Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The (imagined) Horror of Dennis McGuire's Executionv

The (imagined) Horror of Dennis McGuire's Execution
Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom

 Ohio justly executed rapist/torturer/murderer Dennis McGuire.

 Unconscious, McGuire snored and the media went apoplectic.

 The Horror is that anti-death penalty folks and their allies in the media will have 10,000 more articles about the imagined suffering of this executed rapist/torturer/murderer than they did about the real suffering of his victims, Joy Stewart, her husband Kenny, unborn child Carl and their families and friends.

 There is no indication that McGuire was in pain, at any time, or that he was conscious after the first 1-3 minutes of the 25 minute execution process, as pharmacological realities would dictate (see below).

 There is every indication that Joy Stewart was conscious throughout the eternal horror of her savage rape and murder. McGuire forced Joy from her car, choked her, attempted to rape her vaginally, raped her anally, slashed her throat so deeply it severed both her carotid artery and jugular vein, all the while Joy realizing the horror of her own death, as well as that of her unborn child.

 The baby’s name would have been Carl, his mother’s grave marker shows.

 Joy's husband, Kenny, committed suicide within a year after their murders.

 McGuire had more time on death row than Joy had in life.

 "State prison records released Monday say McGuire told guards that (McGuire's counsel, Robert) Lowe counseled him to make a show of his death that would, perhaps, lead to abolition of the death penalty. But three accounts from prison officials indicate McGuire refused to put on a display." (1)

 "Amy Borror, a spokeswoman for the public defender's office, said all accounts from execution eyewitnesses - which did not include Lowe - indicate McGuire was unconscious at the time he struggled to breathe." (1)

 "Medical experts would not comment on Mr. McGuire’s execution or speculate about what he experienced. They agreed that used for surgery, the two drugs would not cause pain. (2).

 “By virtue of what they do, they cause unconsciousness, and they inhibit pain,” said Dr. Howard Nearman, professor of anesthesiology at Case Western Reserve University (2).

 As there was no surgery, both drugs were given at overdose levels and both drugs would enhance the effects of the other, of course there was no pain.

Do folks wheeze, snore, move or cough etc. while sleeping? Do those with opiate overdoses wheeze, snore, move, cough, have spasms, etc.? Of course, which is all that happened with McGuire, as some predicted.

The Associate Press witness:

"McGuire was still for almost five minutes, then emitted a loud snort, as if snoring, and continued to make that sound over the next several minutes. He also soundlessly opened and shut his mouth several times as his stomach rose and fell." "A coughing sound was Dennis McGuire’s last apparent movement, at 10:43 a.m. He was pronounced dead 10 minutes later." (3)

No evidence of consciousness or pain.

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Lethal Injection & Nitrogen Hypoxia: Controversies Resolved

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Sadly, we have ignorant, anti-death penalty folks, who just can't wait to get their word out, such as McGuire's spiritual advisor, Father Lawrence Hummer, stating, "There is no question in my mind that Dennis McGuire suffered greatly over many minutes. . . . this experimental two-drug concoction had taken 26 minutes. I consider that inhumane." (4)

McGuire's children have threatened to sue the state over their father's just execution.  So foul. They have learned so very little.

Their only comments should have been:

"We are truly sorry for the horror and suffering that our father has caused to Joy, her husband, Kenny, their unborn son, Carl and to their family and friends.  Our thoughts and prayers will be with them, always."

Maybe Father Hummer's only words should been along those lines, as well.

Possibly, someone in the media, and others, will look up the overdose properties of the drugs involved (below) and tell us how McGuire could, possibly, have been conscious. He couldn't have been.

The properties of the drugs and their overdosing effects are very well known - by no means an experiment  . . . and they don't just, suddenly, disappear, for no reason.


From Current Preble County Prosecutor Martin Votle (5) :

“The focus needs to stay where it belongs and that’s on Joy." " . . .  if there has been any injustice done it’s in a delay of 20 years between the imposition of that sentence . . . and the execution . . ".

"(McGuire) was vicious and dangerous. He had raped and murdered Joy Morningstar, gotten away with it and then 10 months later decided he liked abducting and assaulting women at knife point so much he did it again." " . . . “he abducted that 15-year-old at knife point . . . " "The girl struggled with him and he beat her and they made so much noise that her family and friends ran out the front door of the house and interceded and saved her life. . . "

“(McGuire) was a predator and had he not been caught, there is no doubt in my mind he would have continued that behavior until he was caught.”

“It occurred to me that Feb. 11 (2014), we’re talking three weeks now, will be the 25th anniversary of the murder. That (unborn son, Carl)  very likely would be looking forward to his 25th birthday coming up here. That’s pretty heartbreaking.” "(Carl) would have died from suffocation."

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600+ pro death penalty quotes from murder victim's families &
3300+ from some of the greatest thinkers in history
http://prodpquotes.info/ 
====== 

FN


 1) "OHIO GUARDS: INMATE WAS URGED TO FAKE SUFFOCATION", JULIE CARR SMYTH, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan 27, 2014, 9:48 PM EST,

2) Family Sues in Protracted Ohio Execution, ASSOCIATED PRESS, New York Times, JAN. 25, 2014

3)  OHIO KILLER EXECUTED WITH NEW LETHAL DRUG COMBO, ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS AP Legal Affairs Writer, The Daily Record, January 16, 2014 2:57PM

4)  "I witnessed Ohio's execution of Dennis McGuire. What I saw was inhumane", Lawrence Hummer, The Guardian, theguardian.com, 22 January 2014 13.51 EST

5) Home Votel: Victims need to be remembered, The Register Herald, January, 2014,
By Eddie Mowen Jr

FACT CHECKING: Midazolam, a sedative,  & Hydromorphone, an opiate/painkiller

The Ohio lethal injection protocol is 10mg of midazolam & 40mg of hydromorphone, mixed together then injected.

