Michael Bascum Selsor was executed yesterday in Oklahoma for a particularly brutal murder.
My views on the wrongfulness of this sentence should carry weight as I am no abolitionist and firmly believe that every society should at least have access to the ultimate penalty. (Those who automatically rail against all death sentences are incapable of a balanced viewpoint).
My argument is that the execution of this man is immoral THIRTY SEVEN years after the event.By English standards, he had served the best part of 'three life sentences' with an execution on top!
How is this deemed to be justice?
I really feel that the USA must 'fast track' these cases and ensure that the execution process can be completed in under two years - or not at all. The appeals process MUST be trimmed to reasonable levels.
I am fully aware that delaying tactics and trickery by defence attorneys in the hope of a reprieve are substantially to blame - but that does not make it a worthy system.
Surely, it must be possible to work out a shortened pathway which does not involve such inhumanity.
