Twenty five years ago, in 1988, Marshall Lee Gore raped, strangled and stabbed a young woman before dumping her body in a Miami-Dade county trash heap. It was later discovered that she was not his first victim. He was sentenced to death for the Miami murder and the execution was scheduled for yesterday, Tuesday, September 10, 2013.
Governor Rick Scott (R) postponed the execution at the behest of Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), not because of any new evidence but because it coincided with the kick-off of her re-election campaign.
what eye thynk: First, let me say that I am against capital punishment. My solution is a life sentence that means "life", not until the parole board says so. I would put the prisoner in a cell, weld the cell door shut and leave him there. He wouldn't get out to socialize in the yard with the other prisoners, he wouldn't get re-hab, a free education or learn a new skill. If he wants exercise, he would be free to do all the jumping jacks he wants in his cell. Meals would be slid through a slot in the door and if the prisoner wanted entertainment, he would get a book, not TV and video games. Visitation would consist of talking to the clergyman of his choice through the cell door. Destroy the cell and he would live within the destruction or pass the time rebuilding what he had torn apart. Health care would be minimal and only what could be accomplished through the welded door. Get sick? Live, (or die), with it. Harsh, yes; but so is the crime that got him there. And, if later developments prove a prisoner who has already been executed to have really been innocent--which has happened--there would be no "whoops!"
But this post isn't about deciding yea or nay on capital punishment. It is about Florida and Atty. Gen. Bondi's request. This would be the same Atty. Gen. Bondi who fought for the Florida legislature to pass the Timely Justice Act aimed at speeding up executions in her state.
You have to wonder why Ms. Bondi just didn't change the date of her fundraising event. After all, political campaigns for Florida Attorney General only come once every four years. I would think there were lots of other available dates on her calendar. And, being the State Attorney General, you have to believe that she had plenty of advanced warning about the exact date and time of the coming execution.
Though her campaign event went on as scheduled, Ms. Bondi did acknowledge that her request was not one of her best moments. "We absolutely should not have requested that the date of the execution be moved." I guess the "we" means she is passing equal responsibility onto Gov. Scott for granting her request.
No matter what side of the capital punishment question you stand on, you have to acknowledge that postponing a scheduled execution for the convenience of a political fundraising event is crassness personified.
I'm sure the families of Marshall Gore's victims are questioning Republican priorities this morning. I know I am.
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