The injection took 20 seconds.

The toxicity of benzodiazepines (including midazolam) overdose and risk of death is increased when combined with opiates and when used intravenously, with symptoms including respiratory distress, coma and death.

"More than 80 deaths have occurred after the use of midazolam  . . . 78% of the deaths associated with midazolam were respiratory in nature." (MIDAZOLAM HYDROCHLORIDE: Human Health Effects, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+6751

"The initial intravenous dose for sedation in adult patients may be as little as 1 mg, but should not exceed 2.5 mg in a normal healthy adult.", Midazolam Injection,
http://www.drugs.com/pro/midazolam-injection.html

4 times that initial maximum dose was given to McGuire.

However, " . . . total dose >5 mg (of midazolam) "usually" (my emphasis) not necessary to reach desired sedation . . .", Medscape, midazolam (Rx) - Versed, IV, http://reference.medscape.com/drug/versed-midazolam-342907

"IV initial dose: 0.2 to 1 mg every 2 to 3 hours (given slowly over at least 2 to 3 minutes)",  Hydromorphone Dosage, http://www.drugs.com/dosage/hydromorphone.html

40-200 times those dosages were given to McGuire.

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Additional research, w/sources, w/fact checking/vetting & critical thinking, as required of everyone.  
 
1) The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
and
Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
(7 pro-death penalty experts are included)
======
 
Partial CV
Posted by at

Thursday, January 16, 2014

New Testament Death Penalty Support Overwhelming

2014, updated 1/2022

 New Testament Death Penalty Support Overwhelming
Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent 832-4389-2113, CV at bottom

Through today and for more than 2000 years, there has been Christian New Testament support for the death penalty, from Popes, Saints, Doctors and Fathers of the Church, church leadership, biblical scholars and theologians that, in breadth and depth, overwhelms any teachings to the contrary, particularly those wrongly dependent upon secular concerns such as defense of society and the poor standards of criminal justice systems in protecting the innocent, as the error filled, amended CCC: 2267 of 1997/2018 demonstrates.

 Major Christian denominations didn't start to, officially, oppose the death penalty until the mid 1950's, the Catholic Church, not until late 2018. 

 Did the bible and fundamental theology, suddenly, change after 1950 or in 2018? Of course not.

In 2018, Pope Francis and others are saying that the greatest of all Catholic Popes, Saints, Doctors of the Church, biblical scholars and theologians, were dead wrong for over 2000 years and that those most revered figures are morally and intellectually inferior because, for over 2000 years, they found the death penalty not just admissible, but, sometimes, an obligatory, merciful, part of Holy Scripture, and that it, specifically, recognized the dignity of man and was just - all very well known.

All of a sudden - POOF - those 2000 years of teaching are thrown in the trash heap.

Let's look:

The following is a review of the obvious problems within the latest amendment to CCC 2267 (2018):
 
The Church made it about "safeguarding the common good" (2267), which the Church cannot do. Why? Because She knows that justice is primary and safeguarding, while very important, must be and is, always, secondary. 

Rationally and factually, the death penalty is a greater safeguard than either a life sentence and/or solitary confinement, both of which Pope Francis opposes, making it clear that "safeguarding the common good" is, certainly, of no concern in refuting 2000 years of well accepted Church teachings.
 
2267: “Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption."
 
Reply: 1) There is no new increasing awareness of the dignity of persons, as has been, fully, covered from Genesis, as throughout the bible, witnessed by St. Dismas and fully, addressed by the Church, for centuries. 2) We are all, well aware, or should be, of the many major problems within criminal justice systems, again and again, having practices and errors which harm innocents, every day and throughout the world. 3) The Church cannot deny that God grants us the opportunity of redemption, at all times, and within all circumstances, regardless of how or when we die, obviously, inclusive of the death penalty. Only man can deprive himself of the possibility of. redemption. God, always and in all circumstances, offers it to us, prior to our deaths, no matter when and what that death may be. As we are all "guilty", all Christians know the possibility of redemption will, always, exist, prior to our deaths, no matter what that death maybe. The Church cannot refute that, as She attempts, here.

The three factual errors, above, make the 2018 amendment of CCC 2267 untrue, meaning invalid.

More detail, here:
Catechism Death Penalty Problems: Section 2267
https://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2015/03/catechism-death-penalty-problems.html 




Here are some recent (2018-19), detailed reviews of some of the most obvious, additional problems in The Church's newest, most curious teachings, 

1) "For the earnest believer, the derogation of the doctrinal patrimony of the Church on this matter—as though Scripture, tradition, the consensus of the Fathers, the teaching of Aquinas, and the teaching of all papacies up to the present had been swept away—is in its way as saddening as is the derogation of spiritual and moral integrity in the case of Theodore McCarrick."

 from    Magisterial Irresponsibility, First Things, 10/18
https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/10/magisterial-irresponsibility

2)  Three questions for Catholic opponents of capital punishment,  Dr. Edward Feser, Catholic World Report, 9/15/2019,
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/09/15/three-questions-for-catholic-opponents-of-capital-punishment/ 
 
3)  Rev. Brian A. Graebe,  July 26, 2022:
 
"The last three popes have sought to limit (death penalty) application, and Pope Francis has declared it 'inadmissible.'
 
