Anyone else find the irony here:
Florida executes man who wanted death sentence
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) -- Florida executed a man Wednesday who strangled a fellow prisoner to get a death sentence rather than serve a life term for sexually assaulting a child.
John Blackwelder, 49, was executed by chemical injection at the Florida State Prison near Starke for the 2000 murder of inmate Raymond Wigley.
He was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. ET, said Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush.
Blackwelder had a history of criminal convictions and was sentenced to life without parole in 1998 for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy, a crime he said he did not commit.
He said he wanted to die but could not bring himself to commit suicide and that he strangled Wigley in order to force the state to execute him.
Blackwelder pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and told the judge at his sentencing hearing that if returned to prison he would kill "as many times as necessary" to be put to death.
"I'm stuck in prison the rest of my life. There's no way of getting out. I'm not being in there. I can't handle it," Blackwelder told the judge.
He had been scheduled to die on Tuesday, the 25th anniversary of Florida's resumption of capital punishment. On May 25, 1979, John Spenkelink became the first prisoner Florida put to death after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban on capital punishment.
But the governor delayed the execution for 24 hours to investigate another prisoner's claim that someone else had confessed to Wigley's murder.
State investigators found no reason to doubt Blackwelder's guilt and Bush allowed the execution to proceed.
Wigley, also serving a life sentence, was convicted of raping, torturing and murdering 47-year-old Adella Maria Simmons in 1983.
Death penalty opponents said executing Blackwell would send a dangerous message to all prisoners serving life sentences.
"The message goes out to every lifer in the state," said Abe Bonowitz, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "If you don't like your life in prison, kill a prison worker or kill a fellow inmate and the state will assist in your suicide."
Death penalty critics said Blackwelder is the seventh Florida prisoner to "volunteer" for execution in recent years. Others, including serial killer Aileen Wournos and anti-abortion activists Paul Hill, dropped appeals guaranteed under Florida's death penalty statute.
A total of 911 executions have taken place in the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court approved the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Blackwelder was the 59th executed in Florida since then.
Texas, with 322, has the most among the 38 states with the death penalty, followed by Virginia's 91, Oklahoma's 73, Missouri's 61, and 59 in Florida.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/26/execution.florida.reut/index.html
Federal appeals court backs Oregon's assisted suicide law
Decision rules out Bush administration role
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A federal appeals court Wednesday declared the Bush administration has no right to interfere with Oregon's assisted suicide law, the only one in the country to allow doctors to help patients end their lives.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals said Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot sanction or hold doctors criminally liable for prescribing overdoses under Oregon's voter-approved Death With Dignity Act.
"The attorney general's unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide," Circuit Judge Richard Tallman said. He said Ashcroft's threat to take action "far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law."
An Oregon official hailed the ruling as a victory for the states.
"From our perspective, this is a clear defense not just of the Death With Dignity Act, but a clear defense of a state's authority to regulate its own medical practices," said Kevin Neely, spokesman for Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers.
Oregon voters approved the Death With Dignity Act in 1994 and overwhelmingly affirmed it three years later. The law allows terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to request a lethal dose of drugs. Two doctors must confirm the diagnosis and determine the patient to be mentally competent to make the request.
Since 1998, at least 171 people have used Oregon's law to end their lives, according to state records. Most suffered from cancer.
In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court said that there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide but that states may decide the issue for themselves without federal interference.
Later, the Bush administration Justice Department concluded that suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose" under the Controlled Substances Act, the federal law declaring what drugs doctors may prescribe. The department threatened to punish doctors by revoking the federal licenses they need to prescribe medicine.
Oregon countered by arguing that regulating and licensing doctors generally has been the sole responsibility of the states. Oregon also said that Congress intended only to prevent illegal drug trafficking by doctors under the Controlled Substances Act, and that it left decisions about medical practice up to the states.
In 2002, a federal judge in Portland, Oregon, ruled against the Justice Department. In a rebuke to Ashcroft, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones said that the Controlled Substances Act does not give the federal government the power to say what is a legitimate medical practice.
In a similar 1996 case from Washington state, the 9th Circuit ruled that assisted suicide was permitted because there was a constitutional right to die. That decision meant Washington state could not prosecute doctors who aided their patients' deaths.
In a dissent Wednesday, Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace said the courts should give "substantial deference" to the attorney general's findings in the absence of a clear congressional policy.
