Now that Tookie is behind us, the next guy on Death Row in California is Clarence Ray Allen, a 75 year old legally blind guy in a wheelchair. Apparently his lawyers are planning to argue for clemency, based on the fact that is he is too old and too ill for Death Row. This seems to be a rather interesting argument, given that typically the purpose of an execution is to kill the subject and it’s generally not very physically demanding.
Now of course, there is something that just seems horribly cruel about killing an old man and the lawyers no doubt will try to appeal to that sympathy. On the other hand, the other side can argue that he commissioned the deaths of 3 and tried to have several others killed, and thus is a figure hardly deserving of sympathy. The defense can argue that in his state, he is not a threat, while the other side can argue that it’s not about the neutralizing a threat but rather about doing justice.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out.