Justice John Paul Stevens: Horses die better than condemned

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/05/stevens_horses_die_better_than.html

Stevens: Horses die better than condemned
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Posted May 11, 2008 6:50 AM
The Swamp

by James Oliphant


Staying on the course he set last month with the opinion he wrote in the Supreme Court's lethal injection case, Justice John Paul Stevens suggested in a speech this weekend that racehorses are put to death in more humane way than prisoners.

Speaking to a group of lawyers and judges Friday in Chattanooga, Tenn., Stevens received a round of applause when he brought up the euthanasia of Kentucky Derby entrant Eight Bells.

"I had checked the procedure they used to kill the horse," Stevens said, expressing surprise to learn it is against the law in Kentucky to kill animals using one of the drugs in a three-drug lethal injection cocktail that many believe is cruel to humans.

Kentucky's method for executing prisoners was the subject of a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. Last month, in a 6-3 decision, the court held the three-drug protocol did not cause cruel and unusual punishment to prisoners and was constitutional.

Stevens sided with the majority, but wrote a separate opinion in which, for the first time, he declared his opposition to capital punishment, saying the law in the area had become a hopeless muddle.

In Kentucky, a separate, one-drug procedure is used for horses.In Kentucky, a separate, one-drug procedure is used for horses. Critics of the three-drug protocol says that when done incorrectly, it can cause great pain in the prisoner, while a paralyzing agent would prevent him from crying out.

I'm still spinning that it was Justice Stevens who wrote the majority decision upholding that disgusting Indiana voter ID law. Not real thrilled with him right now.

DNA has absolved many. Mistrials and recanted testimony shed doubts on others. I will not support death penalty until all new forensics evidence and honest, uncoerced testimony puts the accused in a position of absolute, certain guilt.

Besides, if we are to follow the constitution, no cruel or unusual punishment allowed. Burning people to death internally whilst rendering them unable to scream is both cruel and inhuman.