Without comment.
Oh, fuck it. I'm gonna comment. I have a close relative who has mental health issues. But we don't talk about the mentally ill in America. As a "great society", we don't even adequately fund their treatment. We warehouse them, and euthanise them when it's convenient. I'm sorry, this really pisses me off on several levels.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A mentally ill killer was executed Tuesday evening after Gov. Rick Perry rejected a parole board's highly unusual recommendation to commute his death sentence or delay the execution.
Kelsey Patterson, 50, also lost an appeal to the Supreme Court in the hour before he was put to death.
A diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, Patterson was condemned for a double slaying almost 12 years ago. His lethal injection renewed the legal quandary of whether it is proper to execute someone who is mentally ill when the Supreme Court says it is unconstitutional to execute someone who is mentally retarded.
Strapped to the death chamber gurney, Patterson mumbled, "No kin, no kin, no kin. I'm not guilty of a charge of capital murder. Give me my rights. I'm acquitted of capital murder."
As the warden leaned over him and asked if he had a final statement, Patterson responded, "Statement to what? Statement to what? I'm not guilty of the charge of capital murder."
He continued to ramble, saying "give me my life back" as the lethal drugs took effect. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.
At least three mentally ill prisoners have been executed in Texas since the Supreme Court ruled two years ago that severely mentally retarded inmates should not be executed.
Compassionate conservatism, indeed. We've got nothin' on the Saudi's. Are you uncomfortable? You should be.
