*I am in no way stating an opinion on either side of the situation. If you have been reading my blog for any time, you know that I was a victim of sexual crime. Please do not think that this plays any role in this post.*For two hours Tuesday afternoon at a prison in Lucasville, Ohio, while the rest of us were at work or school or home, Romell Broom's team of executioners worked to find a usable vein which would deliver the lethal injections designed to stop his heart and end his life. First they tried his arms. Then they tried his legs. Broom himself, a convicted rapist and murderer, even tried to help at one point, flexing his hand and fingers while lying on his side. He grimaced. He wiped his brow. Nothing worked. His veins simply wouldn't hold up.
This man has been sitting in prison for 25 years, awaiting his execution. He has been found guilty of rape and murder of a young, teen-aged girl. After a long time of trying, the man just sat sobbing. He has said time and time again that he did not do it. It has actually been noted that there was evidence freeing him of the conviction, but it was not allowed to be introduced.
Eventually, long after Broom was supposed to be dead, the prison director and execution team gave up. They called the governor and asked for a reprieve. The governor relented and now Broom sits in legal limbo, waiting evidently not just for some medical procedure that would free him up to be put to death but also for some guidance from the state and federal courts about whether it now would amount to "cruel and unusual" punishment to execute him at all under Ohio's evolving (but clearly still troubled) lethal injection protocols.
Is this God stopping the process and saying, "Forgive my child, give him one more appeal and you will see... Love him my children, love as I have loved you.."?
So the question is.... Can Ohio execute the Same Man Twice?
3 comments:
My view [This is Terra]:
I love a quote by Gandhi that says "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
Such theological views [eye for an eye] are primarily Old Testament teachings. When Christ came it says he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. To fulfill means it is done, it can not be "filled" anymore. Thus from my theological viewpoint, capital punishment is now null and void.
Christ command us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He also turned the other cheek and advised us to the same.
God gives and God takes away, only HE can take a life. No one sin is greater than another as scripture says.
What he has done is the PAST is horrible. However, every white lie, every idle gossip we participate in, every "little" sin is still sin. But you don't see any of us shouting "kill him/her for gossiping."
Forgiveness if for everyone.
Remembering King David, who had a wife's husband killed just so he could have sex with her, was still considered a man after God's own heart.
God is the author and finisher of life! No one is perfect, thus the reason forgiveness exists AND God is the sole judge!
Oh, that is awful! I hadn't heard about this and I am in OH too. How horrible for this man to go through, even if he is guilty. I wonder why they wouldn't let evidence be admitted? Confusing.
I am against capital punishment; it's never made much sense to me. Why would we assume that our courts are perfect and capable of being 100% correct, to the point that we will legally KILL someone with a guilty verdict? Why would we assume that we should hold the power of life and death in our hands? Humans are weak and imperfect and aren't able to see the whole picture. I am a believer of life in prison, and giving the prisoner time to repent and ask God for forgiveness before he/she dies.
I've also wondered how politicians can be pro-life and pro-death penalty at the same time. Does that make sense to anyone? A life is a life as far as I'm concerned.
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