Seamus,
Fascinating article. Thank you!
Tamar
My pleasure, Tamar. Glad it engaged you.
Great to read you again, Seamus. This was totally interesting and the topic is one that I have often thought about.
Great job!
D.P.
This was an excellent, fascinating article. It made me think about the death penalty and the entire process of executing someone in a way I never have before. And it helped solidify my feelings about this very difficult topic. Good job.
Fascinating insiders point of view. Thanks!
Excellently written! 
I agree, Liz. That's why I was so pleased that Seamus would think of this blog.
I've worked in a hospital for many years and I believe what the doctor did was very humane and ethical. Certainly more so than continuing to stick someone with shot veins.
A very interesting and well-written piece. There was one sentence that stood out in particular, that of the guards not touching the woman. This is just a personal observation, but I think that if I was in the last moments of my life that I would crave human contact, the warmth of flesh upon flesh. And if I were with someone in their last moments, I would be hard-pressed not to reach out to comfort them. I imagine that this physical contact is strictly against protocol; that doesn't make it any less human nature.
I took a political science class in college that was solely about capital punishment.
The professor got actual footage of people being executed in each of the ways legal in the U.S., and played the films for us. We became bystanders of the process. We were introduced to the prisoners who were soon-to-be executed, their families, and the family members of the victims. Then we watched as the prisoners had their last meal, met with family to say good-bye and were executed. We saw every detail of the process. Then we saw the families and victim's families responses afterwards.
It was powerful and I think all people should be educated about capital punishment.
Oddly enough, in our class, we started out as a split audience divided 50:50 in support of the death penalty. When the class ended, it was 100:0. After learning about the death penalty from start to finish, and every method used, no one supported it anymore.
Wow! I have always been torn on my thoughts of capital punishment - the battle of the crime that warrants it and the question -does a human being deserve it or can the alleged be redeemed? Truthfully I am still torn after reading this, but I think I should be. I have never thought (or wanted to at least) of the people who have this as part of their "job description". And you powerfully gave their roles faces and character and ethics and value.
So often in movies and such, the warden is the "bad ass" who shows no signs of humanity. Your documentation destroys that false perception for me. Thank you for that and for an incredibly well written piece.
Cheryl 4:25
I agree with you that the doctor did the "right" thing, but it does raise an interesting issue vis a vis Jack Kervorkian..... only the State can authorize physician-assisted killings..... A great read, really brings you into it and it has to be a crazy place to be. Hell I used to struggle to keep it together every time I went to see an incarcerated client. When that door shuts behind you it's like you're like "damn, did I pay that traffic ticket....."
This is an absolutely amazing, thoughtful and throught-provoking article.
A great read, Seamus, thank you.
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