THE LAW IS FOR EVERYONE
Extinguishing a hu-man life by lethal injec-tion--dressed up as a medical procedure--is actually a cold, calculated, ritual murder. The condemned is strapped to the death gurney. The first drug, sodium pentothal, is followed by a saline solution to ensure the tube is cleared out so the drugs won't mix and clog from a chemical reaction. The third drug is pancuronium bromide, the muscle relaxer, followed by another saline solution. The fifth is potassium chloride, the toxic drug that stops the heart. After a five-minute waiting period, the blinds to the witness area are closed and the physician advised. If the offender's heart has not stopped, the lights are dimmed, blinds opened, and the superintendent or designee orders the injection procedure to be repeated, after which the blinds are once again closed and the physician checks for signs of life. The physician then reports his findings to the superintendent or designee.
US capital punishment is fatally flawed, an instrument of class warfare, organized and designed to permit an elite, local and multinational, to operate without any constraint from democratic human rights processes. The guilt or innocence of the accused is not figured into a higher meaning of justice because it is considered less important to capital punishment proponents.
For example, when I was charged with killing a police officer, there was no pretrial identification. The prosecup;torial machinery used false testimony and covered up material evidence that did not support the charge against me. A paraffin gunshot residue test showed I had not fired a gun. The judge had me, a black man, shackled during the trial in the presence of an all-white jury. The court bailiff spoke to the jurors in the deliberation room on the orders of the judge and said they should be ready to be asked individually to state that their verdict is death. Furthermore, the jurors were allowed to consume alcohol during the trial. How could I still be found guilty?
The criminal sanction system is anchored on procedural issues rather than guilt or innocence. The law court judges hold that mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached. All that US law requires is a fair trial, not a perfect one.
Think about it. The law is for everyone--including you.
--For more information, contact Michael E. Deutsch, <mdeutsch45@aol.com>, People's Law Office, 1180 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622 ,(773) 235-0070, or Zolo Agona Azania, 4969, Indiana State Prison, P.O. Box 41, Michigan City, IN 46361-0041.