Who Are Our Bedfellows?

"COLUMBUS, Ohio — The warden of the prison where Ohio puts inmates to death says the state’s execution table can easily hold a condemned inmate who has argued he is so big it might collapse." Boston Globe

Perhaps  the condemned man has pulled out his last possible straw hoping for a stay of execution. If his over four hundred pound weight makes it dangerous for the state to attempt the process does it mean that he will be forced to diet? 

Imagine dieting until you're of a proper weight for death?

All this seems rather macabre. Perhaps we should reconsider the entire process.  How many other democratic countries still have the death penalty? And of those that still have it on the books when was the last execution?

We stand alone when we compare ourselves to other democratic countries. Even those that haven't removed the law haven't put anyone to death in years and years.

In 2011 over seventy people were sentenced to death in the United States.

Perhaps we need to spread all the statistics out on giant spreadsheets and really take a look at our bedfellows. 

As for the obese prisoner—they can always build a support for the table and cut back on carbs.