To “botch” something is to carry out a task “badly or carelessly.” Oklahoma’s botched execution Tuesday, April 29, 2014 demonstrated that word in its absolute in-glory. (Read the New York Times account here). Badly? Executions always cause at least psychological pain. Even if everything goes perfectly, the physical pains involved in injecting the drugs may … Continue reading »
executions
Yes, Virginia, there is a death penalty: Reflections on the Christmas moratorium
On the 19th of December, the paper of record, the New York Times, ran a story discussing the lower number of executions (39) in 2013 than in a previous years; a trend that began sometime ago (read it here). The causes of this trend are complex and fascinating and worthy of more comment, but here I … Continue reading »