The designation is something of a theological unicorn: The pope says that capital punishment should never actually take place. But that’s not the same as saying it is wrong in itself.
 
To say that would be to contradict the apostolic faith of the church. The church has always taught that the state has the inherent right to carry out capital punishment. How and when is a matter for debate."
("The Catholic Church Has a Duty to Correct the Powerful on Abortion: A response to Fr. James Martin and others who deflect the pre-eminent moral issue of our time", Rev. Brian A. Graebe, Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2022)


4) Critical Dismay:  The Catholic Church's Latest (2018-19)
Death Penalty Catechism Amendment
https://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2019/02/critical-dismay-catholic-churchs-latest.html
 
5)  "All interpretations, contrary to the biblical support of capital punishment, are false. Interpreters ought to listen to the Bible’s own agenda, rather than to squeeze from it implications for their own agenda. As the ancient rabbis taught, “Do not seek to be more righteous than your Creator.” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7.33.). Part of Synopsis of Professor Lloyd R. Bailey’s book Capital Punishment: What the Bible Says, Abingdon Press, 1987.

6)  Saint (& Pope) Pius V, "The just use of (executions), far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this (Fifth) Commandment which prohibits murder." "The Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent" (1566).

7) The Death Penalty: Mercy, Expiation, Redemption & Salvation
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-death-penalty-mercy-expiation.html

9) Pope Pius XII: "When it is a question of the execution of a man condemned to death it is then reserved to the public power to deprive the condemned of the benefit of life, in expiation of his fault, when already, by his fault, he has dispossessed himself of the right to live." 9/14/52.

 10) "Moral/ethical Death Penalty Support: Modern Catholic Scholars"
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2009/07/death-penalty-support-modern-catholic.html

11) Catholic Church: Problems with Her Newest Death Penalty Position:
The Catechism & Section 2267
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2015/03/catechism-death-penalty-problems.html 

12) "In Defense of the Death Penalty", Chris Plance and Timothy Gordon, Church Militant, 11/28/17, https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/in-defense-of-dr.-edward-feser

13) Archbishop Charles Chaput: 

 “Both Scripture and long Christian tradition acknowledge the legitimacy of capital punishment . . . " "The Church cannot repudiate (the death penalty) without repudiating her own identity."  "Archbishop Chaput clarifies Church’s stance on death penalty", CNA, Catholic News Agency, Oct 18, 2005. Chaput was then archbishop of Denver, now of Philadelphia

 ===
The Death Penalty: SAVING MORE INNOCENT LIVES
A Review of All Innocence Issues
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-death-penalty-do-innocents-matter.html
 ===

 14) "The same divine law which forbids the killing of a human being allows certain exceptions. Since the agent of authority is but a sword in the hand, and is not responsible for the killing, it is in no way contrary to the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’, for the representative of the State’s authority to put criminals to death, according to the Law or the rule of rational justice." St. Augustine, The City of God, Book 1, Chapter 21.
15) Christianity and the death penalty.
http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DP.html#F.Christianity

 16)  "The rejection of capital punishment is not to be dignified as a ‘higher Christian way’ that enthrones the ethics of Jesus. The argument that Jesus as the incarnation of divine love cancels the appropriateness of capital punishment in the New Testament era has little to commend it. Nowhere does the Bible repudiate capital punishment for premeditated murder; not only is the death penalty for deliberate killing of a fellow human being permitted, but it is approved and encouraged, and for any government that attaches at least as much value to the life of an innocent victim as to a deliberate murderer, it is ethically imperative." Dr. Carl F. H. Henry, Twilight Of A Great Civilization, Crossway, 1988, p 70,72.
17) Catholic and other Christian References: Support for the Death Penalty,
http://homicidesurvivors.candothathosting.com/2006/10/12/catholic-and-other-christian-references-support-for-the-death-penalty-by-dudley-sharp-justice-matters/

18) "It is because humans are created in the image of God that capital punishment for premeditated murder was a perpetual obligation. The full range of biblical data weighs in its favor. This is the one crime in the Bible for which no restitution was possible (Numbers 35:31,33). The Noahic covenant recorded in Genesis 9 ("Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. "Gen 9:6) antedates Israel and the Mosaic code; it transcends Old Testament Law, per se, and mirrors ethical legislation that is binding for all cultures and eras. The sanctity of human life is rooted in the universal creation ethic and thus retains its force in society. The Christian community is called upon to articulate standards of biblical justice, even when this may be unpopular. Capital justice is part of that non-negotiable standard. Society should execute capital offenders to balance the scales of moral judgement."  From "Capital Punishment: A Personal Statement", by Charles W. Colson., a former opponent. He is spiritual advisor and friend to numerous death row inmates and the Founder of Prison Fellowship, the largest Christian ministry serving incarcerated prisoners.
19) Pro Life: The Death Penalty
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/01/pro-life-death-penalty.html
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20)  With regard to some Catholic anti-death penalty statements, Catholic theologian Steven Long places the arrow:

 " . . . (it) is symptomatic of a society that can garner more support to spare the guilty than to save the innocent."

 "The crowd still wants Barrabas."

