Something to consider

Something to at least consider...
Current mood: contemplative

In Florida in 1990, Jesse Tafero's head was set afire during his electrocution. It was later discovered that he was probably innocent.
In Alabama in 1992, Cornelius Singleton was electrocuted after signing, with an "X," a confession he could not read. He had an IQ of approximately 61.
In Arkansas in 1992, Ricky Rector, lobotomized by a self-inflicted gunshot wound and with virtually no comprehension of his situation, was led to his execution. He left the dessert from his last meal in his cell for "when he returned." The prison chaplain went into psychiatric care and today refers to Ricky's execution as a crime in itself, saying, "We're not supposed to execute children."
In California in 1992, Robert Alton Harris died in the gas chamber despite being diagnosed as suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome. It's discoverer, Dr. Kenneth L. Jones, asked Governor Wilson, "Do we execute people for having a birth defect?" In the Herrera case in 1992 the U.S. Supreme Court held that innocence was not sufficient justification to stop an execution. The decision, Justice Blackmun said in dissent, was "perilously close to simple murder."
In Virginia in 1993, Charles Stamper had to be lifted out of his wheelchair and carried to the electric chair by three guards.
In January of 1995 Jesse Dewayne Jacobs was executed in Texas for a crime everyone in the chain of authority knew he did not commit; a fact admitted by his prosecutor.
In March of 1995, Girvies Davis died for a crime he did not commit, his conviction based on a hand-written confession produced by police—who did not know he was illiterate.