Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
![Albert Greenwood Brown, Disputed California Execution Stopped By State Officials]()
California state officials did the right thing in blocking the state's first execution in five years, so at least for now, the doomed Albert Greenwood Brown (pictured above) can breathe a little easier.
But the reason for the execution delay, a nationwide shortage of the "death" drug used by prison officials, sounds like it was dreamed up by a Hollywood screenwriter.
I can think of several reasons not to execute someone on death row, but running out of sodium thiopental, the drug used for lethal injections, is not one of them.
It probably would have been more righteous if state officials stopped the execution for the more legitimate reason that the death penalty is unfairly and arbitrarily applied in this country.
If you are of low intelligence, poor or (worst of all) both, you would stand a much greater chance of facing the death penalty than other inmates accused of capital crimes.
That's not fair.
But it probably doesn't matter to Brown exactly why his execution is being put off - just as long as it isn't rescheduled.
State officials haven't yet announced whether Brown will be sent back to death row, and while the crime he was convicted of was particularly sick, I'm not sure if putting him to death would be the best course for the state.
Brown was convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 1982. Brown then taunted the girl's mother by calling her and saying she would never see her daughter again. Disgusting.
I can't make a convincing argument to death penalty supporters that Brown should be allowed to live after such a conviction, but I wonder if two wrongs ever make a right.
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=868400&pid=868399&uts=1285712496
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
Your Hottest News Stories
23-Sep-10 - Some really "interesting" pictures of
Bishop Eddie Long, which were allegedly sent by Long to one of his "spiritual sons," were made public last week.
Click Here for the Complete StoryJohnny Nunez, WireImage
Getty Images North America
Your Hottest News Stories
23-Sep-10 - Some really "interesting" pictures of Bishop Eddie Long, which were allegedly sent by Long to one of his "spiritual sons," were made public last week.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
22-Sep-10 - According to federal authorities, Jesse Jackson Jr. not only tried to buy President Barack Obama's former Senate seat from Rod Blagojevich, but he also had a fundraiser pay for two airline trips for a blond mistress.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
22-Sep-10 - Firefighters were not able to save Jamaya Herron, because she weighed more than 500 pounds.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
17-Sep-10 - James Jones was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing a school function for protecting his disabled young daughter from heartless bullies.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
16-Sep-10 - Vancouver police confirmed that Bethany Storro lied about a black woman throwing acid on her face. Storro actually threw the acid on herself.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
09-Sep-10 - Prominent gospel music artist Marvin Sapp recently lost his wife, MaLinda Sapp, to colon cancer. The couple had been married for 15 years and they had three children.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
09-Sep-10 - San Jose State University student Courtney Howard said she and other pledges were warned that 'snitches get stitches' while they were punched, kicked and paddled during their initiation by four Sigma Gamma Rho sorority members.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
09-Sep-10 - George Grier, who lives in Long Island, was arrested for using an AK-47 assault rifle to protect his family from gang members who were threatening to hurt them.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
08-Sep-10 - Rodney King, whose senseless beating by the Los Angeles police became fodder for news outlets worldwide, became engaged to one of the jurors who awarded him a $3.8 million settlement in a civil suit against the LAPD.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
03-Sep-10 - African-American males in Detroit between the ages of 15 and 24 are dying at a rate that is roughly seven times higher than the rest of the Detroit population.
Click Here for the Complete Story
Your Hottest News Stories
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
