RICHMOND
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Tuesday stopped all executions in Virginia, including one of a convicted police killer set for next week, until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling on the constitutionality of lethal injections.
In a written statement, Kaine noted that the death penalty has not been carried out in the United States since last Sept. 25, when the high court agreed to accept appeals from two condemned Kentucky prisoners that lethal injections can cause extreme pain that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. During the interim, about 30 scheduled executions in 13 states have been postponed by courts or other governors, according to Kaine, a Democrat.
The Virginia governor said he is temporarily halting capital punishment “respecting the national legal consensus that no execution go forward” until the Supreme Court’s ruling, expected before mid-July.
Kaine’s action was denounced by Attorney General Bob McDonnell, a Republican who may be unopposed for his party’s gubernatorial nomination next year. He called the stay “premature,” noting that governors traditionally wait until prisoners exhaust all legal appeals before deciding whether to allow executions to occur.
“The question of whether a stay should be granted is first and foremost a legal decision to be made by a court,” McDonnell said. He said the “blanket moratorium” overrides the high court’s ability to decide on a case-by-case basis whether “Virginia capital murderers present sufficient legal grounds to stay an execution.”
Three executions by lethal injection had been scheduled in Virginia before mid-July.
Kaine’s statement only mentioned by name one prisoner who would get a reprieve: Edward Nathaniel Bell, who was scheduled to die on Tuesday, April 8, for the 1999 murder of Ricky L. Timbrook, a Winchester police sergeant. Bell shot Timbrook, 32, in the forehead during a pursuit.
The murder became an issue during the 2005 gubernatorial campaign. Kaine, a devout Roman Catholic, professed that he is personally opposed to the death penalty but pledged to carry out the sanction if elected. His opponent, Republican Jerry Kilgore, predicted that Kaine would issue widespread commutations.
The debate intensified during the final weeks of the campaign when Kilgore aired two television commercials featuring Kelly Timbrook, the widow of the fallen policeman. She questioned Kaine’s commitment to capital punishment.
“If Edward Bell’s sentence is overturned by Tim Kaine, I don’t know how I would ever explain that to my little boy,” she said in literature that was mailed to voters.
Kaine did not overturn Bell’s death sentence, however. He rescheduled the execution for July 24 – after the Supreme Court is expected to rule.
James G. Connell III, Bell’s lawyer, had a guarded reaction to the stay. “By granting this temporary reprieve, Gov. Kaine has brought Virginia into line with the national consensus,” he said.
Since becoming governor in 2006, Kaine has carried out four executions. Although he has issued two stays in addition to Bell, Kaine has not commuted a death sentence.
Lethal injection is the main method of execution in 37 of the 38 states that allow capital punishment. Nebraska uses electrocution.
In Baze v. Rees, the Supreme Court will decide whether the injections violate the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. The Kentucky inmates argue that flaws in the administration of powerful sedatives have left prisoners conscious and in agony while they are dying, but unable to cry out.
Three weeks after agreeing to hear the case last fall, the high court stopped an execution in Virginia. Although justices gave no reason for granting a reprieve to Christopher Scott Emmett of Danville four hours before his scheduled death, legal experts widely interpreted it as the court’s wish to halt lethal injections until it ruled on the punishment.
Virginia has executed 98 people since 1976, second to Texas.
Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565, warren.fiske@pilotonline.com
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Hey You 2 Wit Wielding Wonders.
Get your story straight..It would appear you are on the same side..lol
Re: Kate
For some reason, my added explanation that I was commenting to the persons attacking your opinion was deleted. Sorry about that. Ask the reviewers why they deleted it.
twomiler2
I am confused about your comment to me...I am against the death penalty.
Get a big chunk of fenced land
Then take the death row inmates and let them play Running Man with each other.
Re: Kate43483
We are all primates. Therefore, we are all, including you, animals. You need to remember, there are innocent people in prison, sitting on Death Row. I think if a loved one of yours, or you yourself, were wrongly tried & convicted, your attitude would change.
No death penalty, only life without parole
The only problem I can see with your idea is that there will still be innocent people sentenced for crimes that others committed. There are six states in the USA that don't allow suspects access to DNA tests to prove their innocence. So, that would be a problem. Your idea is more humane than Capital Punishment but it still won't help the innocent who are tried, convicted & sentenced. In all states, including the Commonwealth of Va., there are cases where no DNA is available & persons are convicted on eyewitness accounts,(often unreliable),& circumstantial evidence.
I am an ex police officer. There are 7 attorneys & 1 retired judge & 4 law enforcement officers, including 2 Federal, in my family. Not one of them is pro Capital Punishment.
How is that one could feel alright with an innocent person spending life in prison without parole, rather than being executed? I can assure you, the innocent person would feel no less punished. He or she may feel even more punished! She or he would have to deal with the hell hole which is prison, for the rest of their natural life, for no good reason whatsoever.
