Final Execution of 2022

There were eighteen executions this year, usually bringing up concerns other than simply being against the death penalty. 

I don't want to handwave that last one since sometimes ("oh you know other than pacifists") that is belittled. On her way out, the governor of Oregon commuted all of death row (17) to life without parole (itself problematic (Stevens dissent), but it leaves an opening for the future), noting the death penalty itself was immoral and bad public policy.  

Idaho was originally going to execute someone today, but reports are that they didn't have the drugs.  Oklahoma (tying with Texas for five this year, scheduling a lot to catch up after delays caused by their own screw-ups) went so far as to sue to try to get someone in federal custody transferred over to execute today.  A conservative federal judge found their reasoning unconvincing.  

So, the total was eighteen, with Alabama (2), Arizona (3), Missouri (2), and Mississippi (one, the second in the last ten years) rounding out the list.  I talked about the executions here and noted various red flags, including executing people on death row for decades, questions about how "worse of the worst" they were, multiple botches, and more.  

Thomas Edwin Loden Jr. is one of those cases where heinous crimes involve a very mixed-up individual.  There is a story behind a vet, who was never in trouble with the law, "suddenly" one day decides to kidnap, rape, and murder a teenager.  He was given the death penalty even though pled guilty.  He had various claims that helped to keep things going for over twenty years.  The actual execution allegedly went off okay.  

There was no final Supreme Court order (though he had some failed appeals in the past), but the last matter was a challenge against executing him before a (long ongoing) lawsuit involving lethal injection protocols was still ongoing.  Two state judges below would have held things up.  

Loden had various constitutional claims but the bottom line was that his one heinous act was the product of a broken individual.  There is some evidence of mental illness (check the first link) and the usual troubled details you often find with murderers on death row.  He was rightly put in prison and put there for a long time.  Twenty plus years.  But, what is the legitimate public purpose really in executing him?  

A family member who observed the execution perhaps will obtain some closure though other family members in these cases have varying feelings.  The feelings of victims, often split, are not the deciding factor.  A person like this is not likely to be deterred.  This is not akin to someone murdering in prison or something either.  Bottom line, it's a moral message.  On that front, including looking at the story of the man, I think we can disagree.  

One sentencing blogger (who I got annoyed with on other issues) tended to be a bit sneering when I and others focused too much on the death penalty. There are so many other criminal justice matters.  Consider the fate of the millions in the criminal justice system, including many who die in prison. I and others can hold both into consideration.  

Taking of life should remain of some special concern, I think.  Anyway, the executions are part of a wider whole with many problems not limited to them.  They provide useful snapshots, especially if we do not just focus on them.  Bottom line, it does seem a waste to execute a few people in an arbitrary fashion.  It is not even much of a big public issue these days.

I continue to think the death penalty is bad public policy and too often as applied raises special constitutional issues. I am not HORRIFIED and SICKENED about it as much as some.  I do not think people are simply bloodthirsty to want to execute.  If we have some empathy for the executed, we can leave some understanding for the executioners.  

I guess being able to without too much trouble talk about each individual execution is a sign of something.  Could be a lot more executions with the number of murders and people on death row.  The fact that even the two states with the most executions, including the second most populous state in the Union, only executed five people is notable. Five too many though.