I witnessed Ohio's execution of Dennis McGuire. What I saw was inhumane.

[morningfog]

The last time I celebrated mass with Dennis McGuire, who was executed by the state of Ohio last week using an experimental two-drug concoction, it was the feast of the epiphany that marks the bringing of gifts to the newborn Jesus by the magi.

* * *

I've seen people die many times before: in nursing homes, families I've known, my own mother. In most settings I've found death to be a very peaceful experience. But this was something else. By my count it took 26 minutes for McGuire to be pronounced dead.

* * *

At 10.27am, the syringe containing the untested concoction of midazolam and hydromorphone was injected into him. At 10.30am, three minutes into the execution, he lifted his head off the gurney, and said to the family who he could see through the window: "I love you, I love you." Then he lay back down.

At about 10.31am, his stomach swelled up in an unusual way, as though he had a hernia or something like that. Between 10.33am and 10.44am – I could see a clock on the wall of the death house – he struggled and gasped audibly for air.

I was aghast. Over those 11 minutes or more he was fighting for breath, and I could see both of his fists were clenched the entire time. His gasps could be heard through the glass wall that separated us. Towards the end, the gasping faded into small puffs of his mouth. It was much like a fish lying along the shore puffing for that one gasp of air that would allow it to breathe. Time dragged on and I was helpless to do anything, sitting helplessly by as he struggled for breath. I desperately wanted out of that room.

For the next four minutes or so a medical tech listened for a heart beat on both sides of his chest. That seemed to drag on too, like some final cruel ritual, preventing us from leaving. Then, at 10.53am, the warden called the time of death, they closed the curtains, and that was it.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/22/ohio-mcguire-execution-untested-lethal-injection-inhumane

[alittlelark]

1. I do not want to hear any more of these stories

FROM OUR 'CIVILIZED' country. Done w/ it. Sick of it. Disgusted by it. Wanna NOT BE ASSOCIATED W/IT................................

[sabrina 1]

3. It is sickening, even more sickening is that in any civilized society there is ANY support for this

barbarism. Makes them as bad as he is imho.

The only positive thing is that support for these barbaric practices is declining and several states no longer in it. We have a long, long way to go to become a civilized society. A loooooong way.

[jsr]

2. Recommend

[Heidi]

4. Kick, kick, kick!!!!

[tblue]

5. That's my definition of a crime.

Awful. Just awful.

[gtar100]

6. Do they do that on purpose? Make the death last so long?

It seems the medical community would know much better than what is being demonstrated. Because every case I've heard has this same kind of description - long, slow excruciating death. Are these injection executioners just incompetent or are they sadistic?

[morningfog]

7. Well, the "usual" drug of choice is harder for the US

To get. EU countries have prohibited their corporations from selling the drug to the US because they believe (correctly) that the drug would be used in torture/execution. As a result of the prohibition, states are running out. Ohio's solution was to try different drugs, never tested for execution before.

Ohio was especially barbaric in its blood lust.

[warrant46]

8. Barbaric ?

That word doesn't even touch the surface of this Criminal State Behavior

It is all of the following =====brutal, barbarous, brutish, bestial, savage, vicious, wicked, cruel, ruthless, merciless, villainous, murderous, heinous, monstrous, vile, inhuman, infernal, dark, fiendish and diabolical.

If nothing else this practice is Primitive

[morningfog]

9. Agreed on all descriptors.

[warrant46]

22. +1

[Ms. Toad]

13. This was an experiment.

The drug combination has not been used before (in Ohio, at least), and was challenged in advance as cruel and unusual punishment. That challenge was rejected - and this is the result.

[jeff47]

23. Keep in mind doctors aren't the executioner.

Generally, doctors are prohibited from intentionally killing someone. Even for an execution. What usually happens in lethal injection is the doctor starts an IV, and then a non-doctor actually pushes the drugs into the IV.

As a result, what the medical community can do to make lethal injection more human is limited.

Frankly, I'm not sure why they don't just give the victim a massive dose of heroin. They should have plenty laying around from drug busts.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. Re: Cruel and unusual punishment.

Cutting short the natural life of a human being, whether it happens at the hands of a private citizen or by the state, is cruel. There could be nothing more cruel than that.

That the state chooses to interject itself into the business of ending the natural life of a human being (when said human being is no longer an imminent threat to others by virtue of his incarceration) is unusual. It runs contrary to what people are taught about ending the life of other people, that it should be avoided at all costs unless that person poses an imminent threat to the life and safety of others.

Ergo, the death penalty by its very nature should be labeled cruel and unusual punishment, and should be prohibited under the US Constitution.

[snooper2]

11. Has anybody seen anyting from the State on this?

or something unbiased?

may seem sick but actually there should be a video to form conclusions.

I'm pro death penalty but it should be short and sweet. I should say I'm for limited death penalty. For example, a sick bastard who would rape and kill a 3 year old child just needs to be put down like a bad rooster. Some humans are born evil, period.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

12. What purpose would "putting someone down" serve?

Human beings, no matter how horrifically flawed, are still human beings.

[snooper2]

15. we don't have to feed and shelter the POS

Just because it's a "human" doesn't mean a person deserves to be any part of society including the prison system.

I'll use my farm analogy again. Growing up we had a rooster that would peck at the eyes of all the hens. He quickly ended up in the stew pot. Some creatures are just born bad.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Humans are not roosters.

