlier to kill Rachel Urnosky, 22, at her Fort Worth apartment.

Pal's blood and tissue were found on the weapon, and DNA evidence showed that both men had sex with Pal.

Ward said the sex was consensual. Foster said he was passed out from sleeping pills at the time Pal would have been shot.

Ben Leonard, a former Tarrant County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Foster, said Foster's appeals were "baloney."

"These guys raped and executed two women,"

if the charges are true and a jury felt they were, then the guys deserves to be put to death.. and I am not one bit fussy on what they use...
 

beethoven

Well-known member
yes. you are lovingly supported in your view, a group conscience i suppose. this is the final step society takes to stamp evil individuals out.

if these people had experienced different circumstances would they have become just as violent and evil?
 

Steve

Well-known member
beethoven said:
yes. you are lovingly supported in your view, a group conscience i suppose. this is the final step society takes to stamp evil individuals out.

if these people had experienced different circumstances would they have become just as violent and evil?

the guy had 21 years of military service, I really doubt my life was much different then his... other then that I didn't rape or murder anyone..

the guy committed two rape and murders.. blamed alcohol in two other instances to commit sexual assaults while in the army.

was convicted in 1984 of aggravated robbery and is linked to the killing of another woman. Foster was convicted of aggravated robbery after he held a knife to a man's neck while another man demanded money, Foster was sentenced to 10 years on probation.

let see.. just the crimes he has been found guilty of
sexual assault
sexual assault
aggravated robbery,
rape
rape
murder
murder

and is linked to one other murder

either this guy is one unlucky schmuck.. or he deserves to die... and again... I am not a bit bothered by how they decide to kill him,.


Foster's father, Cleve Foster Sr., said he raised his son in church "and tried to teach him in the way he should go."
 

beethoven

Well-known member
sounds not unlike the profile of williams, a colonal in ontario convicted of multiple rape and murder.

wth happened for them to become horrible, destructive, violent and disgusting.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
beethoven said:
sounds not unlike the profile of williams, a colonal in ontario convicted of multiple rape and murder.

wth happened for them to become horrible, destructive, violent and disgusting.


There is evil in the world, Beethoven. As much as liberals think there is some cure by appeasing or pleasing, there is not.

There will never be the utopia you dream of.

Williams was probably the monster he is, before he joined the military, but he gained the opportunity to carry out his fantasies/atrocities after he gained a position of authority.

Your attempt to make military involvement/membership being the problem is not realistic.

If you could tie him to a violent religion, you would have more success.

Was he a radical Muslim, or Satanic?
 

beethoven

Well-known member
no, i am not liberal (i have never voted liberal in an election, however i have been involved in nomination processes).

i will support ideas and people and i certainly want good outcomes. i have no problem personally with the concept of anyone joining each of the political parties and assisting them to nominate good people. yes most people join one party and stick with that and thats fine.

no such thing as utopia... visions of what is possible and making improvements, yes.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
beethoven said:
no, i am not liberal (i have never voted liberal in an election, however i have been involved in nomination processes).

i will support ideas and people and i certainly want good outcomes. i have no problem personally with the concept of anyone joining each of the political parties and assisting them to nominate good people. yes most people join one party and stick with that and thats fine.

no such thing as utopia... visions of what is possible and making improvements, yes.

I don't believe I called you a liberal. But if one goes by the articles you post or your own writings, one would assume that you are more liberal than conservative.

Unless you believe in the writings of the Bible, then I would have to assume that you are more conservative than liberal.
 

hopalong

Well-known member
So how do you feel his sentence should be carried out?

A judge and jury heard evidence against him, (more than you) convivcted him and sentenced him to Death, yet you know more about the case than they????YOU can judge how he is put to death???

What do you really know about the case?????????
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
hopalong said:
So how do you feel his sentence should be carried out?

