Death penalty cases are political theater in which lefty lawyers and judges pull out all the stops to protect a murderer who has been sitting on death row for a generation. If the killer is being executed through an old method, lawyers will claim he’s mentally retarded. If he’s being executed through a new method, they’ll claim it’s untested and will cause suffering.
Or, in the case of Alan Miller, they’ll argue that he didn’t get the death penalty of his choice.
The United States Supreme Court ruled Thursday evening that the execution of 57-year-old Alan Miller can proceed.
Earlier this week, a U.S. judge blocked the state from executing Miller by any method other than nitrogen hypoxia. This decision came after Miller claimed the state lost paperwork requesting an alternative to lethal injection.
The state of Alabama appealed that order. The case was sent to the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday for a decision.
The state is prepared to go forward with the execution, if it can be performed before the death warrant expires at midnight.
Miller testified that he had turned in paperwork four years ago selecting nitrogen hypoxia as his execution method, putting it in a slot in his cell door at the Holman Correctional Facility for a prison worker to collect.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. issued a preliminary injunction blocking the state from killing Miller by any means other than nitrogen hypoxia, after finding it was “substantially likely” that Miller “submitted a timely election form even though the State says that it does not have any physical record of a form.”
Yes, death penalty cases are now an extended Marx Brothers routine.
Prosecutors said Miller, a delivery truck driver, killed co-workers Lee Holdbrooks and Scott Yancy at a business in suburban Birmingham and then drove off to shoot former supervisor Terry Jarvis at a business where Miller had previously worked. Each man was shot multiple times and Miller was captured after a highway chase.
The case wound up in the Supreme Court at short notice. And once again some lines were crossed. Previously Kavanaugh had defected to role against Yeshiva University, a religious Jewish institution, being forced to host a gay club. (I don’t even count Roberts as defecting at this late date. Just being himself.) This time around, Barrett defected making for an all-female bench. The conservative majority however still prevailed and Miller’s execution is on track.
The all-female dissent on the death penalty is interesting. While we have a good read on Kavanaugh and Gorsuch by now, Amy Coney Barrett is still somewhat of an enigma. There was some controversy over her possible position on the death penalty, but she has voted to allow the death penalty to move forward in the past. But it does potentially signal that she’s weak on the issue. But every one of the Trump appointees has areas of weakness.
While Thomas and Alito remain stalwart, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch have already proven to be unreliable and I don’t have especially high hopes for Barrett. There’s simply no comparison between Scalia, Alito, Thomas, towering scholars, passionate, fearsome and principled, and the more recent generation of appointees who are simply more mediocre in every area. It may be a generational issue.
But obviously leftists don’t have to worry about defections by their appointees. Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson will vote in lockstep, mindlessly, devoid of any principle except party agenda. They will dissent only on very rare occasions. And that too has shifted generationally. Lefty appointees like Sotomayor, Jackson and Kagan are strikingly mediocre compared to Breyer and Ginsburg. But they’re also much less likely to dissent, have no independent principles and can be counted on to vote with the party.
Even a heavily conservative court is never really conservative. Conservative justices can and do defect all the time. Lefty justices hardly ever. Generationally, younger conservative justices are more likely to defect, while younger lefty justices are less likely to.
Una Salus says
Judges defect because the culture is dominated by the left and women are possibly more empathetic in general and susceptible to the emotional arguments made which seldom extend to the victims. The influential BBC flagship is ground zero on this. If Miller’s rampage had been racially motivated I’m guessing there wouldn’t be much concern.
Conservatives simply abstaining from the culture that is biased against them and reassuring themselves that brass tax issues remain on their side is understandable but has been disastrous. It’s understandable also because the culture is contaminated and so interaction with it requires a certain level of developed immunity. People would be wise to develop this immunity in regard to the Dailymail reclaimed sewerage facility which aside from a few good contributors and wider coverage of issues otherwise ignored is every bit as degrading as a tabloid can possibly be. In fact turns serious issues into tabloid waste.
