Wednesday 14 November 2007

The State`s opposition to federal stay - Mark Schwab

The State files opposition to motion for stay in federal court in Schwab

http://www.oranous.com/florida/MarkSchwab/oppositiontoemergency.pdf
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The state got it all wrong with their facts in this case.

(1) There are two separate drugs THIOPENTAL and PENTATHOL. The former is ultra short acting, while the latter is longer acting. Thiopental contains Sulfer and Pentathol does not. Neither drug is an anthesthetic, but a sedative/hypnotic, and does not abolish pain that is severe enough to wake one up. Neither drug is used to treat kidney stones or heart attacks because it does abolish pain, but might diminish pain. These words of art are used interchangeably in the state's arguement, and I did not know that both drugs would be used.

(2) Thiopental is a "first run drug" and is used to induce anesthesia, not to sustain it. It can put a person to sleep in as little as ten seconds when injected into a vein, and seeks nerve cells to attach to, but then detaches in the second run; waiting merely dilutes its effects, and is counterproductive in the killing process.

(3) Although there are clinical means to determine "unconsciousness", the word is not of art, and has different meaning to the lay and medical person. There are levels of unconsciousness . And to attain the level needed to continue with the murder will take longer than the thiopental will react. If the level of unconsiousness is defined, and that is the sole critera for continuing, the inmate can be gassed, electrocuted or shot, using the same "shot" to render him unconscious.

(4) This assumes that: (a) the sedative/hypnotic does its job and produces an acceptable level of unconsciousness; (b) the undefined "excessive pain" can be monitored-- either by machine-- or by clinical means-- which I doubt--and that a rogue doctor is present to advise if things go north, and a medical intervention is needed.

(5) the protocol as I saw parts of it, does not have provision for major botch where both IV lines go bad-- call in a doctor to brutalize the inmate like they did to Benny Demps, stop the execution, strangle the inmate with gloved hands, or whatever.

(6) What has happenned is the frantal clash between legal and scientific thinking. The Florida Supreme Court and some -- but not all-- judges have tried to rewrite medicine, like that prison doctor in Texas who stated for the record that "inmates do not feel pain". The mere statement that lethal injection is not a medical procedure creates the illusion ceteris paribus. Florida DOC is in a Grand Illusion, a kuckkuck fairyland, higher than their breeches. Add to this the arrogance of power.

Schwab committed a horrible act. Yet the law must take its course. The Goons aching for his blood will just have to wait---Florida is either pafrt of the United States, or it ain't. Tyhis Judge did the right thing, and more importantly for the right reasons.

15 November 2007 at 10:03:00 GMT-8

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