I have not been a very good blogger over the past months. I must admit that I feel shame over the small number of my entries. Still, I saw something in the news today that startled me. I had to blog on it, even if briefly. The irony in this article from the AP is so rich that it's worth repeating.
Clarence Ray Allen was executed in San Quetin, CA yesterday. He had suffered a heart attack last September. He asked prison officials to let him die if his heart failed. They stated that they would not honor his request. Vernell Crittendon, a prison spokesperson put it this way: "At no point are we not going to value the sanctity of life...We would resuscitate him."
...and then they executed him.
Posted by Frank Yamada at January 18, 2006 05:19 PMWhile at the end of the day I ultimately have to support the death penalty, I was really having to scratch my head on this execution. The man was essentially blind, mostly deaf, and in a wheel chair. This guy was not exactly what I would call a threat to society.
Posted by: Ryan at January 18, 2006 10:33 PMThanks for blogging this Frank. I too was a bit puzzled by the report. "Sanctity of life" and "death penalty" are two concepts that I can't get my arms around in a single paragraph.
Posted by: Debra K Bullock at January 19, 2006 03:18 PMHoly shit.
Posted by: Tripp at January 19, 2006 09:14 PMwhat Tripp said!
Posted by: Siobhán at January 20, 2006 10:54 PMI tried to make some sort of intelligent response to this. Didn't work.
Tripp said it best.
Posted by: Reverend Ref at January 21, 2006 04:23 PM