"Execution still leaves questions," is the editorial in today's newspaper. Here's an extended excerpt:
Tennessee executed Steve Henley early Wednesday for the 1985
killings of a couple in Jackson County, applying a final solution to a
case that had no final answers.
Just as the state moved ahead to
put Philip Workman to death 16 months ago, despite finding he did not
fire the gun that killed a Memphis police officer, questions surround
the conviction of Henley, 55.
Chief among them is whether any death-penalty case should hinge on
the testimony of a co-defendant, in whose interest it is that the other
man receive the blame.
Henley's co-defendant, Terry Flatt,
received a reduced sentence of 25 years after testifying that Henley
shot Fred and Edna Stafford and set fire to their house because of a
money dispute. And Flatt served only five years of that sentence.
Henley always maintained his innocence, even from the gurney where he
was administered the lethal injection.
Henley's account may have
been as credible as that of his co-defendant. But we will never know
since, with capital punishment, there is no recourse.
Yes, Henley
spent more than 20 years on death row, in which he could have mounted a
more thorough appeal. But Henley could not afford it — and that is the
other element of this tragedy. In Tennessee, and in other states that
apply capital punishment, you are more likely to be put to death if you
are indigent.
Henley could not afford a lawyer to prepare a
petition for clemency, which could have resulted in his sentence being
commuted to life in prison.
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently
considering a separate Tennessee case, that of inmate Edward Jerome
Harbison, who argues indigent death-row inmates seeking clemency should
have a right to adequate legal representation. But the justices refused
a stay in Henley's execution, without explanation, while that case is
decided.
Inadequate counsel; income and racial disparities; lack
of deterrence to other criminals; and the use of lethal injection
which, despite a ruling by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, is
questionable on constitutional grounds — all leave Tennessee's death
penalty system on shaky ground.
A special committee of the
legislature studied the state system last fall and recommended an
agency be set up to ensure capital-case lawyers have sufficient
experience and are adequately paid. If that plan is adopted, it will
help toward ensuring fair trials. However, the methods of execution
employed by the state should be studied further. Until those things
happen, Tennessee should put executions on hold.
The Tennessean also carries the OpEd, "Death penalty law needs to be overturned." It's by Tennessean editorial page editor Dwight Lewis.
Let me say this upfront: As a columnist who has long spoken out
against the death penalty, I owe the readers of this newspaper an
apology.
I let you down; at least, those of you who, like me, are
against the state putting people to death. And that's whether in an
electric chair, by lethal injection, by using a firing squad or even
the gas chamber.
In this particular case, unlike any other time before an execution
was allowed to take place by former Gov. Don Sundquist or current Gov.
Phil Bredesen, I have not written at least one column urging that such
action not be taken.
What good is it to take someone's life —
whether that life is being taken by a criminal or by the state? And
yes, I am fully aware that Tennessee has a death penalty law and when
the question was put before them, both Sundquist and Bredesen said they
would carry it out.
There's not going to be an execution
Wednesday morning, I kept saying to myself recently. Gov. Bredesen is
not going to let this execution take place.
I don't know why I
got so comfortable that that would be the case. But that is exactly how
I felt after considering that Steve Henley's co-defendant, Terry Flatt,
only served a little more than five years in prison for the 1985 murder
of Fred and Edna Stafford in Jackson County.
I should have known
better, especially since before Wednesday, Bredesen had allowed two
other executions to take place since being elected governor in November
2002. Under Sundquist, who preceded Bredesen, convicted murderer Robert
Glen Coe was put to death on April 19, 2000. That was the first
execution that had taken place in Tennessee since William Tines died in
the state's electric chair on Gov. Buford Ellington's watch on Nov. 7,
1960.
The newspaper also carries the news report on Henley's execution, "Tennessee executes man who killed couple." The Nashville City Paper's coverage of the execution was noted in this post yesterday.
More on Harbison v. Bell is from ScotusWiki. Coverage of last month's oral argument in Harbison v. Bell is here.