Slow death of capital punishment
By Rob Miech, Las Vegas Sun
The recent spate of Arkansas executions, which included two on the same gurney, 3 1/2 hours apart — the first time in almost 17 years that any state has executed two inmates on the same day — has returned the death penalty to the forefront of national consciousness.
Waves of delays and activists’ outcries continue as the use of capital punishment has sharply declined throughout the country. Polls indicate a shrinking majority of Americans prefers to preserve the option to extinguish those found guilty of the vilest crimes in civilized society.
In Nevada, the conundrum of capital punishment is rife with subplots, starting with last year’s expensive refurbishment of a death chamber whose application is far-fetched, since drugs necessary for lethal injection aren’t available.