More Judicial Meddling

The state of California has indefinitely postponed the execution of a convicted killer, in a case that is leading a federal judge to review the state's lethal injection process. State officials could not find a doctor willing to administer a lethal dose of sedatives to Michael Morales, who was scheduled to be put to death Tuesday night by lethal injection. Morales was sentenced for raping, bludgeoning and stabbing to death a 17-year-old girl in 1981. A federal judge last week ordered that the lethal injection be conducted by a medical professional inside the execution chamber -- a deviation from standard practice in two respects. Normally, lethal injections are administered through a tube by someone who is outside the chamber, and executioners are not required to be doctors. The judge's decision came after defense attorneys argued that death by lethal injection could be viewed as cruel and unusual punishment. Professional medical organizations say participation in executions would violate their codes of ethics. So, once again a federal judge has appointed himself dictator of a state, overruling the people of California and their duly elected representatives. There was absolutely no medical reason for this ruling. It was a deliberate effort to sabotage California's death penalty. It means 646 death row inmates in California now have a breather while this case could go to the Supreme Court. The judge -- Jeremy Fogle -- by the way, is a Clinton nominee. Just another example of how a bad president can screw up the country long after he's left office. And here's the real kicker, these medical "professionals" would be lining up to abort a baby or to "humanely" euthanize a suffering or elderly patient. But when it comes to slipping a needle into the vein of a vicious rapist-murderer, their codes of ethics suddenly kick in. I guess nobody has ever explained to them the difference between Hippocratic and hypocrite. So, here's my plan: Death by nitrogen gas. The condemned would spend his last days in a special air-tight cell. Some time -- probably when the ruthless monster is sleeping or reading -- the air would be pumped out and replaced by nitrogen gas. There would be no pain, no distress, the condemned would not know anything was wrong. He'd just fall asleep and then die within minutes. None of the drama of poison gas, the electric chair or lethal injection. He would suffer a far more pleasant death than he inflicted on his victim or victims. And if any federal judges or defense attorneys questioned the humanity of the procedure, they could be invited to experience it for themselves -- and be revived, of course. After a time.