Four Catholic Journals Indulge in (anti-death penalty) Doctrinal Solipsism, Steven Long, THOMISTICA, March 5, 2015, 
https://thomistica.squarespace.com/posts/2015/3/5/mutationist-views-of-doctrinal-development-and-the-death-penalty

21) Categorical Pardon: On the Argument for Abolishing Capital Punishment, J. Budziszewski, 16 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 43  (2002).
http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=ndjlepp

 22) " . . . the decree of Genesis 9:5-6 is equally enduring and cannot be separated from the other pledges and instructions of its immediate context, Genesis 8:20-9:17; . . . that is true unless specific Biblical authority can be cited for the deletion, of which there appears to be none. It seems strange that any opponents of capital punishment who professes to recognize the authority of the Bible either overlook or disregard the divine decree in this covenant with Noah; . . . capital punishment should be recognized . . . as the divinely instituted penalty for murder; The basis of this decree . . . is as enduring as God; . . . murder not only deprives a man of a portion of his earthly life . . . it is a further sin against him as a creature made in the image of God and against God Himself whose image the murderer does not respect." (p. 111-113), Quaker scholar Dr. Gervas A. Carey. A Professor of Bible and past President of George Fox College, "A Bible Study", from Essays on the Death Penalty, T. Robert Ingram, ed., St. Thomas Press, Houston, 1963, 1992.
 
23) Pre Constantine Death Penalty Support
 http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2014/01/pre-constantine-death-penalty-support.html

MORE RELATED TOPICS HERE

The Death Penalty: Fair & Just

95% of Murder Victim's Family Members Support Death Penalty
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2016/03/95-death-penalty-support-by-capital.html

 The Woman Caught in Adultery, the Death Penalty & John 8:2-11
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-woman-caught-in-adultery-death.html

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Read these three, below, as one.  Letting Cain live and spread evil is what necessitated the Food.
 
Cain and His Family
 
From the Fall to the Flood
 
The Book of Jasher , Read Chapters 1-5, 
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 Is There a Biblical Requirement for Two Eyewitnesses for Criminal Prosecution
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-there-biblical-requirement-for-two.html

The Death Row "Exonerated"/"Innocent" Frauds 
 71-83% Error Rate in Death Row "Innocent" Claims, Well Known Since 2000 

"Killing Equals Killing: The Amoral Confusion of Death Penalty Opponents"
http://homicidesurvivors.candothathosting.com/2013/02/20/murder-and-execution-very-distinct-moral-differences-new-mexico/

 Murder Victims' Families Against The Death Penalty:
More Hurt For Victims' Families
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/04/victims-families-for-death-penalty.html

 Victim's Voices - These are the murder victims
http://www.murdervictims.com/Voices/voices.html

 Sister Helen Prejean: Does Truth Matter?
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2016/01/sister-helen-prejean-does-truth-matter.html

A Refutation of the ELCA Social Statement on the Death Penalty

 "The DeLuna Deception: At the Death House Door" Can Rev. Carroll Pickett be trusted?" 
http://homicidesurvivors.candothathosting.com/2009/01/30/at-the-death-house-door-can-rev-carroll-pickett-be-trusted/


Posted by at

Pre Constantine Death Penalty Support

Pre Constantine Death Penalty Support
Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, 
opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom

Not infrequently, do we hear that the death penalty did not have Christian support until after Constantine's conversion in 313.

It is, simply, untrue.

Does one, simply, presume, that for 1700 years, scholars, including Popes, Saints,  Doctors and Fathers of the Church, countless church leaders, ministers, biblical scholars and theologians did not take into consideration the Constantine effect with their pro death penalty interpretations,  that somehow it was unknown or unrevealed to them, but that some much smaller group of lesser scholars, over the last 100 years,  found that it was only Constantine that allowed a pro death penalty Christian interpretation, even though it existed prior to Constantine, with some serious scholars, inclusive of Jesus, God and the Holy Ghost and for the next 2000 years (1)?  

1) Clement of Rome (Saint & Father of the Church), Bishop of Rome, 90-100 C.E.

First Epistle to the Corinthians (Ch 41)  96-98
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1608

 Let every one of you, brethren, give thanks to God in his own order, living in all good conscience, with becoming gravity, and not going beyond the rule of the ministry prescribed to him. Not in every place, brethren, are the daily sacrifices offered, or the peace-offerings, or the sin- offerings and the trespass-offerings, but in Jerusalem only. And even there they are not offered in any place, but only at the altar before the temple, that which is offered being first carefully examined by the high priest and the ministers already mentioned.

Those, therefore, who do anything beyond that which is agreeable to His will, are punished with death.

Clement argued that God alone rules all things, that He lays down the law, punishing rebels and rewarding the obedient, and that His authority is delegated to Church leaders. Clement went as far as to say that whoever disobeys these divinely ordained authorities has disobeyed God Himself and should receive the death penalty.

2) Clement of Alexandria (153 - 217) Saint & Father of the Church

The Instructor - Bk I,  Ch VIII (Against Those Who Think That What is Just is Not Good)

Furthermore, the general of an army, by inflicting fines and corporeal punishments with chains and the extremest disgrace on offenders, and sometimes even by punishing individuals with death, aims at good, doing so for the admonition of the officers under him.

And God does not inflict punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it is not expedient that justice should be neglected on our account. Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses punishment, and the blame lies with him who chooses.

3)  Clement of Alexandria (153 - 217) Saint & Father of the Church

 The Stromata (190-200)
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/clement-stromata-book1.html

i. (Bk I, Ch 27)  The Law, even in correcting and punishing, aims at the good of men. But when it sees any one in such a condition as to appear incurable, posting to the last stage of wickedness, then in its solicitude for the rest, that they may not be destroyed by it (just as if amputating a part from the whole body), it condemns such an one to death, as the course most conducive to health.