We can have a high a degree of confidence in the verdict in this case because the evidence is overwhelming and it wasn’t politicized. The O.J. Simpson case on the other hand(also with overwhelming evidence) was intentionally politicized because the contaminated culture gets what it demands. It is quite incapable of functioning in such areas and that can be endlessly exploited.
Kynarion Hellenis says
Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson will reliably vote according to ideology. This makes them and all leftists unified, because the ideology requires no real exegesis. Destruction is easy.
There is a generational component, and it exists only because of pervasive leftist culture in education, media, government, etc. But nothing really changes under the sun. There ARE young people who see the writing on the wall and know the meaning of it. They shine more brightly. May God preserve and empower them.
The all-female dissent is unsurprising. Women are generally softer and more nurturing than men. Fewer are iron ladies like Thatcher or Jael (Judges 4). It is also unsurprising that women often come to power when men are weaker and fewer.
The Senate Judiciary Committee no longer does its job, but puts on political theater. It is miraculous that strong, worthy men like Thomas, Alito and Scalia were able to serve. Bork’s fall should have been a clarion call.
Algorithmic Analyst says
lol, those clowns had to cancel the execution because they couldn’t find a vein 🙂
I shouldn’t laugh, the nurses and such have had a hard time finding my veins the last few years for some reason. That never happened when I was younger. They even had the hospital expert come up to poke me but he gave up after some time. Finally one nurse stuck something in me that sometimes allowed them to collect the blood, I forget the name of it.
One might think that would be the first thing they check out before scheduling an execution, can they find a vein? If not, don’t use the lethal injection method.
Jeff Bargholz says
I’m surprised they didn’t stick the needle in the back of your hand. I suppose that’s easy for injections but not to take blood.
Once in a while I’ll get a careless ass who shoves the needle all the way through a vein. That’s irritating because blood seeps into the surrounding tissue and causes a bruise.
Lawrence Mazzuckelli says
“The conservative majority however still prevailed and Miller’s execution is on track.”
And the problem with Barrett is what? That she had a different opinion? Seriously? Here’s the deal. As long as a Justice’s opinion is not centered in ideology and not the law — I don’t care as long as their opinion is thoughtful and is a reflection of the law.
Jeff Bargholz says
Her opinion wasn’t based on the relevant laws. It was pure sophistry used as a petty excuse for her ideology. Opinions have no place in written law.
Jeff Bargholz says
Bye bye, fatty.
SHAMGAR says
Yes , ANOTHER JUDICIAL TRAVESTY by our WHOREHOUSE IVY LEAGUE {BAAL GOES TO YALE } Plasticized FEMINIZED SODOMIZED SUPREME Court .King SOLOMON, the Wisest Man who ever Lived had something to say about Criminal Justice BUT naturally the LARCENOUS LAW SCHOOLS have Absolutely REPUDIATED . Amy Coney Barrett remember is a Grad of Mario CUOMO University in South Bend , Ind. Remember that the PARADIGM for the Larcenous Law Schools like the WHOREHOUSE in MORNINGSIDE HTS. as well as the WHORE Catholic GEORGETOWN Law . who recently FETED the Geriatric Judicial WITCH > Ruth Bader Ginsburgcheck it out on the SLIMY C-SPAN , is the Spiritual SLUT >Sr PREJEAN -Remember the STUPID HOLLYWOOD MOVIE about the Crusades of the Spiritual Slut , Sr Prejean to EXONERATE the FILTHY MURDERERS ?! The jesus of the Spiritual Slut wouldn,t swat a Mosquitto !No wonder the Cities of this Benighted Land are FILLED with MURDERERS :see ISAIAH Ch 1 verse 21 .Back to King Solomon who declared , “Because sentence against an Evil deed is not Executed SPEEDILY, get it stooge , PROMPTLY , QUICKLY , the heart of the sons of men is Fully Set {EMBOLDENED } to do Evil. ” ECCL Ch 8 verse 11. Here where I live in the Blood-Bespattered SUNSHINE State due to the FEMINIZED FL. Supreme Ct. it is Safer , FAR SAFER , on the Streets of HAVANNA then the Streets of MIAMI BEACH !
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