MORATORIUM ON DEATH WARRANTS IN FLORIDA!

Yesterday I brought to your attention the the double-execution of Angel Nieves Diaz in Florida this week. It was even more horrifying than I originally thought...but there is hope it will never happen again.

Governor Bush took a step I never imagined would come from a Bush and declared he would not sign any more death warrants until he hears from a commission investigating the draconian implementation of state murder in Florida. (ok...the last bit was my own wording...but he did declare a temporary moratorium on executions in Florida until he hears from his commission).

Diaz required a double execution when the first attempt to slaughter him did not quite pan out how the prison officials hoped and 24 minutes after the sending the injection into him he began to open and blink his eyes, lick his lips, blow and grimace in what appeared to be an attempt to mouth words. The response of officials was, of course, to send in another dose. As a result of the murder, Diaz had foot-long chemical burns on each of his arms. But no...it isn't like this procedure is cruel and unusual...chemically frying someone from the inside out is completely humane and totally in step with standards of decency in a "civilized" society. At least Florida is not setting condemned persons' heads on fire anymore.

That being said, thank god, that for the next few months at least, the State of Florida will not be needlessly killing people in horrific fashion to show that killing people is wrong. If it was at all possible to take anything good away from a man being burned from the inside out by the government over 34 excruciating minutes, perhaps his suffering will lead to a giant leap forward towards joining the rest of the civilized world in condemning capital punishment.