 "Being judged by the Lord," says the apostle, "we are chastened, that we may not be condemned with the world." For the prophet had said before, "Chastening, the Lord hath chastised me, but hath not given me over unto death." "For in order to teach thee His righteousness," it is said, "He chastised thee and tried thee, and made thee to hunger and thirst in the desert land; that all His statutes and His judgments may be known in thy heart, as I command thee this day; and that thou mayest know in thine heart, that just as if a man were chastising his son, so the Lord our God shall chastise thee."

And to prove that example corrects, he says directly to the purpose: "A clever man, when he seeth the wicked punished, will himself be severely chastised, for the fear of the Lord is the source of wisdom."

"But it is the highest and most perfect good, when one is able to lead back any one from the practice of evil to virtue and well-doing, which is the very function of the law. So that, when one fails into any incurable evil, -- when taken possession of, for example, by wrong or covetousness, -- it will be for his good if he is put to death. For the law is beneficent, being able to make some righteous from unrighteous, if they will only give ear to it, and by releasing others from present evils; for those who have chosen to live temperately and justly, it conducts to immortality."

4) Clement of Alexandria (153 - 217) Saint & Father of the Church

 The Stromata (190-200)

ii. (Bk II, Ch 23) On Marriage

"In order to check the impetuosity of the passions, it commands the adulteress to be put to death, on being convicted of this; and if of priestly family, to be committed to the flames. And the adulterer also is stoned to death, but not in the same place, that not even their death may be in common." 

 "And the law is not at variance with the Gospel, but agrees with it. How should it be otherwise, one Lord being the author of both?"

 "She who has committed fornication liveth in sin, and is dead to the commandments; but she who has repented, being as it were born again by the change in her life, has a regeneration of life; the old harlot being dead, and she who has been regenerated by repentance having come back again to life. The Spirit testifies to what has been said by Ezekiel, declaring, "I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he should turn." Now they are stoned to death; as through hardness of heart dead to the law which they believed not. But in the case of a priestess the punishment is increased, because "to whom much is given, from him shall more be required."

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2018 CCC 2267 amendment: 13 (15) Factual Errors
https://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2022/02/7-factual-errors-2018-ccc-2267-amendment.htm
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It is impossible to say that the teachings of God/Jesus/Holy Ghost are not pre Constantine Christianity. Here are some New Testament references, for them and others.

5) Jesus, the Holy Ghost and the Death Penalty
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/06/jesus-and-death-penalty.html

6) "Paul repeatedly refers to the connection between sin and death. He writes to the Romans with an apparent reference to the death penalty, that the magistrate who holds authority does not bear the sword in vain; for he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer (Rom 13:4). No passage in the New Testament disapproves of the death penalty." (Cardinal Avery Dulles, SJ, "The Death Penalty: A Right to Life Issue?", 10/7/2000, at pewforum.org/deathpenalty/resources/reader/17.php3

7) Paul, in his hearing before Festus, states: "if then I am a wrong doer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die." Acts 25:11. "Very clearly this constitutes an acknowledgment on the part of the inspired apostle that the state continued to have the power of life and death in the administration of justice, just as it did from the days of Noah (Gen 9:6)".

8) God, through the power and justice of the Holy Spirit, executed both Ananias and his wife, Saphira. Their crime? Lying to the Holy Spirit - to God - through Peter. Acts 5:1-11. By executing  two such devoted Christians for lying to Him, does the Holy Spirit show confirmation of His support for His divinely instituted civil punishment of execution for premeditated murder or does it show His rejection of capital punishment? 

9) Read all of Revelation.

10) "You have heard the ancients were told, ˜YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER" and "Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court". But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, "Raca", shall be guilty before the supreme court and whoever shall say, "You fool", shall be guilty enough to go into fiery hell." Jesus, Matthew 5:17-22. 

 Should any explanation be necessary, Jesus is saying that even as execution is the required punishment for murderers, as per the Old Testament, He tells us that those who speak ill of others and have hatred in their heart shall suffer in hell. Not only does Jesus never speak out against the civil authorities just use of execution for murder, He prescribes a much more serious, eternal punishment for those who hate and speak ill of others. And what price does God exact for any and all sin? Death. (Romans 5:12-14)

11) St. Athanasius (c 296 - 373) Archbishop of Alexandria, Father of the Church

Two Books Against the Heathen - Bk I
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2001

# 12. Other shameful actions ascribed to heathen deities. All prove that they are but men at former times, and not even good men. For, to mention a few instances out of many to avoid prolixity, who that saw his lawless and corrupt conduct toward Semele, Leda, Alcmene, Artemis, Leto, Maia, Europe, Danae, and Antiope, or that saw what he ventured to take in hand with regard to his own sister, in having the same woman as wife and sister, would not scorn him and pronounce him worthy of death?

12)   St. Athanasius (c 296 - 373) Archbishop of Alexandria, Father of the Church

Ad Afros Epistola Synodica - 369
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3088

What then do such men deserve, but to be called Arians, and to share the punishment of the Arians? For they were not afraid of God, who says, 'Remove not the eternal boundaries which thy fathers placed,' and 'He that speaketh against father or mother, let him die the death:'

13)  St. Athanasius (c 296 - 373) Archbishop of Alexandria, Father of the Church

Defense of his flight - 357
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3083

But for as much as they pretend to charge me with cowardice, it is necessary that I should write somewhat concerning this, whereby it shall be proved that they are men of wicked minds, who have not read the sacred Scriptures: or if they have read them, that they do not believe the divine inspiration of the oracles they contain. For had they believed this, they would not dare to act contrary to them, nor imitate the malice of the Jews who slew the Lord. For God having given them a commandment, 'Honour thy father and thy mother,' and, 'He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death;' that people established a contrary law, changing the honour into dishonour, and alienating to other uses the money which was due from the children to their parents.