There are compelling
There are compelling arguments both for and against the death penalty, and neither side seems to be willing to give in.
I have an idea, but first, let me say I do support the death penalty and disagree with Gov. Kaine - I feel he is following a herd mentality.
My idea is changing death penalty sentences to life without chance of parole -- but, the families of the victims never pay another penny in taxes to the state (or IRS if it is a federal prosecution). Why should the victims be forced to pay for the feeding and caring of the person who made them a victim?
Can those of you who oppose the death penalty go along with that?
Afterlife & Capital Punishment
For all who use non-belief in an Afterlife as their support for Capital Punishment, what, pray tell, are you using as criteria for acts you deem worthy of Death as Punishment. Believers or not, we have to admit, that Society's practice of Law & Order, is based on Mankind's idea of a Supreme Judge & His,(or Her), Judgements. It doesn't matter what name This Supreme Being was called, what faith, if any, was followed or not. We can look into History, in any civilization, & see, that there was no organized creed as to right or wrong, no legal system of any kind, unless there existed some type of Belief System, within that Society. Knowing that we are capable of doing wrong, & that we should be judged by others as to Punishment, can only come from a realization that we as people are capable of doing well enough to never be judged to need Punishment. One does not exist without the other. I'm not saying anyone has to believe in any Faith; only that we acknowledge that our legal systems are Faith based.
life imprisonment only?
katet43483 wrote:
The best way to guarantee no flubups is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
So kate, would you agree to let the state pull 25% more taxes out of your paycheck to house these animals for life?
Mark twine
Very well stated
Rob Maz
I don't agree there is any afterlife either. Therefore, since this is all there is, we best make sure we don't kill innocent people (they have only one shot at life also). The best way to guarantee no flubups is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Personally
I don't believe in any afterlife or anything else associated with it. So with that said, I will take my justice now and just say kill him.
The right wingnuts are so predictable
Gov. Kaine has suspended all executions until the Supreme Court rules on lethal injections. He hasn't pardoned anyone. He hasn't let killers loose on the streets. He is simply “respecting the national legal consensus that no execution go forward until the Supreme Court’s ruling, expected before mid-July."
Naturally, the usual collection of right wingnuts hop on the boards to blast the governor, the liberals and anyone else they don't agree with. It is the end of the world as we know it; protect the women and children, y'all.
Chill idiots. Kaine has allowed the execution of four convicted criminals since he took office, despite his stated opposition to capital punishment. He has done what he promised to do - enforce the law.
Once the most conservative Supreme Court in recent history rules in favor of capital punishment in whatever barbaric form a state desires, you will have all the executions your tiny hearts and minds demand.
Dr. Tabor
If they used your method and there was an audience, do you think they would hand out a large plastic sheet?
Reason
For my fellow Anti-Capital Punishment posters. Some people, it seems, are most difficult to try to reach through Reason & Logic. We all should understand that we can disagree without denying the plausibility of the reasoning of those with whom we disagree.
My opinion, for what it's worth, is such; As a society, we no longer strive toward mastery of civil discourse. We too often resort to pente ante insults to demean those with whom we disagree.
For all of us posters, regardless of our opinions, we should note; "One should not enter a "Battle of Wits", unarmed."
Response
"Answer: Far, far, far fewer than the number of innocent people that have been murdered."
So it's OK to kill other innocent people? DUH! Scary!
RRC1943
You defend the use of the death penalty because "far far far fewer" innocent people have been put to death by the state than the number of people who have been murdered by the actual guilty party??? Good gawd almighty... the 'logic' is breathtaking. You're a Bush fan aintcha?
One word
Guillotine.
Have you scripture quoters ever thought?
What is it that makes you so hate those "deserving" capital punishment? Have you forgotten that God hates sin and loves sinners? Have you forgotten the words of Jesus to "pray for those who persecute you?" Did Jesus condemn his killers or pray for them to be forgiven because they know not what they do? Haven't all murdered in their hearts? Haven't all fallen short of God's glory? Don't all people need a sinless, loving and merciful Savior?
Doesn't the OT say that mercy supersedes the law? Didn't Jesus' own disciples break the Sabbath law? Could it be God's grace to allow these death row inmates to have more life here, and possibly receive Christ before the final judgment? Shouldn't Christians be operating in grace and forgiveness, not revenge and retribution? If all have murdered in their hearts, and God judges the heart, don't we all deserve death? Don't you wish that person that cut you off in traffic would just...no, die?
Aren't Christians supposed to want to be like Christ? Wouldn't that make our focus be redemption, forgiveness and love no matter what? How does misquoting and using scripture out of context help with that?
A RESPONSE TO GEORGES61555
Georges61555 asks: "How many innocent people have been falsely executed?"
Answer: Far, far, far fewer than the number of innocent people that have been murdered.