Suitably Flip

I'm Too Old To Die

Clarence Ray Allen's options are running out, despite his novel appeal to the Supreme Court.

California's oldest death row inmate, a 75-year-old man who is legally blind and nearly deaf, is asking the US Supreme Court to do something it has never done before: block an execution because of the condemned man's advanced age and infirmity.

Clarence Ray Allen's lawyers contend that executing a feeble old man amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is banned by the US Constitution.

What did meek little Grandpa Clarence do to wind up in such inhuman straits?

After being sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 17-year-old girl, he orchestrated three additional murders from behind bars.  His target was a witness that helped put him in prison; two bystanding teenagers were also gunned down in the attack.  In addition to the triple murder, Allen was also convicted of conspiracy to murder 8 witnesses.

This is a perfect example of the importance of capital punishment.  It's not just about deterrence or justice; it's also a practical necessity.  Monsters like Allen can be locked up and the keys thrown away, only to quadruple their body count while in the state's custody.  If he had been sentenced to death for his first murder, three innocent people would still be alive.

The brother of Jospehine Rocha, one of the murdered bystanders (age 17 at the time), put it well:

"If we want to talk about age, let's look at the victims and their age.  As he feels he's too old to die, we put it right back and say Josephine was too young to die."

Unless the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, we'll be rid of this damnable sewage on Tuesday.

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I'm Too Old To Die

Clarence Ray Allen's options are running out, despite his novel appeal to the Supreme Court.

California's oldest death row inmate, a 75-year-old man who is legally blind and nearly deaf, is asking the US Supreme Court to do something it has never done before: block an execution because of the condemned man's advanced age and infirmity.

Clarence Ray Allen's lawyers contend that executing a feeble old man amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is banned by the US Constitution.

What did meek little Grandpa Clarence do to wind up in such inhuman straits?

After being sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 17-year-old girl, he orchestrated three additional murders from behind bars.  His target was a witness that helped put him in prison; two bystanding teenagers were also gunned down in the attack.  In addition to the triple murder, Allen was also convicted of conspiracy to murder 8 witnesses.

This is a perfect example of the importance of capital punishment.  It's not just about deterrence or justice; it's also a practical necessity.  Monsters like Allen can be locked up and the keys thrown away, only to quadruple their body count while in the state's custody.  If he had been sentenced to death for his first murder, three innocent people would still be alive.

The brother of Jospehine Rocha, one of the murdered bystanders (age 17 at the time), put it well:

"If we want to talk about age, let's look at the victims and their age.  As he feels he's too old to die, we put it right back and say Josephine was too young to die."

Unless the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, we'll be rid of this damnable sewage on Tuesday.