Arkansas Struggles to Find Enough People to Watch Executions

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/25/us/arkansas-death-penalty-witnesses.html

Arkansas Struggles to Find Enough People to Watch Executions
By MATTHEW HAAG | MARCH 25, 2017

The state of Arkansas, which plans to execute eight inmates over 10 days next month, is struggling to overcome a logistical problem to carry that out: There are not enough people who want to watch them die.

A state law requires that at least six people witness an execution to ensure that the state’s death penalty laws are properly followed. But so far, finding that many volunteer witnesses to cover all of the scheduled executions has proved difficult, prompting the director at the Department of Correction to take the extraordinary step of personally seeking volunteers.

A department spokesman declined to say whom the director, Wendy Kelley, has approached for help, but she has extended invitations at least to members of the Little Rock Rotary Club, according to news reports. Ms. Kelley made the request, which the members initially thought was a joke, after delivering a keynote address on Tuesday.

“You seem to be a group that does not have felony backgrounds and are over 21,” Ms. Kelley told the Rotarians, according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “So if you’re interested in serving in that area, in this serious role, just call my office.”

[pangaia]

1. SICK SICK SICK SICK..

What a fucked up country !!!

[beam me up scottie]

13. Indeed. And look what good company we keep:

China, together with Iran, North Korea, Yemen and the US (the only G7 country to still execute people) carried out the most executions last year. Excluding China, the report says: At least 1,722 people were sentenced to death in 58 countries in 2012.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/mar/29/death-penalty-countries-world

Now there's something to be proud of.

[3catwoman3]

2. Who the hell wants to...

...watch executions?

[Phoenix61]

3. That is wrong on so many levels

Who the hell wants to watch an execution? I'd be seriously concerned about someone who volunteers for that.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Well, I sure hope Gov. Hutchinson has to sit through all of them. He

could hardly wait to start up executions again.

[pangaia]

14. That is an excellent.

In any state with the death penalty, the governor and all elected officials in favor of it must watch them...up close.

[First Speaker]

5. *Sigh*...good help is *so* hard to find...

[Iggo]

6. How 'bout just don't kill anybody.

[mountain grammy]

7. 62 million trump voters..

he won Arkansas. They can't find 6 of these psychos. Maybe there's still hope for America.

[Turbineguy]

8. There must be loads of republicans

who get off on that shit. Maybe they need to advertise it better. "Watch some guy lose his health care coverage!"

That would bring them in.

[Mariana]

9. You'd think there would be waiting list.

I bet a lot of them are squeamish and know they would fall right out if they watched an execution in person.

[Elwood P Dowd]

10. Just call O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, and Savage

for their Arkansas mailing list.

[beam me up scottie]

11. "to ensure that the state's death penalty laws are properly followed"

Think about that for a moment.

They need people to watch to ensure that when the state murders a human being it's all nice and legal.

[Renew Deal]

12. I have a list for them. Death Penalty supporters Tom Cotton, Steve Boozman, Rick Crawford,

Steve Womack, Bruce Westerman