All of those who called out Governor Tim Kaine on his death penalty moratorium two weeks ago owe him an apology.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has ended Virginia’s moratorium on the death penalty after U.S. Supreme Court today upheld Kentucky’s use of lethal injection.
I want to see as many positive posts in the blogosphere about this action as I saw negative ones about his earlier, and, in my opinion, prudent, action.
Get cranking!
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
I’m not apologizing. I didn’t break a campaign promise to protect a cop killer on what, as predicted, was a total waste of time.
If we’re going to stop everything everytime the Supreme Court hears a case until they issue an opinion, then get ready for moratoriums on abortions, handgun ownership and freedom of speech, then right?
Due legal process is a waste of time now? Oh yeah, we shredded the Constitution, how silly of me.
As far as the others, only in your warped logic, Brian.
Mark, did anyone honestly think the Supreme Court, THIS Supreme Court, was going to overturn lethal injection?
The only thing at issue was how lethal injection was administered, and even THAT was rejected 7-2.
Of course, you’re not apologizing, Brian. Admitting that you jumped the gun and continue to accuse Kaine of wrongdoing is impossible for you.
Brian, plenty of people who actually bothered reading the case thought there was a chance that the Court might rule in favor of the appellants in this instance, primarily because we understood that no one was suggesting that lethal injection be “overturned.” Rather, at issue was the administration of pancuronium bromide, a paralyzing agent, during the second phase of the three-drug administration of lethal injection, followed finally by potassium chloride, which causes the heart to stop beating.
These two drugs together produce a situation rather like cardiac arrest combined with suffucation, and if the first drug in the coctail (a barbituate) is improperly administered, the subject feels everything and dies quite slowly in a horrifying way. The question facing the court was whether the potential for inadvertent and unreasonble pain resulting from a failure to properly administer the barbituate could constitute cruelty. The court decided no, but if they had decided yes, everyone could take heart in knowing that all that would happen would be that the appelants were killed by overdosing them on the barbituate they’re going to end up receiving anyway, so that rather than dying in a stupor, they would die in their sleep.
At no point was anyone asking that people not be killed, however. Which is why Justice Stevens concurred the the majority finding while expressing in his concuring opinion that he thinks capital punishment is unconstitutional–the constitutionality of capital punishment and lethal injection generally was never an issue for consideration, so it didn’t weigh into his opinion on the matter at hand.
Vivian, Kaine jumped the gun and saw an opportunity to flex his anti-capital punishment muscles. If you didn’t notice, people weren’t happy about it.
Anon, thank you. Finally, someone who actually read the case besides me. But, I never thought this court’s split would even be close.
No, what happened was a bunch of folks said that Kaine would not enforce the death penalty and that he had flipped on his campaign promise to do so. His lifting of the moratorium is proof that he did not flip. And for that, those folks owe him an apology.
I didn’t really have a problem with Kaine imposing a temporary moratorium since in the long run it would probably save time and money by not having the AG’s Office have to fight every offender requested moratorium that would have been filed to the United States Supreme Court.
As for the death penalty/lethal injection in general: Why should anyone care if some piece of excrement like John Allen Muhammad or Paul Warner Powell is going to feel some pain while getting his just deserts?
Once again, the Constitution of the United States of America prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Some may consider this quaint, but i say it is the rule of law, one more that seems to be ‘quaint’ to them. We haven’t given up the Constitution yest, but some people are trying mightily to pretend it doesn’t exist.
It isn’t cruel and it isn’t unusual.
I like Thomas Jefferson’s approach:
So says the Supremes, answering your question about “why anyone should care”.
Take a civics class lately?
Yes, lets base our modern system of governance and punishment on the writings of TJ in the 18th century.
While we are at it, we can light our houses by candlelight and go to work on our horses.
This argument gets weaker every time I respond. I will not digress down this road again, the subject is that people who claimed that Tim Kaine would not reinstate the death penalty after having halted it to save money and allow the Supremes to do their work.
The Governor did his job, BY LAW, and reinstated it. Apologies are owed the Governor, by those same people.
Good evening.
And I say he delayed justice before the Supreme Court ever said a word. Now, if you’re willing to have everything the Court decides to hear be put in limbo before the Court even rules, then be consistent. If the Court hears an abortion case, issue a moratorium on all abortions. If the Court hears a case on the Second Amendment, no more gun sales.
Makes a lot of sense, huh?
And 77.778% of the Justices agreed with me. To quote Nancy Pelosi: “So this is almost as if God has spoken. It’s an elementary discussion now. They have made the decision.”
Damn that Jefferson guy. And damn his Declaration of Independence!
Damn the Louisiana Purchase! Give the land back to France!
Damn his bill that provided freedom of religion in Virginia! Everyone should have to be a member of the Church of England!
You can’t read very well, can you? Didn’t I say that very thing a couple comments up at 6:36 pm?