Florida To Resume Legal Killings

There is some bad news for those of us who don't think our government should be killing humans (even bad humans). The right-wing governor of Florida has decided that his state can't get along without executing some people. Yesterday, he ended a seven-month moratorium on the death penalty by signing his first death warrant.

Last December, Florida badly bungled an execution. They were trying to kill convicted murderer Angel Diaz by lethal injection. In a lethal injection, the victim is supposed to be unconcious after about three minutes, and the entire killing should be over after fifteen minutes.

But the killing of Diaz didn't happen like that. Diaz was still moving around and trying to speak after 20 minutes. He had to be given a second dose of the killing drugs, and was not dead until at least 34 minutes had elapsed. It more closely resembled a torture session than a modern execution. The execution was botched so badly that Republican Jeb Bush declared a moratorium on state-sponsored killings.

But Florida, like Texas, is currently run by right-wingers, and these people must satisfy their bloodlust. So Governor Crist has sent his executioners back to killing school, and says they now know how to do it right. Florida will resume its legal killings in November.

Maybe someday our country will progress beyond vengence, but I doubt it will be soon.