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[NYCmetsfan]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/missouri-executes-cecil-clayton-missing-part-brain-n325081

Missouri cop killer Cecil Clayton was executed Tuesday night after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments he should be spared because he was missing a piece of his brain.

Clayton, who at 74 was the state's oldest death-row prisoner, was pronounced dead at 9:21 pm CT, eight minutes after his lethal injection was administered, prison officials said in a statement.

Clayton was convicted of murdering sheriff's deputy Chris Castetter after a domestic disturbance in 1996. His case drew extra attention because of his brain injury, the result of a 1972 sawmill accident that forced doctors to remove one-fifth of his frontal lobe. His lawyers contended the damage not only sparked a massive personality change that may have turned him into a killer, but also rendered him mentally incompetent and therefore ineligible for capital punishment.

"Mr. Clayton's IQ, since his accident and subsequent deterioration, now falls within the range required for intellectual disability," the defense wrote in its appeal to the high court. "And there is substantial evidence of adaptive deficits; Mr. Clayton, even in prison, cannot without assistance order canteen items or navigate the telephone system."

Missouri said that medical exams have found Clayton understood why he was being executed and that meant he was competent to face the needle. They argued that Clayton's intellectual deficits had to be present before he turned 18 to let him escape execution and that he waited too long to raise his claim.

None of the U.S. Supreme Court justices accepted Clayton's arguments for a stay based on his brain injury, though four did say they would have granted a stay based on his claim that Missouri's secrecy-shrouded process for obtaining the lethal dose of pentobarbital could lead to an unconstitutional death.

Gov. Jay Nixon also denied him clemency, saying he agreed with the state's assessment that Clayton was competent. "This crime was brutal and there exists no question of Clayton's guilt," he said in a statement.

No one can say he didn't deserve punishment for his crime but what does killing him accomplish? Who was he a danger to in prison? Are they serious that late in life mental disability don't legally make you mentally incompetent? Since children understand what being killed by the state entails and its justification does that mean according to Missouri's argument we should execute them?

When are we going to end this horrible outdated practice? Its a continued stain on our country.

Statement from his lawyer

 

[Dead Man]

They argued that Clayton's intellectual deficits had to be present before he turned 18 to let him escape execution

Flawless logic :/

 

[Volimar]

Giving Texas a run for its money. The whole SCOTUS was okay with this? Wow.

 

[markot]

Terrible.

Its popular. That is why it exists.

People like the feeling of revenge. And mistake it for justice, and ignore that it does nothing to help victims move on from crimes, or indeed the impacts it has on a society that legalises murder as justice.

 

[Acorn]

 

[Angelus Errare]

What does killing people under the guise of "justice" ever accomplish? Nothing. It doesn't deter further murders or anything. It just sates primal blood lust and demand for vengeance (because having a murderer be executed will totes make you feel better!).

When will we outlaw this practice? At the rate this country is going it's going to take another 100 years at least.

 

[shadyspace]

Deplorable shit like this is why I refuse to live in a state that has the death penalty.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

https://youtu.be/EM3NSTbi4OQ?t=5s

 

[ultratruman]

Reminds me of Ricky Ray Rector.

This is unforgiveable, US judiciary should feel debased and ashamed by this.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

BTW its unconstitutional to do this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_v._Virginia

 

[HK-47]

SCOTUS are fucking worthless arent they?

 

[ultratruman]

BTW its unconstitutional to do this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_v._Virginia

I bet it happens all the time anyway.

Repulsive, pointless, shameful.

 

[UltraMagnanimous]

Barbaric.

 

[Bodacious]

Death penalty is wrong. Just wrong. There's no punishment in it, just turning the lights out. When/why did a life sentence of hard (and I mean hard fuckin') labor for violent criminals and child molesters go out of style?

 

[Suikoguy]

Flawless logic :/

I can't even wrap my head around how that would make any sense, even if spun.

 

[Ties]

with this logic why wont we just stone all people with mental disabilities before they reach maturity, rocks are free - lethal injections aren't

 

[Dead Man]

I can't even wrap my head around how that would make any sense, even if spun.

Yeah, there is no way that makes any fucking sense at all.

with this logic why wont we just stone all people with mental disabilities before they reach maturity, rocks are free - lethal injections aren't

You like that gif today, huh?

 

[Brakke]

Shameful. RIP to the deceased.

 

[HalfBakedProphet]

What does killing people under the guise of "justice" ever accomplish? Nothing.

yup. What gets me is its usually conservatives and Republicans who are most in favor of capital punishment.

You know, cause Jesus totally would have injected a mentally ill man full of chemicals until his heart stopped for the sake of revenge.

 

[Drain You]

Absolutely horrible. Haven't read the entire thing yet but this just seems archaic .

 

[Coffee Dog]

Gotham won't even fry the Joker.

 

[shadyspace]

Gotham won't even fry the Joker.

Gotham is either in New Jersey or New York, neither of which permit capital punishment.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

yup. What gets me is its usually conservatives and Republicans who are most in favor of capital punishment.

