Oklahoma Death Row Inmates Protest Change In Execution Drug

I've seen it all, now. Two ruthless, cold blooded murders who sit on death row in Oklahoma have made official protests that the State of Oklahoma is substituting an execution drug with another and they feel that it presents "cruel and unusual punishment" for their upcoming executions.

From the article at Breitbart:

Two death row inmates in Oklahoma are asking a federal judge on Friday to stop their pending executions after the state said it planned to substitute the anesthetic used during lethal injections because of a drug shortage.
Oklahoma is one of several states that have been scrambling after the sole U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental—an anesthetic that renders the condemned inmate unconscious—said new batches of the barbiturate would not be available until January at the earliest. Hospira Inc. has blamed the shortage on problems with its raw-material suppliers.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections ran out of that drug earlier this year, and instead, the state plans to substitute a similar drug called pentobarbital, which is used in animal euthanasia.

Death row inmates Jeffrey David Matthews and John David Duty have challenged the use of the new drug, alleging it would violate their constitutional rights to be free from "cruel and unusual punishment."

Now, before I go into my tirade here, let's look at what landed Matthews and Duty on death row:

Matthews' execution has been delayed several times because of his objection to substituting sodium thiopental. Matthews was convicted in the 1994 murder of his 77-year-old great-uncle, Otis Earl Short, during a robbery of Short's home.

Duty was convicted of the December 2001 murder of 22-year-old Curtis Wise, who was Duty's cellmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Wise was strangled to death with shoelaces. At the time, Duty was serving three life sentences for rape, robbery and shooting with intent to kill, all dating from 1978.

So, my question is this...what choice of death did Otis Earl Short have, Mr. Matthews? Did you ask your great uncle if he wanted to die and how? And as for the piece of shit Duty, do you suppose that Curtis Wise felt his strangulation death was free of "cruel and unusual punishment?" How about the women you raped, Mr. Duty? Did those women have any say before you violated their bodies and their souls?

These two men gave up any rights they had as human beings the day they performed these atrocities - they, at that moment, when they took the life from another human, joined the ranks of viscious animals and at this point simply need to be put down. These two vermin need no sedative, no anasthetic - they need justice. They need to feel the retribution of the families of those they killed and maimed. They need to experience the wrath of a society that will not bow to their likes. Put 'em to death now and make it sting like hell.

Okla. death row inmates protest new execution drug


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Two death row inmates in Oklahoma are asking a federal judge on Friday to stop their pending executions after the state said it planned to substitute the anesthetic used during lethal injections because of a drug shortage.
Oklahoma is one of several states that have been scrambling after the sole U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental—an anesthetic that renders the condemned inmate unconscious—said new batches of the barbiturate would not be available until January at the earliest. Hospira Inc. has blamed the shortage on problems with its raw-material suppliers.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections ran out of that drug earlier this year, and instead, the state plans to substitute a similar drug called pentobarbital, which is used in animal euthanasia.

Death row inmates Jeffrey David Matthews and John David Duty have challenged the use of the new drug, alleging it would violate their constitutional rights to be free from "cruel and unusual punishment."

Several states that have lethal injection employ the three-drug combination that was created in the 1970s: First, sodium thiopental is given by syringe to put the inmate to sleep. Then two other drugs are administered: pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes muscles, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

Sodium thiopental is a barbiturate, used primarily to anesthetize surgical patients and induce medical comas. It is also used to help terminally ill people commit suicide and sometimes to euthanize animals.

Matthews' execution has been delayed several times because of his objection to substituting sodium thiopental. Matthews was convicted in the 1994 murder of his 77-year-old great-uncle, Otis Earl Short, during a robbery of Short's home.

Duty was convicted of the December 2001 murder of 22-year-old Curtis Wise, who was Duty's cellmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Wise was strangled to death with shoelaces. At the time, Duty was serving three life sentences for rape, robbery and shooting with intent to kill, all dating from 1978.