"Certainly, Congress is free to enact legislation limiting or counteracting the Ashcroft directive's effects," Wallace said.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/26/assisted.suicide.ap/index.html
Florida executes man who wanted death sentence
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) -- Florida executed a man Wednesday who strangled a fellow prisoner to get a death sentence rather than serve a life term for sexually assaulting a child.
John Blackwelder, 49, was executed by chemical injection at the Florida State Prison near Starke for the 2000 murder of inmate Raymond Wigley.
He was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. ET, said Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush.
Blackwelder had a history of criminal convictions and was sentenced to life without parole in 1998 for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy, a crime he said he did not commit.
He said he wanted to die but could not bring himself to commit suicide and that he strangled Wigley in order to force the state to execute him.
Blackwelder pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and told the judge at his sentencing hearing that if returned to prison he would kill "as many times as necessary" to be put to death.
"I'm stuck in prison the rest of my life. There's no way of getting out. I'm not being in there. I can't handle it," Blackwelder told the judge.
He had been scheduled to die on Tuesday, the 25th anniversary of Florida's resumption of capital punishment. On May 25, 1979, John Spenkelink became the first prisoner Florida put to death after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban on capital punishment.
But the governor delayed the execution for 24 hours to investigate another prisoner's claim that someone else had confessed to Wigley's murder.
State investigators found no reason to doubt Blackwelder's guilt and Bush allowed the execution to proceed.
Wigley, also serving a life sentence, was convicted of raping, torturing and murdering 47-year-old Adella Maria Simmons in 1983.
Death penalty opponents said executing Blackwell would send a dangerous message to all prisoners serving life sentences.
"The message goes out to every lifer in the state," said Abe Bonowitz, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "If you don't like your life in prison, kill a prison worker or kill a fellow inmate and the state will assist in your suicide."
Death penalty critics said Blackwelder is the seventh Florida prisoner to "volunteer" for execution in recent years. Others, including serial killer Aileen Wournos and anti-abortion activists Paul Hill, dropped appeals guaranteed under Florida's death penalty statute.
A total of 911 executions have taken place in the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court approved the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Blackwelder was the 59th executed in Florida since then.
Texas, with 322, has the most among the 38 states with the death penalty, followed by Virginia's 91, Oklahoma's 73, Missouri's 61, and 59 in Florida.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/26/execution.florida.reut/index.html
Federal appeals court backs Oregon's assisted suicide law
Decision rules out Bush administration role
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A federal appeals court Wednesday declared the Bush administration has no right to interfere with Oregon's assisted suicide law, the only one in the country to allow doctors to help patients end their lives.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals said Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot sanction or hold doctors criminally liable for prescribing overdoses under Oregon's voter-approved Death With Dignity Act.
"The attorney general's unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide," Circuit Judge Richard Tallman said. He said Ashcroft's threat to take action "far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law."
An Oregon official hailed the ruling as a victory for the states.
"From our perspective, this is a clear defense not just of the Death With Dignity Act, but a clear defense of a state's authority to regulate its own medical practices," said Kevin Neely, spokesman for Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers.
Oregon voters approved the Death With Dignity Act in 1994 and overwhelmingly affirmed it three years later. The law allows terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to request a lethal dose of drugs. Two doctors must confirm the diagnosis and determine the patient to be mentally competent to make the request.
Since 1998, at least 171 people have used Oregon's law to end their lives, according to state records. Most suffered from cancer.
In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court said that there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide but that states may decide the issue for themselves without federal interference.
Later, the Bush administration Justice Department concluded that suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose" under the Controlled Substances Act, the federal law declaring what drugs doctors may prescribe. The department threatened to punish doctors by revoking the federal licenses they need to prescribe medicine.
Oregon countered by arguing that regulating and licensing doctors generally has been the sole responsibility of the states. Oregon also said that Congress intended only to prevent illegal drug trafficking by doctors under the Controlled Substances Act, and that it left decisions about medical practice up to the states.
In 2002, a federal judge in Portland, Oregon, ruled against the Justice Department. In a rebuke to Ashcroft, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones said that the Controlled Substances Act does not give the federal government the power to say what is a legitimate medical practice.
In a similar 1996 case from Washington state, the 9th Circuit ruled that assisted suicide was permitted because there was a constitutional right to die. That decision meant Washington state could not prosecute doctors who aided their patients' deaths.
In a dissent Wednesday, Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace said the courts should give "substantial deference" to the attorney general's findings in the absence of a clear congressional policy.
"Certainly, Congress is free to enact legislation limiting or counteracting the Ashcroft directive's effects," Wallace said.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/26/assisted.suicide.ap/index.html
