SCOTUS upholds death penalty; McCollum has erection

In keeping with the GOP mission of bringing death and destruction to as many people as possible, borderline-psychotic Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum couldn't act fast enough once the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky's lethal injection procedure is constitutional.

By a 7-2 vote, the high court rejected challenges to the Kentucky execution procedure brought by two Death Row inmates, holding that they had failed to show that the risks of pain from mistakes in an otherwise "humane lethal execution protocol" amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the Constitution.

The ruling appeared to open the door for Florida to resume executions because it uses essentially the same method as Kentucky's.

... McCollum sent paperwork overnight to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for permission to go ahead with the execution of child killer Mark Dean Schwab, whom the state was to have executed in November.

"It's in the best interest to the people of Florida to have these executions resolved," McCollum said. "We have a lot of people on Death Row."

If the high court lifts the Schwab stay of execution, it is likely that executions by lethal injection could resume within two months in Florida, according to lawyers representing Death Row inmates.

This is one issue where it took me a long time to come around, but I finally did a few years ago. For a long time, I felt that being pro-choice and anti-death penalty was logically inconsistent; I've since changed my mind. I now believe that government-sanctioned killing of actual human beings is morally wrong, and it does nothing to stem the tide of violent crime. The facts speak for themselves: nearly the entire world has abolished capital punishment, and the only countries stubbornly holding on either have an historical predilection toward barbaric treatment of criminals or ... well, no, that's about it, because that really does include the United States.

And of course Florida's bloodthirsty GOP leadership is falling all over themselves to crank up the death machine again. I'm sure they still lament the loss of "Old Sparky," Florida's notorious electric chair.

After Wednesday's ruling, Gov. Charlie Crist immediately asked for a list of about five inmates from which to choose which of the state's worst or longest-serving killers, of the 338 people on Death Row, should prepare to die.

The governor would be signing his second death warrant since taking office in January 2007. He signed Schwab's in July.

"Justice delayed is justice denied, and an awful lot of families of the victims have been waiting for justice to be done, and so that's certainly an important factor," Crist said. "But in addition, the heinous nature of the crime itself is important to consider."

Anyone want a cocktail? Florida's preparing some really nice ones right now.