A judge and jury heard evidence against him, (more than you) convivcted him and sentenced him to Death, yet you know more about the case than they????YOU can judge how he is put to death???

What do you really know about the case?????????

he can probably be rehabilatated with a little more love and caring. Maybe some time on the couch is what is needed.

Producing productive citizens is just a matter of hugs and support, after they have become adults. :roll:
 

beethoven

Well-known member
typically am not one to correct those who make inaccurate assumptions.

you however i have some affection for.

yes i see you didnt name me as a liberal.

i was raised by very conservative parents.



no, im not saying military involvement/membership is the problem, only noticing something of a similarity. some conversations online just dont do very well as text on the screen.

comments and questions sometimes function to establish a context for conversation. i dont require answers per se. people here are free to share ideas or read or not.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
beethoven said:
typically am not one to correct those who make inaccurate assumptions.

you however i have some affection for.

yes i see you didnt name me as a liberal.

i was raised by very conservative parents.



no, im not saying military involvement/membership is the problem, only noticing something of a similarity. some conversations online just dont do very well as text on the screen.

comments and questions sometimes function to establish a context for conversation. i dont require answers per se. people here are free to share ideas or read or not.

So just to help me out, from making further incorrect assumptions in the future.

Which conservative principles do you hold near and dear? Which ones are not negotiable and which ones are you willing to stray from?
 

MsSage

Well-known member
beethoven said:
yes. you are lovingly supported in your view, a group conscience i suppose. this is the final step society takes to stamp evil individuals out.

if these people had experienced different circumstances would they have become just as violent and evil?

What happened to personal responsiblity?
How many "inmates" have you known, talked to, or had any contact with? I am NOT talking about watching lock up on tv......that is such a joke.

These convicted felons have choosen the path they walked down. They go to prison and are rehabilitation with numerous programs they are released and make the same choices AGAIN. At what point do you say enough is enough? One rape victim, two, three....How about child molestion , murder, battery. Where and when do you say okI am sorry your mom didnt kiss you as a child but you are a grown a$$ man, now own up and act like a productive citizen.
We all have bad things happen to us as children.....we suck it up and know we have the POWER in ourselves to become who we want to be. We know what is expected from us from our neighbors to make our little slice of the world livable for all.

Tell me what would you do in this case.....a convicted drug dealer in prison for 5 years get all the programs to "kick" the habit convises the parol board he is clean and ready to go back into the free world. Gets out and in 1 week back to dealing drugs even though he is in another part of the state so he is not back with his "homeboys". Comes back into prison to finish out sentece and inless than 2 days before his release is busted doing drugs AGAIN. Do we let him out because his mom had to work 3 jobs so she didnt give him enough love? Or do we press charges and send him back where he cant hurt others?
 

I Luv Herfrds

Well-known member
If you are anti death penalty that is your choice just as it is mine to be pro death penalty.

Maybe you should have talked to my MIL about her family members that were murdered in California. She had hoped to see the killers caught and excuted.

I was waiting for Dawson here in MT to die, which he did. Kidnapped and killed 3 members of a family. Only the daughter survived.

What about the guy that killed Wayne Stevenson and buried him in a pile of manure.

Once you kill someone and are convicted you no longer have any rights nor should you be allowed to live on my dime.

An eye for an eye.
 

beethoven

Well-known member
i observe the spectre of this thing from afar. being that we dont have it here it is a subject worthy of some thinking about.

havent stated my opinion of it actually, but dont let me stop you folks from going on with the discussion.

good night kids. long day here. play nice.
 

loomixguy

Well-known member
Tell ya what, Ludwig.....you want to read the story of a real PIG BREEDER who, to my knowledge is still alive and who deserved killing if anybody ever did, just google the name Erwin Charles Simants. That SOB and his "insanity" defense...... :mad:

Unfortunately, Nebraska's preferred method of execution of death row inmates seems to be "natural causes"......my gawd can they drag it out for YEARS.......
 
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