Murder in Huntsville

The State of Texas murdered Lee Taylor yesterday. They did their best to sanitize the sordid affair - calling it an execution and using a lethal injection of drugs designed to help people, not kill them.

Mr. Taylor wasn't a good person. He did what the state accused him of doing. He killed another inmate. The state called it murder. Mr. Taylor called it self-defense.

The State of Texas killed Mr. Taylor on Thursday night. The State acted intentionally and knowingly when it strapped Mr. Taylor onto a gurney in Huntsville. The medical professionals in attendance acted intentionally and knowingly when they inserted the IV into Mr. Taylor's arm. They acted intentionally and knowingly when they allowed the drug to flow into his veins. They acted intentionally and knowingly when they violated the oath they took to do no harm.

Killing Mr. Taylor didn't bring back Donta Green. Killing Mr. Taylor didn't undo what happened at the Telford Unit back in 1999. Killing Mr. Taylor did nothing more than allow the State of Texas to show its hubris in believing that it, and it alone, has the moral authority to take another person's life.