Although one must consider St. Athanasius a post Constantine source,  it is most likely that he was influenced by both Clements (above), as I think it even better shown by his reliance upon scripture to support his position. I am unaware of any acknowledgement or evidence of a Constantine influence on him.

======

 1) New Testament Death Penalty Support Overwhelming
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2014/01/new-testament-death-penalty-support.html

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Sunday, December 22, 2013

Media Disaster: WHY FEWER DEATH SENTENCES AND EXECUTIONS?

Media Disaster: WHY FEWER DEATH SENTENCES AND EXECUTIONS?
Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom
update 2022

Countless media reports have stated that the death penalty is dying because of less public support, innocents at risk, the high costs, etc., etc., with the "facts" provided by the deceptive anti-death penalty folks, then, most often, parroted by the media.

Let's take a look.

SUMMARY

Death penalties/executions plummeted from 1991-2014 because 1) capital murders plummeted; 2) court decisions/activism, further limited or delayed death penalty application or executions, inclusive of appeal time tripling, from the 1980s to 2017; 3) Lethal injection challenges and drug restrictions limited executions; 4) DA's may have been more reluctant to seek death because of judicial obstructionism.

WHY FEWER DEATH SENTENCES

What's the most obvious reason for the drop in death sentences? Answer: Fewer capital murders.

The US has had double digit executions, annually, from 1984 - 2014. Murders are, now, at a 46 year low (1). Murder rates are, now, at a 57 year low (1).

It follows that death sentences are at a 42 year low.

In the US, from 1991-2014, there was 43% drop in murders (a 54% drop in murder rates) and a 53% drop in robberies (a 63% drop in rate) (1).

Murder/robbery is, by far, the most common death penalty crime.

The leading execution state (by number, not rate), Texas, had a 55% drop in murders (71% drop in rate),  37% drop in robberies (60% drop in rate), during the same period (1).

As robbery/murders are the most common death penalty eligible crimes, those may have dropped from 70-80%.

Based upon new case law and state death penalty repeals, such may account for an additional 10% reduction in death sentences (2).

Those two appear to account for the vast majority of death penalty reduction.

Other, minor additional factors are LWOP, up front costs, as others, some contributing to prosecutorial frustration/discretion, as a rule, caused or affected by . . . .

Judicial Roadblocks

Judges, some with responsibility, others with complete abandon. are the case managers, in control of both time and costs (3).

Because of judicial roadblocks and delays (3), some prosecutors may just get fed up, choosing to avoid the death penalty, seek a LWOP trial instead, or, better, a plea to LWOP, avoiding the huge costs and countless delays imposed by many judges in death penalty cases, at pretrial, in trial and within appeals.

In states like California, Kansas and Pennsylvania, judges are, very openly, killing the death penalty, as they did in New Jersey and Connecticut.

For example, in the modern era, post Gregg v Georgia (1976):

Virginia executed her first 113 murderers within 7 years of full appeals, on average (4), has executed 73% of those sent to death row and has an 11% overturning rate in appeals (5). Virginia's latest execution, 10/1/2015, occurred after 5 years of full appeals (4).

Contrast that to:

Pennsylvania has executed only 3 of the 417 sentenced to death, or 0.7%, and has a 45% overturning rate in appeals (5), likely to become 90%, if the judges will allow appeals to end.

Why?

Pa judges will only allow executions when the murderer "volunteers" and waives appeals, whereas Virginia judges are responsible and respect the law.

One might think that the Pa. statute states "only volunteers will be executed", as Pa judges seem to believe.

Pa judges are, quite obviously, obstructionists to the law, a common and obvious problem in many jurisdictions, . . .

and

". . . in California, appeals attorneys are not appointed (by judges) for three to five years. (Those attorneys, then, allowed by judges) to take four years to learn the case and file their appeal. Attorneys for habeas  appeal (through the federal courts) are not appointed (by the judges), on average, until eight to 10 years after the death sentence." (6).

A 7-10 year wait for the first appellate brief. Judges have, intentionally, destroyed the California system, as could not be more obvious.

For some, the judicial problems may be too much.

The entire media, completely, missed the judicial component, which is huge. How? As a rule, the media only cares what anti-death penalty folks have to say and that's not in their agenda, as neither fact checkng nor vetting is within the media's interest.

WHY FEWER EXECUTIONS?

Since 2006, executions have been affected by litigation related to the lethal injection method, as well as drug shortages, within that method, resulting in a "slowdown" of executions averaging 43 per year (2007-2013) (7a&b).

It is very rare to have executions over 60 per year, which has only occurred 7 times (1997-2003), or 18% of execution years (7a).

Excluding those exceptions, the average is 27 executions per year (1977-1996, 2004-2013), 82% of execution years,  and, if starting with double digit executions in 1984, the average is 36 executions per year (7a).

The "slowdown" period has averaged 43 executions/year and could get down to those 27-36 for those 9-20 year averages, if the actual execution problems are not corrected.

There were 35, 28, 20 and 23 executions, 2014-2017, an average of 24. In 1988-1991, there was a 16 execution average, in 91-94, a 23 execution average.

 A note on "Bloodthirsty" Texas

 "Texas sentences murderers to death at a rate below the national mean." (8a).   

 Since 1973, Texas has executed 0.73% of her murderers after 11 years of appeals, on average (8b).

