Right now, a death row inmate in Mississippi is walking to his death.

[Maddy McCall]

He's probably on the table as I type.

Dale Leo Bishop did not kill anyone, but he participated in the crime that lead to the death of a person. The actual murderer got life without parole.

When Bishop was being sentenced, he told the judge he wanted to die. No one then knew that Bishop had bipolar disorder, including Bishop. He has since been diagnosed and now wants to live.

It's up to the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, whether or not Bishop will die in 14 minutes. The same Barbour who, less than a week ago, commuted the sentence of a murderer (Michael David Graham) who blew his wife's head off with a shotgun in 1989, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Graham ended up working as a trusty in the governor's mansion, and, since Barbour likes Graham, he commuted his sentence.

My bet is that Barbour will not grant clemency to Bishop. Sadly, a man is about to die in approximately 12 minutes, for a murder he didn't even commit.


UPDATE: DALE LEO BISHOP HAS BEEN EXECUTED.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/NEWS/80723036&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL



Just in--Barbour and USSC deny clemency to Bishop:

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/NEWS/80723024/1001


More info on Graham's commutation:

http://www.gulflive.com/opinion/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/opinion/121654890835710.xml

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. As a person with bipolar I am heartbroken. Yes, people should take responsibility for

their actions but there are extenuating circumstance here. (In fact, I think the DP needs to go anyway. *sigh)

[HowHasItComeToThis]

2. HALEY BARBOUR IS A HATEFUL MAN

[ColbertWatcher]

6. The GOP will do anything to rile up their hateful base in an election year. n/t

[mikita]

3. words fail at this time

what we do in the name of "civilization".

:cry:

[mudesi]

4. It's OK. Capital punishment works

As any of the conservatives here on DU will tell you, there are no cases in which capital punishment unjustly kills people.

:sarcasm:

[Maddy McCall]

5. It's 6:00. He probably just died.

Very sad case.

[dems_rightnow]

7. Whether or not he committed murder.....

.... depends on your definition of murder, I guess.

He supplied the hammer with which the other murderer hit the victim. When the victim escaped, Bishop ran after him, caught him and drug him back. Then he held the victim down while the other guy hit him 23 times with a hammer.

For me, and the jury, that was murder.

I'm not in favor of the death penalty, but saying he didn't commit murder is playing fast and loose with words.

[tismyself]

8. I am so damned angry.

“I ain’t never gonna ask God to forgive me. I ain’t going to heaven; I won’t allow it. For what I did, I deserve to die.” Dale Leo Bishop.

No, no... there will be an extra special star in the heavens tonight.

[exothermic]

9. I can't quite manage more sympathy for the assistant killer than for the victim.

No tears here.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. You sympathize with the victim?

So then why are you exploiting the victim in a shallow attempt to disrupt?

[Maestro]

11. Man, talk about unequal justice

Graham, who seems more violent, gets a commutation and Bishop, who actually did wield the hammer, does not. I am not for his release by any means, but he shouldn't have been killed by the state either. The death penalty is so very wrong and uneven.

[tismyself]

12. exactly

[ladjf]

13. Bloodlust.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

15. We don't see things as they are,...

we see things as we are.
--Anais Nin

It's the bleeding hearts with unclean (blood soaked) hands.
The only unfairness here is that his partner in crime escapes the same fate.

[flvegan]

14. Revenge, not punishment.

Hope it filled them with some selfish satisfaction. Okay, not really.

[Nye Bevan]

16. "Did not kill anyone"?

He held a guy down so his buddy could beat him to death with a claw hammer. That makes him just as much a murderer as his buddy.

I am opposed to the death penalty, but you can argue the pros and cons without minimizing the crimes of the people who get executed.

[ChazII]

17. Accurate observation.

Bishop role shouln't be down played. That being said, he should have had a life sentence no parole possible.