The state's supply of a certain sedative had an expiration date. Like a jug of milk. So the governor scheduled all eight men to die in quick order before tomorrow's deadline. Asa Hutchinson's schedule drew protests from the European Union, drug manufacturers, Amnesty International and Texas newspapers. Texas. You know you're rushing executions when people from Texas raise eyebrows.
Thursday night, the state--that is, all of us--ended the killing spree. Kenneth D. Williams died on schedule. Ending an eight-day stretch during which the state executed people at the fastest pace in nearly 57 years.
Are we, as Arkansans, better now?
Certainly our reputation isn't. But what about other impalpable things? Are we happier? Satisfied? Are we filled with a sense of justice? We read the letters. We suspect that some would answer yes, yes and yes.
The fact that the state was only able to do half the job may be more proof that the death penalty isn't handed out evenly. Or as the lawyers put it, there are disparities in its implementation. One of the original eight was spared so courts could decide whether more DNA tests were needed in his case. Another was spared by a federal judge who said lawyers needed more time to explore clemency. Two others were waiting on another case to be decided by a certain nine judges in Washington, D.C.
It wasn't easy to get up much sympathy for any of these men, some of whom didn't even dispute their crimes. But is all of this about them, or about the rest of us? After all, we have our souls to think about. The bigger question is whether the state should be in the business of killing murderers. For those of us who Choose Life and expect government to be limited, the question is, or should be, rhetorical.
Now the deeds have been done. Surely officials will go about trying to find another drug supplier for its habit. And when the state scores another round, more executions will be scheduled. And the state will Choose Death again. Until we can reason together and do what most of the civilized world has done with this kind of punishment. But that might take a while. Until then, are we as Arkansans better now?
Postmortem postscript:
Word has it that the family of Michael Greenwood--killed in a 1999 traffic wreck as Kenneth D. Williams was fleeing from police in a stolen car--bought plane tickets for the condemned man's daughter and granddaughter last week so they could visit him before the state deadline. Emphasis on dead.
According to dispatches, Michael Greenwood's daughter, Kayla, recently found out that Mr. Williams had a daughter. So her family paid to fly the young lady and her 3-year-old child to Little Rock from Washington state on Wednesday, a day before the execution. Kenneth Williams, his daughter and the baby were able to have a last visit. It was the first, and only, time Kenneth Williams saw his granddaughter.
"I told him we forgive him and where I stood on it," Ms. Greenwood told the press. "When he found out that we [were] bringing his daughter and granddaughter to see him and that my mom and dad bought the tickets, he was crying to the attorney." It was a strange story, but oddly suitable for this time of year, this spring, this annual renewal.
So maybe we as a people are better--or getting there. Or at least a few of us are providing the best examples to our fellow man.
Editorial on 04/29/2017