 Texas doesn't execute a lot of murderers per murder, it's just that most everywhere else, judges won't allow cases to proceed in a responsible time frame (3).

Appeals Time Nearly Tripled

Executions are, undoubtedly, much fewer than they would otherwise have been, because the time between sentencing and executions has risen by 2,3 times, from 6.6 years, the average time from 1984-1988, when double digit executions began, to 15 years, the average time from 2009-2013 (9).

 The national average of appeals time for those executed in 2017 was 19 years - an increase of 2.88 times, over the 6.6 average.

This is the fault of the judges, again, (see JUDICIAL ROADBLOCKS) and is an intended killer of the death penalty, as virtually every hearing on the death penalty attests and it might be the greatest reducer of executions, but was, completely,  . . . missed by the media.

In 1996, the US Congress passed the Anti Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), part of which was supposed to quicken the federal section of death penalty appeals.

Every year since then, the average time of appeals, until execution, has been greater than in 1996 (10.4 years), with the longest being 19 years in 2017 (9).

Apparently, judges didn't like the AEDPA . The judicial move against the death penalty became even more obvious.

The tremendous increase in appeals times and the lethal injection issues are, almost exclusively, responsible for the reduction in executions.

REVEALING DECEPTIONS: Botched Executions, Innocents at Risk, Racism, High Cost & Lower Support

These are some of the more common, alleged and false reasons for the drop in death sentences, provided by anti death penalty sources.

 Let's review.

Botched Executions

Truly "botched" executions, via lethal injection, occur about 1% of the time, not 7% (10).

For example, "Charles Warner, who was executed . . . for the killing of an 11-month-old girl in 1997, said during his last words: "It feels like acid." The comment came before any of the lethal drugs were administered and while he was only receiving a saline drip through an intravenous line." (11)

Most likely, Warner's exclamation was just invented to produce another false reason against the death penalty, as, allegedly, occurred in the Ohio execution of Dennis McGuire, below.

The highly publicized "botched" executions in Arizona and Ohio were not such thing (12) , as found by one (o-n-e) reporter, and those executions reflected, exactly, the type of slower time to death, the known, predicted outcome of using those drugs, which could not, pharmacologically, allow for consciousness or pain but, just the opposite (12).

Oklahoma was just one disaster after another, with their last two executions, Lockett (2014, bad procedure) and Warner (2015, wrong drug).  That was the fault of incompetent personnel, not the lethal injection protocol or the drugs used. Prior to that the state had a near perfect record, with many executions.

 Its, widely, reported that Lockett died from a heart attack. The coroner ruled he died because of lethal injection.  

Innocents at Risk

The 160 "exonerated" from death row has been part of a very well known deception, for about 20 years, with a 70-83% error rate in the "exoneration" or "innocence" claims , as any fact checker knows, finding that anti death penalty folks had just redefined "exonerated", "innocent" and "wrongful conviction", as if they had redefined lie as truth and stuffed a bunch of cases into those fraudulent definitions (13).

There may be proof that there have been 0.4% actual innocents on death row, since 1976 -  a 99.6% accuracy rate in guilty findings, with a 100% rate in releasing those 0.4% actual innocents (13) -  very likely the most accurate of any government program, as prosecutors and penalty experts are aware.

As the death penalty and executions, respectively, have enhanced due process and enhanced incapacitation effects, over LWOP, we know the death penalty protects innocents to a higher degree than does LWOP (14).
'
Deterrence has never and can never be excluded from the death penalty/executions (or any sanction) (14) and history and reason tell us that the death penalty is an enhanced deterrent over LWOP, as life is preferred over death and death is feared more than life (14). What is preferred more deters less. What is feared more deters more.

All sanctions, all negative prospects, all potential negative outcomes and all negative incentives deter some.

Some 16,000 innocents have been murdered by those KNOWN murderers that we have allowed to murder, again - recidivist murderers - just since 1973 (14).

Up to 400,000 innocents have been murdered by those known criminals that we allowed to harm, again, recidivist criminals, also since 1973 (14).

The last credible claim for an innocent executed is from the 1930's.

Where is "the innocents at risk" problem?

Fear of Executing the Innocent

 A Nov. 2010 Angus Reid poll found 83% death penalty support, 13% opposition when,with the same respondents, 81% believed that innocents have been executed (15), showing the opposite of a turning away from executions based upon the, largely, misleading innocence claims presented by anti death penalty folks.

A 2013 Angus Reid poll found 86% death penalty support in the US (16). No media outlet picked it up, as is their rule, which is to only use polls showing the lowest support (16).

So, of course, we have this: "Richard Dieter (Death Penalty Information Center - DPIC)  states: "I think the (death penalty and execution) decline begins with the revelations about mistakes in capital cases — that innocent people could get the penalty and almost be executed has shocked the public to the point where death sentences are harder to obtain." (17) - the opposite of the truth.

The evidence is that the death penalty is a greater protector of innocents, than is LWOP (14), which would result in even more support for the death penalty.

Racism
White murderers are twice as likely to be executed as are black murderers.

56% of those executed are white, 35% black.

White death row murderers have been executed at a rate 41% higher than are black death row murderers, 19.3% vs 13.7%, respectively.

"There is no race of the offender / victim effect at either the decision to advance a case to penalty hearing or the decision to sentence a defendant to death given a penalty hearing."

For the White–Black comparisons, the Black level is 12.7 times greater than the White level for homicide, 15.6 times greater for robbery, 6.7 times greater for rape. (8)


As robbery/murder is, by far, the most common death penalty eligible murder, the multiples may be even greater.

