TN Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection as Constitutional
October 17th, 2005 at 3:32 pm by Preston Taylor Holmes(via The Tennessean)
Tennessee’s Supreme Court – in a surprising ruling, really – ruled that our chosen method of execution, lethal injection, is constitutional.
The lethal injection protocol had been challenged by lawyers for condemned killer Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman, who argued in June that the steps and drugs used by the state present risk of unnecessary pain and suffering.
Oh, dear! Not pain and suffering! I’d hate for a convicted killer to be subjected to such! Then again, all James Lee Jones (Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman is James’ adopted prison name) did was stab a drug-dealer to death, so it’s with mixed feelings that I say hurry up and give him the needle. We’ve been paying his room-and-board since 1986, for cryin’ out loud.
The lethal injection mixture Tennessee uses involves three drugs.
The first is an anesthetic to put the inmate to sleep, known by the generic name sodium thiopental. The second is Pavulon, or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the muscle system. The third drug, potassium chloride, stops the heart.
Abdur’Rahman, previously known as James Lee Jones, was sentenced to die for the 1986 stabbing death of a Nashville drug dealer. He has a separate federal appeal pending on his claim of prosecutorial misconduct.
Lucky for him, I’m sure we’ll be discussing this a decade from now, as James Lee Jones has only used 13 of his 77 federally-allocated appeals thus far. More unbreaking-news as this story continues to trudge along at a snail’s pace. Look for a joint Metro Pulse/Nashville Scene protest at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison this weekend – it’s a B.Y.O.B.O. event, so try not to bathe before then.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
Although it sounds like the guy did Tennessee a favor, the court got it right. The notion that punishment is only constitutionally acceptable if it doesn’t, you know, hurt, is about as ridiculous as it gets.
Well, no, I can go one better. I’ll have to go home to look up which country did this (I’m thinking South Africa), but one Court held that its capital punishment system was unconstitutional because the appeals process took so long. Because it might take as much as twenty years after conviction for the execution to take place, and because those twenty years were filled with gob-smackingly vile heartache, the punishment was too severe according to that nation’s constitution, and so the prisoner was – I hope you’re sitting down – released back into society. Not given a commuted sentence, full-on let go.
Judges, man. You gotta love ‘em.
October 17th, 2005 at 8:37 pm
They say James Jones aka Rahman “killed a drug dealer” as if that’s some mitigating factor.
I’ve looked Patrick Daniels up and have never found where he was arrested for selling drugs. He may have dabbled in a little smoke on the side but who hasn’t?
Regardless, Jones stabbed him repeatedly and then stabbed his then girlfriend Norma Norman repeatedly while her kids were in the bedroom. When he thought she was dead, they stole Daniels credit cards and were kind enough to leave the knife in Norman’s back. She miraculously survived and testified against him.
The Scene will no doubt run a few more puff pieces on this cold-blooded killer before he’s finally sent off to meet Allah. Surprise.
October 17th, 2005 at 10:24 pm
Thanks for bringing the details, Smantix – I was too lazy to look them up.
And that’s not too surprising, really, Sobek. I could see that happening in this country – in fact, tune in on White Trash Wednesday to learn how our East Tennessee judges have their own love affair going with the scum of the earth.
October 17th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
I hope Judge Nixon gets thrown in the mix. I can’t recall a more activist judge who comes out of retirement to rule on cases where he’s biased. Htf does that work?
I’ve been following this Jones/Daniels case for about 6 years now. They can’t kill this asshole fast enough for my liking. The local school pollutes a few hundred kids a year to take up the Courts filing frivolous cases on his behalf and just going out to “sympathize” with this brutal murderer. Complete with complicit local media trying to overturn his conviction.
Rahman-Jones is a textbook example of why we need the death penalty. If you don’t kill him, Democrats will put him back on the street after all the witnesses have died or moved away.
They’ve tried to play the race card but he killed two black people and tried to kill another black woman so it’s hard to leave it at The Man’s doorstep. “Converted” to Islam on death row and writes letters to the editor of the papers that get published at least once or twice a year.
October 18th, 2005 at 1:39 pm
On one of the local morning news shows, possibly The Orne Family Goodtime Hour, the case was described as beiing “dealt a lethal blow”.
Classic.