SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
You want to know how barbaric the death penalty is?
Ask Romell Broom.
The convicted rapist and murderer was brought into the execution chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility on Tuesday.
But the executioners could not manage, over the course of two hours, to get the IVs in right so the lethal injections could do their dirty work.
They tried finding a vein in his arms. They tried finding a vein in his legs.
Broom himself assisted the executioners by sliding rubber tubing up his arm and flexing his hands.
To no avail.
They eventually found a vein they thought was suitable to the morbid task but it collapsed when the techies tried to insert some fluid.
That brought Broom to tears.
Finally, the prison director called off the botched murder attempt and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland gave Broom a one-week reprieve.
How 'bout commuting the sentence to life in prison without parole?
Broom has suffered enough already.
Dostoevsky once wrote that being sent to your execution but then surviving is one of the most hideous experiences you can have.
Yeah, being raped and murdered is more hideous. Much more.
But the state should not be in a sadism contest. And that's what the death penalty is.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
You want to know how barbaric the death penalty is?
Ask Romell Broom.
The convicted rapist and murderer was brought into the execution chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility on Tuesday.
But the executioners could not manage, over the course of two hours, to get the IVs in right so the lethal injections could do their dirty work.
They tried finding a vein in his arms. They tried finding a vein in his legs.
Broom himself assisted the executioners by sliding rubber tubing up his arm and flexing his hands.
To no avail.
They eventually found a vein they thought was suitable to the morbid task but it collapsed when the techies tried to insert some fluid.
That brought Broom to tears.
Finally, the prison director called off the botched murder attempt and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland gave Broom a one-week reprieve.
How 'bout commuting the sentence to life in prison without parole?
Broom has suffered enough already.
Dostoevsky once wrote that being sent to your execution but then surviving is one of the most hideous experiences you can have.
Yeah, being raped and murdered is more hideous. Much more.
But the state should not be in a sadism contest. And that's what the death penalty is.
You want to know how barbaric the death penalty is?
Ask Romell Broom.
The convicted rapist and murderer was brought into the execution chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility on Tuesday.
But the executioners could not manage, over the course of two hours, to get the IVs in right so the lethal injections could do their dirty work.
They tried finding a vein in his arms. They tried finding a vein in his legs.
Broom himself assisted the executioners by sliding rubber tubing up his arm and flexing his hands.
To no avail.
They eventually found a vein they thought was suitable to the morbid task but it collapsed when the techies tried to insert some fluid.
That brought Broom to tears.
Finally, the prison director called off the botched murder attempt and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland gave Broom a one-week reprieve.
How 'bout commuting the sentence to life in prison without parole?
Broom has suffered enough already.
Dostoevsky once wrote that being sent to your execution but then surviving is one of the most hideous experiences you can have.
Yeah, being raped and murdered is more hideous. Much more.
But the state should not be in a sadism contest. And that's what the death penalty is.