This past Wednesday, the state of Ohio attempted to murder Alva Campbell, a 69 year-old who's been on death row since 1997. And, once again, they fucked it up.
On a walk-through of the execution conducted on Monday, prison nurses were unable to find a functioning vein during a walk-through on Monday. And before I go any further let me say that I can't think of too many things that could be more cruel than making an inmate participate in a dry run of his own execution. The very fact they go through this charade should tell you everything you need to know about why state-sanctioned killing should be abolished.
But when it came time to murder Mr. Campbell, suddenly not one nurse could find a vein. They tried in both arms. They tried his leg. But they couldn't find a suitable vein to pump poison into Mr. Campbell's body.
As another aside, each one of the nurses who participated in either the walk-through or the actual execution attempt should be stripped of their licenses. I don't care how much you may want the money, aiding in the murder of another person is a violation of oath you took when you became a nurse.
After 45 minutes of agony the Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Gary Mohr, called off the execution. My only question to Mr. Mohr is how come it took so long to realize you needed to call it off?
And, while I'm waiting for that answer, maybe someone can explain to me what greater purpose is served by executing an elderly man for a crime that took place 20 years ago.
Murdering an inmate is not a function of rehabilitation and it certainly has nothing to do with correcting behavior. Maybe Ohio should add "and Revenge" into the name of the department.
Gov. John Kasich, who had the opportunity to do the right thing, instead rescheduled the execution for June 5, 2019. Maybe he's thinking Mr. Campbell will make life easier for him and die between now and then.
I'm still waiting...
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