Higher Cost

Fact checking the cost studies reveals that the death penalty can and should save costs over LWOP as demonstrated by Virginia and, likely, North Carolina and Texas and others (18). In addition, virtually all of the costs studies are incomplete, inaccurate or fraudulent (19) or make no attempt at a true apples to apples comparison between the death penalty and LWOP costs (20), the only relevant cost review .

Lower Support

When polling asks "Do you support the death penalty for murder?" and the responses offered are - sometimes - always - or - never - death penalty support is in the 80% range, as per Gallup, Angus Reid and Quinnipiac polling (16).

A Nov. 2010 Angus Reid poll found 83% death penalty support, 13% opposition when,with the same respondents, 81% believe that innocents have been executed (15), showing the opposite of a turning away from executions based upon the, largely, misleading innocence claims presented by anti death penalty folks.

NOTE: The 6 states which have repealed the death penalty, since 2006, all had Democratic governors, with Democrat majority legislators, with the exception of Nebraska, which has no party affiliations within their unicameral legislature. A signature based referendum effort has, already, reinstated the death penalty, with the, likely, result that Nebraska's citizens will, also, reject the death penalty repeal in Nov. 2016.

They did.

 In 2016, California, the bluest of blue states, had a voter referendum, which rejected death penalty repeal and supported speeding up executions - in California!

 It was Califonia's third voter referendum, in recent years, supportive of the death penalty.

The 5 Governors who have stopped executions in their state by executive order or obstruction are all Democrats.

In those 11 states, the majority of the citizens support the death penalty, Not very democratic to repeal or stop the death penalty/executions, eh?

The evidence is that the death penalty is a greater protector of innocents, than is LWOP (14), which would result in even more support for the death penalty.

 Adoption of Life Without Parole Caused the Death Penalty Drop in Texas

 There was a 69% drop in death sentences, in Texas, from 48 in 1999 to 15 in 2005, PRIOR to LWOP having any effect on death sentences (21).

The first year that the LWOP law could have had any effect on death sentences was in 2006, with 11 death sentences (21).

In 2007, death sentences rose by 36%, to 15 (21).

Bottom Line: None of these offer any reason to reduce either the death penalty or executions.

======

1) United States and Texas

United States: I used national data, instead of only states with the death penalty, which should be the subject data. However, all the death penalty states did see significant drops in murderers, as well as in the secondary factors, which combined with murder, create capital, death eligible murders.

I use The Disaster Center because of their ease of use and accuracy, using FBI data

United States
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/txcrime.htm

MORE TEXAS DETAILS, here:

 Texas: Why Fewer Death Sentences
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2018/05/texas-why-fewer-death-sentences.html


2) There are judicial decisions, within each state, as well as with SCOTUS, affecting all death penalty states, as with cases since 1991, Schlup, Ring, Atkins, Tennard, Roper, Hill, House, Medellin, Baze, Kennedy, Harbison and, now, Hurst and more. 6 states have repealed the death penalty, with 5 additional suspending executions, since 2007.

3)  Judges Responsible for Grossly Uneven Executions 
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/02/death-penalty-cost-saving-money.html

5)  Table 17, Prisoners sentenced to death and the outcome of the sentence, by jurisdiction, 1973–2013, Capital Punishment, 2013, US Bureau Of Justice Statistics, December 2014,  http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf

6)  Three Major Steps to Reduce Death Penalty Delay in California, Crime and Consequences blog, Bill Otis, August 8, 2015,http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/death-penalty/

7)  a) Table 11, Number of inmates executed, by race and Hispanic origin, 
1977–2013, Capital Punishment, 2013, US Bureau Of Justice Statistics, December 2014,  http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf

b) The Death Penalty and Medical Ethics Revisited 
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-death-penalty-medical-ethics.html

8) a) Blume, John H.; Eisenberg, Theodore; and Wells, Martin T., "Explaining Death Row's Population and Racial Composition" (2004), Cornell Law Faculty Publications,
http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/231)

   b) 508 executions with 69, 384 murders from 1974-2013.



9) Table 10, Average time between sentencing and execution,  1977–2013, Capital Punishment, 2013, US Bureau Of Justice Statistics, December 2014,  http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf

for 2017, I had to look at each case and do the average myself.

10)  Rebuttal: Botched Executions
https://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2017/01/rebuttal-botched-executions.html

11)  'It Feels Like Acid.' Charles Warner's Final Words Stir Execution Questions', Sean Murphy, AP, in Huffpost Crime,  Updated Jan 18, 2015

 12)  No "Botched" Execution - Arizona or Ohio
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2014/08/no-botched-execution-arizona-or-ohio.html

13)  The Innocent Frauds: Standard Anti Death Penalty Strategy
READ SECTIONS 3&4 FIRSThttp://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-innocent-frauds-standard-anti-death.html

14)  The Death Penalty: Saving More Innocent Lives
16) 86% Death Penalty Support: Highest Ever - April 2013
World Support Remains High
95% of Murder Victim's Family Members Support Death Penalty
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/11/86-death-penalty-support-highest-ever.html

 17)  "Executions in US drop close to 20-year low in 2013", Boston Globe, Pete Yost, AP,  12/19/2013

 18)  RACE & THE DEATH PENALTY: A REBUTTAL TO THE RACISM CLAIMS 
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/07/rebuttal-death-penalty-racism-claims.html

19) Saving Costs with The Death Penalty
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/02/death-penalty-cost-saving-money.html

20)   Death Penalty Costs vs Life Without Parole Costs: Study Protocol
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