For example, we wouldn't be okay with serving up a human being on a dinner platter with a side of mashed potatoes and corn. So let's just throw that one right out the window.

And giving someone nominal food and shelter in a confined environment for the rest of his life isn't coddling that person in any sort. I don't get what purpose executing someone serves beyond what could already be accomplished by incarcerating him for the rest of his natural life.

[nyquil_man]

18. "Some creatures are just born bad."

At what age can this be determined?

[snooper2]

19. We might have to ask Keanu Reeves

[nyquil_man]

20. That's a very thoughtful response.

Thank you.

[Arugula Latte]

27. It's more costly to execute someone than to feed and shelter him for decades.

[Ms. Toad]

14. I don't know that there is a video -

But all of the surrounding documentation has been preserved.

But is this good enough for you as unbiased: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/justice/ohio-dennis-mcguire-execution/

[jeff47]

24. Why do you want to shorten their punishment?

Prison is not a nice place to live. Wouldn't you want your "born evil" person to spend decades living there instead of a "short and sweet" trip to oblivion? Shouldn't it be a decades-long uncomfortable trip as they age and eventually die?

(And before you say something stupid like "I don't want to pay for them to live", keep in mind you are paying 100 times more money to kill them)

Also, no there are no videos of executions. It's illegal to photograph or film an execution in most jurisdictions.

[snooper2]

25. I'd be interested in the 100 times more to kill them info..

How can holding somebody for say 50 years providing everything including medical cost society less?

I'll low ball yearly cost at 50K a year, that being $2.5 million. So it costs $25 million to off them? If you are including appeals and what not I would say death penalties should be very limited with one appeal allowed.

[jeff47]

28. Cost for an inmate is around $30k/year.

And it won't be 50 years. Inmates do not live to a very old age. Also, most people who get the death penalty are usually not that young - usually around 30. As a result, it's about 30 years of prison - $900,000.

Cost for an execution varies, but $10M+ is extremely common when you cover appeals, added security, building and maintaining a "death row" and the extra staff for it.

I would say death penalties should be very limited with one appeal allowed.

Then you want to execute a lot of innocent people.

Some folks might want to consider who is "born bad": A 'bad guy' getting executed, or the person who wants to execute dozens of innocent people every year.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

31. A bit of a hyperbole, but the bottom line is that it costs far less to imprison than to execute.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29552692/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/execute-or-not-question-cost/#.UuEzao0o6Uk

And your idea to limit a person to a single death penalty appeal is brilliant! I mean brilliant. I don't see anything going wrong in that type of situation. An-y-thing.

I mean, it's not like someone who was convicted of a crime and sentenced to die could be exonerated years later. That's never, ever happened.

[snooper2]

33. DNA evidence for example..

Again, if a 40 year old raped and murdered a 4 year old I don't see any reason for that "human" to continue to exist...

Maybe I'll evolve on this some day

[Tommy_Carcetti]

34. Or coerced confessions. Or faulty eyewitness testimony. Or perjured testimony.

You get the drift.

But hey, if they don't get that evidence out by the time of the first and only appeal, too bad, so sad. The state sends its regrets.

I can only hope you evolved in your views in the future. Because your current views are pretty fucked up.

[morningfog]

38. Thankfully the Supreme Court disagrees with you.

And thankfully, societies, by and large, are moving farther and farther away from your position.

[nyquil_man]

16. Didn't the three drug procedure do essentially the same thing,

the main difference being that the inmate was effectively paralyzed and unable to visibly react?

The "appeal" of lethal injection has always been that it appears painless. Whether or not it actually is painless is an entirely different matter.

[rock]

21. If we killed everyone that was for the death penalty

It would be so ironic that I might almost approve.

[enlightenment]

26. This could have been written by the man in this video.

It is pathetic that in over a half century we have not progressed at all.

[jollyreaper2112]

29. Not to be morbid here...

I believe in capital punishment in theory, not in practice. I don't trust any government to get it right. I'll settle for keeping people who deserve to die locked up for life. You can't torture them enough to bring back the victims but you can at least prevent them from making more.

But anyway, how difficult is it to kill someone painlessly? The pro-suicide groups out there have plenty of suggestions ranging from barbiturate shakes to sedatives and inert gases like helium, CO2, etc. These are painless methods that people who want to die choose for themselves, to minimize the terror and pain of passing. People who died from CO poisoning usually aren't even aware it's happening. We have plenty of cases of households full of people passing peacefully in their sleep that way.

I mean shit, they could probably make this go quicker if they just had a guy with big hands strangle him.

I don't have any sympathy for this scumbag, he stabbed a pregnant woman to death. I have sympathy for her. My only concern is what it means for us as a society if we can't handle the worst of our own in a way that speaks well of our own humanity.

[Auntie Bush]

30. They can give a downed horse a shot and relieve him of pain immediately.

Why can't they do this for humans.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

32. Better question:

Why should they bother at all?

[beachbum bob]

35. I roll my eyes with the hand wringing

this guy was a killer, no doubt in his guilt and as long as the death penalty is legal in Ohio...he died a better death than his victim who had no choice.

Don't like the law, then elect people who will change it.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

36. But what was the point in killing him?

What purpose was served?

[MO_Moderate]

37. Yep

[morningfog]

39. It will be up to the courts, and the death penalty will be banned.

It is only a matter if time, hopefully if will happen sooner rather than later.

This isn't hand wringing, in is called be a human.