Sometimes, creative life (the imaginary worlds in your head) gets muffled by the real world. And rightly so.
Earlier this week everyone in my state was awaiting the governor’s decision: whether or not to commute a death sentence.
Why was this even a matter for debate, you may ask.
It wasn’t, actually. Far from debate, the decision was left in the hands of one man.
Setting aside for the moment that the death penalty is still somehow legal, the combination of drugs used to perform them is not effective. The company that makes the chemical no longer sells it if the purpose is to kill someone with it. So Oklahoma has been making do with a different mix of chemicals, the result being that the last several executions have been ‘botched’ (which is an absurd euphemism for men spending nearly an hour writhing in agony before they eventually died.)
What could Gov. Stitt possibly have been considering? What pros could he have weighed against all the cons? I cannot think of a one.
So, as a state, we were wondering if our governor would choose to torture a man to death.
It wasn’t until the 11th hour, so to speak, when the governor announced that he would follow the boards decision and not execute Julius Jones (a man who did not have a fair trial for a murder that someone else admitted to doing. So, doubtful he should even be in prison in the first place.)
That is the absolute bare minimum he could have done, ensured that someone wasn’t tortured to death. Julius Jones still faces a life in prison without the possibility of parole.
There was cheering in the capitol, the streets, the schools, everyone elated that an elected official chose to do the humane thing. The victory at once momentous (a man keeps his life) and yet so small. Nothing has changed. It can happen again.
Currently rereading: The Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco.