You know, cause Jesus totally would have injected a mentally ill man full of chemicals until his heart stopped for the sake of revenge.

The conservative numbers are obviously horrible and a huge issue, but those Dems numbers are scary as shit as well.

 

[Dead Man]

yup. What gets me is its usually conservatives and Republicans who are most in favor of capital punishment.

You know, cause Jesus totally would have injected a mentally ill man full of chemicals until his heart stopped for the sake of revenge.

Jesus, over 50% of every group except Liberals, and then 47%? Fucking hell, that is a shitload of support across every group

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

yup. What gets me is its usually conservatives and Republicans who are most in favor of capital punishment.

You know, cause Jesus totally would have injected a mentally ill man full of chemicals until his heart stopped for the sake of revenge.

I wonder how many of those conservatives/Republicans that are for the death penalty are also against abortions

 

[GobFather]

Flawless logic :/

that LOGIC... I'm speechless

 

[Randolph Freelander]

The bloodlust in our country is apparently never satiated. RIP to yet another victim of our endless quest for meaningless revenge, er, deterrence.

Liliana Segura ‏@LilianaSegura 21m
To recap: The first person we executed in 2015 was a Vietnam vet with PTSD and tonight we killed a man missing 20% of his frontal lobe.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Gotham is either in New Jersey or New York, neither of which permit capital punishment.

the joker has def committed federal crimes

 

[GhaleonEB]

Nothing short of barbaric. Very sad.

 

[Lamel]

He was 74 years old...

 

[AsylumBlue]

Capital punishment should be completely stricken at the federal level. What a disgrace.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Capital punishment should be completely stricken at the federal level. What a disgrace.

The only hope to outlaw it nationwide is a supreme court decision

 

[Tesseract]

obama did nothing

 

[Currygan]

these stories are always revolting

 

[Cat]

Horrible. =(

 

[Fenderputty]

The conservative numbers are obviously horrible and a huge issue, but those Dems numbers are scary as shit as well.

IMO, the liberal numbers are scarier.

 

[Reset]

He was 74 years old...

He was also convicted of murder.

 

[umop_3pisdn]

This is beyond infuriating. I don't see how anyone responsible for this decision can have any pride in their country, because to say it's an embarrassment would be too kind.

 

[gdt]

This is.....fuck man this is sick.

 

[ScatheZombie]

BTW its unconstitutional to do this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_v._Virginia

"but states can define who is intellectually disabled."

Dat mile-wide loophole.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

"but states can define who is intellectually disabled."

Dat mile-wide loophole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_v._Florida

 

[JaggedSac]

I wonder how many of those conservatives/Republicans that are for the death penalty are also against abortions

I think they would state that the fetus didn't murder anyone.



Death penalty should be dropped. I would much rather pay the state a cheap sum to rent out prison labor. My yard has a metric shit ton of cleared brush and trees I need removed.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

I think they would state that the fetus didn't murder anyone.



Death penalty should be dropped. I would much rather pay the state a cheap sum to rent out prison labor. My yard has a metric shit ton of cleared brush and trees I need removed.

Ya but you know, "thou shall not kill."

 

[Holmes]

Giving Texas a run for its money. The whole SCOTUS was okay with this? Wow.

Probably not. But the SCOTUS can only take a certain amount of cases in a year, and those opposed probably knew they'd lose and decided not tonwaste time with it.

 

[ScatheZombie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_v._Florida

... is still a giant loophole that they just abused to carry out this sentence.

States are still given crazy amounts of discretion as to what constitutes 'intellectual deficiency" and that was, in fact, the basis of their argument for execution. Hall vs Florida only set the bar that an IQ test cannot be the only means of which a person is declared intellectually competent to face execution.

In addition to that, "But ultimately, none of the U.S. Supreme Court justices accepted his claims arguments for a stay based on his brain injury." Since the Supreme Court ultimately decides what is and isn't constitutional, until their decision is overturned, it was, in fact, constitutional.

 

[JaggedSac]

Ya but you know, "thou shall not kill."

They wouldn't even have prisons since forgiveness is such a large part of Christianity.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Shit is crazy. Didn't think happen in that Sean Penn movie?

 

[Leithkorias]

Spoiler for walking deads most recent episode:

Show of hands, how many of us were hoping,

Spoiler

after noah was torn apart and eaten alive

that glenn would exit the revolving doors

Spoiler

and shoot nicholas dead on the spot?

I sure was.

Now, I'm not saying that he'd have been right, but that was my first instict. That he deserved it.

Just be honest, if you can feel that strongly about something fake, imagine how you'd feel if it were real.

I'm just saying I can empathize.

Side note, I'm more surprised that 47% of liberals support capital punishment. Thats about 45% higher than I ever would have expected.

Its more surprising to me that the dems number is so high than that the repubs is so low. Thats actually unexpected.

 

[Monocle]

Another human sacrifice. I hope the people who support the death penalty are happy.

He was also convicted of murder.

And he was a clear and present threat to society, right? A handicapped old man in prison.

 

[Link]

I honestly think it's time I seriously look into leaving this country.