Executing Kenneth Eugene Smith...or Anyone?

 

The State of Alabama has set a new execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith - January 25th. Will Smith be executed on that date? We doubt it. Will he be executed eventually? We believe that he will. Will we feel any grief for the man who savagely murdered Elizabeth Sennett? No. Does that mean we support the execution?

Smith, as 99% of those convicted of capital crimes, will suffer the most living his entire natural life behind bars. Do most Alabamians agree?

First, Smith's jury (11 out of 12) recommended Life without Parole, but in theory, 73% of the state's population supports the death penalty. Or is that only 54% as another poll suggests. How about a poll that found only 43% don't want an end to the death penalty. It would seem to suggest it's all in the way the issue is phrased. 

Alabama has the highest death row population per capita of any state in the U.S. That's a statistic of which none of us should be proud.

If the January 25th execution date does stand, Alabama can be proud of another brick in the executioner's wall of fame. It will be the first state to kill by nitrogen hypoxia. If those who carry out the executions can't find a patent vein for lethal injection, we doubt very much they can manage the gas, mask, and tubing to carry out death by nitrogen.

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Hello, they call me Hemsworth. Think that's why I look so forlorn? I'm an 18 month-old Siberian Husky/Australian Shepherd male. I just want a new name and a simple life with a big yard to play in. Please come break me out of the Florence shelter in the industrial park: