I and two other lawyers from Faegre Baker Daniels visited our client, Brandyn Benjamin ("BJ") on death row at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama, yesterday.  Visiting BJ-- which I have probably done a dozen times by now-- is always a sobering experience.  Showing up at the prison, going through the security procedures, seeing the concertina wire and guard towers-- all of that brings home the reality that there are about 120 men here that the State hopes to kill as soon as it can.  And yet, despite that overriding intent, everyone in the system acts as if this whole situation is completely normal, going about their daily business as if nothing lethal is involved. There is even a plaque on the wall memorializing the award which the governor gave  to the execution team.

I do not mean to suggest that the people who work there are somehow bad people-- they're not.  They are just like the rest of us-- people who need a job and want to support their families, people who go to church and pay their bills, people who try to do the right thing.

It is just an illustration of how all of us can get accustomed to evil so that it seems normal to us-- sad and scary at the same time.

But yesterday was a particularly-important day for those who oppose the death penalty because yesterday the State of Ohio executed Dennis McGuire using a new and untested drug combination.  It went terribly. According to CNN, it took 25 minutes after the injections for  Mr. McGuire to die.  For 10 to 13 minutes Mr. McGuire gasped for air and convulsed.  His family members watched in horror, helpless to do anything.

A bit of background helps to understand why this happened.  First of all, the United States is alone among "first world" countries in havingthe death penalty. Every other "civilized" nation gave up executing people decades ago.  We are now in a list that includes China, North Korea, Iran and other brutal governments in performing executions.

Since the Supreme Court refused to rule that the death penalty is unconsitutional in the late 1980's, in this country executions have been done by lethal injection using a so-called three-drug cocktail designed to render  condemned persons unconscious and then kill them.  But, it is no longer possible to obtain one of the three drugs in the United States.  No one is the US makes it and the British manufacturer (to its credit) refuses to sell it in the  US because of its use in executions.

So Ohio had to try something new, with the appalling result I described.

You know, there is no simple, painless way to kill someone.  Maybe we would have an easier time getting people to realize that it is wrong to execute people if we televised the executions.  At least then we would be forced to realize what we as a society are doing.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been reading through Pope Francis' exortation -- "The Joy of the Gospel."  As I was flying back from Alabama yesterday, I read proposition 274 of that document, in which Pope Francis expands on the notion that we are all part of the human family.  Among other things, the Pope tells us that every human being "reflects something of God's glory," and "is the object of God's infinite tenderness."  He says: "Appearances notwithstanding, every person is immensely holy and deserves our love."  

Could the Pope be any clearer in articulating the view that it is simply and categorically wrong to execute our fellow "immensely holy" brothers and sisters?

Finally, we are reading a lot about the "Respect Life" events associated with the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  We might remember that the Church tells us to respect ALL life and, as we spend time and energy to oppose abortions, we might also pray and work for the abolition of the death penalty.