Ohio to execute convicted killer using new single injection method

By On December 8, 2009 · 27 Comments

Kenneth Biros is to be put to death today using a new single injection method. The new method was developed after the botched execution of Romell Broom in September.

I post this not to get in to any big debate about the death penalty. I’m against it. I understand this to be a minority position and accept that. It makes me sad that we as a society take this position, but it is what it is.

I wanted to highlight this to point out the sheer hypocrisy among those who would comment on stories like Broom and Biros with comments like “kill the bastard”, “eye for an eye”, and “it’s about time. we should have used a .22″.

These are the same types of people who jump up and down about Sharia Law and stories from Pakistan where a person who throws acid on someone is sentenced to have acid thrown into his eyes as punishment.

It doesn’t make us any better than they and it lessens us overall. I can’t imagine a single family member walking out after having viewed the death of another human being feeling good about it. If they do, there is a deeper emptiness than they wanted to admit.

Evangelize!
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  • Mike B.

    I agree whole heartedly. I have several issues with the death penalty, but one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone says, “Why should we grant this killer any mercy, when he gave none to his victim?”

    That is exactly what puts us in a position to sit in judgment of the killer, because we have a higher moral code than he. People who murder must be punished and in most cases never released back into society, but we can do that without killing them and debasing our own values.

    In the meantime, it will just be a matter of when, not if, there will be another botched execution in Ohio. There is no perfect way to kill a person and our execution team has shown it is grossly unqualified.

    And, of course, this is without even discussing the many disparities in who receives the death penalty and the many flaws in our justice system that could easily lead to an innocent person being executed.

    Yeah, I know you didn't want to start a debate, but I can't help myself.

  • http://www.plunderbund.com Eric

    Hah. Thanks for commenting Mike. My point was not to debate the death penalty per se, but I see that as unavoidable now. The main thing that gets me about the arguments on the right is the inconsistencies when compared to their statements about Middle Eastern justice and law. If you listen to the typical wingnut, you'd think they would love Sharia Law and taking eyes for eyes and such.

  • http://www.rightohio.com Right Ohio

    Of course you don't believe in the death penalty. You also believe death penalty worthy crimes were committed as a result of oppression and racism, and thus are justified on some level.

  • Mike B.

    [insert snarky remark about waterboarding Dick Cheney here]

    The thing is, wingnuts never like when their own logic is taken to its most ridiculous conclusion. It’s the same as people who quote the Bible about gay marriage, but they rail against Fred Phelps and company for doing the same thing, only in a more provocative way. It’s a little too hard looking in the mirror and seeing what your flawed logic has begat.

  • http://plunderbund.com Joseph

    So you DO support the death penalty Matt? I'd really like to hear how you reconcile that with your pro-life/catholic beliefs.

  • http://www.rightohio.com Right Ohio

    The Vatican's position on the death penalty is not ex cathedra. I'll stick with St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine on this. Heck, until the 1970s, the church would execute people if they attempted to assassinate the Pope.

    I respect those who oppose it. But I fear they oppose it as a result of the secular humanist movement.

  • modernesquire

    While it's true that no pope has imprinted their anti-death penalty views with the doctrine of ex cathedra, there's absolutely no support that religious conservatives (be it Catholic or “heathenistic” evangelical Protestants) ground their anti-death penalty views on anything other than the theologocial teachings of Christ himself. (You know, that whole “turning the other cheek” thing.)

    Although I support the death penalty, albeit skeptically, I do so knowing that there are theological, moral, ethical, and economic arguments that support an opposing view.

  • http://www.plunderbund.com Eric

    1. Don't come here and tell me what I believe. Ask.

    2. If I don't believe in the application of the death penalty then it doesn't matter much what I think of “death penalty worthy crimes” now does it?

  • http://www.rightohio.com Right Ohio

    The New Testament takes the moral ability of the state to put criminals to death for granted. Jesus never denies the state authority for death penalty, upholds many of the 36 reasons for executions in Mosaic law (ie, Mark 7:10), and even says that Pilate's power to do so comes from God.

    But I still think that even in the most conservative circles, opposition to the death penalty is rooted in a lack of faith in an afterlife.

    As Joe Deters once said, I don't care if they throw them off buildings!

  • http://www.rightohio.com Right Ohio

    The commie fist on this website defines your views, no? I don't think I stated their/your side unreasonably. Violence against an unjust system, et cetera.

  • http://plunderbund.com Joseph

    I don't oppose the death penalty either. Mainly because I don't really respect human life. OH… I pretend to. I can make some pretty good arguments for not killing other people using my secular humanist reasoning. But at the end of the day I can't possibly have any real moral beliefs because I haven't given my life to Christ.

  • http://www.plunderbund.com Eric

    Matt, STFU already. If you want to continue to use comments here as a way to promote your blog you need to walk a bit of a finer line. I'm losing my patience with you.

  • http://www.plunderbund.com Eric

    Can you wax poetic again about shooting death row inmates on live pay-per-view TV and getting the mother to pay for the bullet? I love it when you do that!

  • http://www.rightohio.com Right Ohio

    I forgot how hilarious I am. thanx

  • http://www.plunderbund.com Eric

    No. You're an idiot. Final warning.

  • http://www.bloggerinterrupted.com TimRusso

    i'd say we've gone well beyond final warning territory, but that's just me.

  • mvirenicus

    oh way cool! are you a misanthrope too, joseph, or being entirely facetious?

  • Nifty Lawrence

    I always love how conservatives gripe & moan about how government screws up EVERYTHING but are more than willing to have it administering capital punishment.

    As if it’s the one thing government ALWAYS gets right. Cognitive dissonance, indeed.

  • Nifty Lawrence

    I always love how conservatives gripe & moan about how government screws up EVERYTHING but are more than willing to have it administering capital punishment.

    As if it’s the one thing government ALWAYS gets right. Cognitive dissonance, indeed.

  • http://plunderbund.com Joseph

    I don't really support the death penalty but I'm not against it either. It doesn't save money. It's not a deterrent to potential murderers. It's only purpose is retribution. And, honestly, I'm ok with that.

    I really don't see it as any more or less cruel than a life sentence. My main reason for not supporting it is the possibility that an innocent person might be put to death.

  • Mary Jo

    “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

  • scottpullins

    One of the biggest reasons that I have long opposed the death penalty is that death for the killer prevents any realistic possibility of remorse for the killer. A killer should live long enough in prison to finally realize the consequences of his actions.

  • mvirenicus

    i hear ya. i'm mostly ambivalent about the issue but when push comes to shove i wouldn't trust the state or a jury of mentally retarded american peers to render a just judgment.

  • mvirenicus

    what's up with the ugly bald guy who looks like he has a stick shoved up his arse icon?

  • scottpullins

    One of the biggest reasons that I have long opposed the death penalty is that death for the killer prevents any realistic possibility of remorse for the killer. A killer should live long enough in prison to finally realize the consequences of his actions.

  • mvirenicus

    i hear ya. i'm mostly ambivalent about the issue but when push comes to shove i wouldn't trust the state or a jury of mentally retarded american peers to render a just judgment.

  • mvirenicus

    what's up with the ugly bald guy who looks like he has a stick shoved up his arse icon?

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