Oklahoma will have the distinction of being the first state this year to put an inmate to death. Corey Duane Hamilton is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection tomorrow, January 9th. Hamilton was convicted of killing four people execution style during the robbery of a fast food restaurant in Tulsa in 1991. The victims ranged in age from 27 to 16.
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Capital punishment has been controversial ever since its reinstatement in 1977. There are opponents who question its morality in a 21st century America and argue it is discriminatory in its application in regards to class and race. Recently in many states, they have argued successfully in the courts, that lethal injection is unconstitutional because they deem it “cruel and unusual punishment”. In Mr. Hamilton’s particular case, we find it much more “cruel and unusual” to murder four people in a fast food restaurant’s walk in freezer.
According to this AP article, killers being sent to death row are on the decline both in Oklahoma and across the nation. A reason for the decline is a result of lethal injection court challenges and a 2002 U-S Supreme Court ruling that made it unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded defendants.
Oklahoma recently changed its lethal injection protocol in response to these legal challenges. The state will now double the dose of sodium pentothal (an anesthetic) initially administered to the inmate, prior to the injection of the drugs that kill the inmate.
OKPNS would also add that foolish pardons by bleeding heart governors could be responsible for the decline as well.
