As I went through all of my classmate’s blogs to see which
one I wanted to comment on, I was surprised to find Lucy’s about an obese man
who wanted his execution stayed “until he is at a safe weight for the
execution.” This sounds like a way to avoid
execution altogether. He no doubt made the same argument in 1997, and I’m
willing to bet he weighed less then. If weight became the cause to delay
execution, everyone on death row would be eating their way to obesity to avoid
the needle. I began to wonder where he got all the food necessary to reach 480
pounds; no doubt my tax dollars at work since they do support the prison
system. This brings up other questions: should prisons be a place where people
can eat so much they reach obese stature while so many law abiding citizens are
going hungry in this country? Should children give up free school lunches and
breakfasts so prisoners can eat their way out of their sentence? Should the already
overburdened courts spend even one minute considering this mans “painful” end? What
bothers me the most is the fact he has been in prison for thirty years and should
have been executed long ago. That tax dollars have not only paid for his abuse
of his own body but is no doubt paying for medical treatment required (like to
treat diabetes and high blood pressure) when someone weighs that much is
something that screams abuse of the system. Medical science has done their best
to come up with the most humane way to execute convicted criminals, and since
it is legal in 37 (more than half) of the states including his own, there is no
reason to delay the process and every reason to proceed. Let’s face it; it’s
not supposed to be a good time. He is a murderer and according to the jury of
his peers, deserves to die. He should be glad we no longer practice “such
[things] as being stretched on the rack and/or disemboweled.” Do it and be done
with it. Losco, Joseph and Ralph Baker. AM Gov2012 12/11
