Shades of a Gary Gilmore déjà vu in 1977 executed by the
state of Utah
With the convicted inmate choosing between hanging which if
not done right was painfully flawed
Not falling far enough to break the neck with near instant death
But slowing and painfully being choked until out of any
breaths
Or the firing squad of 5 rifles firing through slots aimed at
the heart
The condemned would not hear the sound and would feel impact
as life almost instantaneously would depart
Fast forward to South Carolina where 67 year old Brad Sigmon
is to be executed on March 7 for beating 2 victims to death in 2001
His choices were to be burned to death with a massive amount
of volts which considering the agony he chose to shun
Or by the slow process of injection of a drug cocktail|
Which has the dubious record during the process pain ending
fail
With the last choice being the firing squad of 3 rifles
targeted through slots at the heart
Hooded to not see the flash and bullets too fast to hear the
sound and maybe feel the impact as life quickly departs
Once again the time often in many decades spent on death row
as brief after briefs are filed to the execution halt or at least stay
Leads one to really question whether the death penalty as a
deterrence of a contemplated murder stands in the way
And if life without possibility of parole means that a
governor or president cannot under any circumstance issue a get out of prison card
to release
It may really be time to the death penalty for all but
terrorism, treason, espionage or multiple murders of the scale of 9/11 cease
© 2/25/2025 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
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