alito and vernon, both human...

it appears alito is not just a clone of scalia willing to follow him willy nilly on any decision for any case for any reason. gee...who wouldv'e thunk it, an educated, intelligent man with a mind of his own. and here i was wondering why we just didn't give an extra vote to scalia on the court.not that it is a major deal (although it is an interesting indicator of things (not) to come)...alito voted with the hippies on the court and shunned the nazis in upholding a stay of execution in missouri. people tend to forget that once you get to the supreme court, you don't have to posture anymore...you can do whatever the hell you want...o'connor, a reagan appointee, ended her stay on the court viewed favorably by liberals...so don't write this guy off too soon, he just may be human afterall. besides, the conservative ones tend to be better for us criminal defense...so cut us some slack, the system is designed to fuck criminal defendants...they need all the help they can get.

vernon evans is awaiting death next week. a federal court denied his request for stay of execution on a cruel and unusual punishment claim saying it would be an exercise in speculation...that statements is, quite frankly, idiotic. is this suggesting that since we don't really know how excruciating it is to be put to death by lethal injenction we won't step in to review it? the dead guy can't tell us it hurt like hell and took too long, so we'll just let it go.

evans is a classic case of why capital punishment is so very wrong for america. when the stakes are highest, defendants need the very best of representation, and he did not get it. his attorneys didn't call the only eyewitness, who would have testified that the actual shooter's description does not match evans, and furthermore, his attorneys at sentencing did not present the vast array of mitigating evidence available. putting a man to death when he didn't get a fair shake is humiliating to this country.and yes, evans is a man, a human being...on occassion he contributes to a blog...so go to meetvernon.blogspot.com to see the human side of capital punishment. i suggest you don't read the comments though, unless you believe that the commandment of thou shalt not kill was meant to include "unless that person broke this commandment in the first place"...that part must have broken off when chuck heston threw the tablets at the golden cow.

capital punishment serves no purpose but revenge, it does not help with closure for victim's families, instead the sentencing and appeals process forces them to keep wounds open for decades longer than necessary. it doesn't lower crime rates...countries without it have far lower violent crime rates than we do. it is unnecessary, inhumane, and unbecoming of a "civilized" people...this man and countless others are paying for the crimes they were convicted of...serving a life sentence in the inept and inhumane prison system in this country is punishment far beyond what many of us could endure.

everyone is for capital punishment and tougher penalties and less rights for criminal defendants until they find themselves in the system. it goes both ways.

just listen to the rhythm of your heart that pounds and trust it all to chance...