Trial by Fire
August 30, 2009 11:08 PM Subscribe
Cameron Todd Willingham, Texas, and the Death Penalty from The New Yorker.
He never sensed that Amber was in his room, he said. Perhaps she had already passed out by the time he stood up, or perhaps she came in after he left, through a second doorway, from the living room. He said that he went down the corridor and tried to reach the children’s bedroom. In the hallway, he said, “you couldn’t see nothing but black.” The air smelled the way it had when their microwave had blown up, three weeks earlier—like “wire and stuff like that.” He could hear sockets and light switches popping, and he crouched down, almost crawling. When he made it to the children’s bedroom, he said, he stood and his hair caught on fire. “Oh God, I never felt anything that hot before,” he said of the heat radiating out of the room.
He never sensed that Amber was in his room, he said. Perhaps she had already passed out by the time he stood up, or perhaps she came in after he left, through a second doorway, from the living room. He said that he went down the corridor and tried to reach the children’s bedroom. In the hallway, he said, “you couldn’t see nothing but black.” The air smelled the way it had when their microwave had blown up, three weeks earlier—like “wire and stuff like that.” He could hear sockets and light switches popping, and he crouched down, almost crawling. When he made it to the children’s bedroom, he said, he stood and his hair caught on fire. “Oh God, I never felt anything that hot before,” he said of the heat radiating out of the room.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Yeah, this is better off in the already open post. -- vacapinta
There's already an open thread about Willingham here.
posted by Justinian at 11:14 PM on August 30, 2009
posted by Justinian at 11:14 PM on August 30, 2009
Charlie Stross has a compelling theory as to why this sort of thing goes on, recently discussed here. All LOLTEXASing aside (it's not something that is in any way funny), it does seem that the quality of mercy is noticably more strained in Texas than elsewhere in the USA.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:37 AM on August 31, 2009
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:37 AM on August 31, 2009
There was another post here about this story., although I hadn't really looked at any of the links before. The NYer article was amazing, so I hope this isn't deleted as a duplicate.
posted by delmoi at 1:02 AM on August 31, 2009
posted by delmoi at 1:02 AM on August 31, 2009
Obviously, this issue comes up more in Texas then anywhere else because Texas executes so many more people. I think From 1977 to 2006 Texas executed nearly 4 times as many people as the second runner up, Virginia. here's a pie chart. Texas accounted for 36% of the total.
posted by delmoi at 1:06 AM on August 31, 2009
posted by delmoi at 1:06 AM on August 31, 2009
Even though I was born in the United States and have lived almost my entire life within its borders, I have never been able to grasp how this county has managed to reconcile a fierce hatred of government interference with the people giving the government permission to take the lives of its citizens as punishment for the worst of crimes.
What bothers me most is that it is the people most vocal about liberty who are often the strongest supporters of execution. They do not ask for the victim's next of kin to administer punishment, nor for the judge to do so, but for distant state officials with no significant stake in the matter to execute people, and for medical personnel who have vowed to do no harm to watch over this with implicit approval.
I personally disapprove of state execution, but that does not mean I cannot see why some people would support it. It is that many who do support it seem to be the ones who would logically be the fiercest opponents.
Still, we remain sheltered from what we do through the hands of others.
posted by Saydur at 1:43 AM on August 31, 2009
What bothers me most is that it is the people most vocal about liberty who are often the strongest supporters of execution. They do not ask for the victim's next of kin to administer punishment, nor for the judge to do so, but for distant state officials with no significant stake in the matter to execute people, and for medical personnel who have vowed to do no harm to watch over this with implicit approval.
I personally disapprove of state execution, but that does not mean I cannot see why some people would support it. It is that many who do support it seem to be the ones who would logically be the fiercest opponents.
Still, we remain sheltered from what we do through the hands of others.
posted by Saydur at 1:43 AM on August 31, 2009
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posted by sugarfish at 11:09 PM on August 30, 2009