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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By Ashby Jones
Throughout the years, we’ve heard a lot of reasons for why a state should
not go through with a planned execution. But never before have we heard this
one.
An Ohio death-row inmate wants his upcoming execution delayed because his
obesity could lead to, in his lawyer’s words, a “torturous and lingering
death.”
The AP story about the inmate, who reportedly weighs almost 500 pounds,
continues:
Ronald Post, who shot and killed a hotel clerk in northern Ohio almost
30 years ago, said his weight, vein access, scar tissue and other medical
problems raise the likelihood his executioners would encounter severe
problems. He’s also so big that the execution gurney might not hold him,
lawyers for Post said in federal court papers filed Friday.
“Indeed, given his unique physical and medical condition there is a
substantial risk that any attempt to execute him will result in serious
physical and psychological pain to him, as well as an execution involving a
torturous and lingering death,” the filing said.
The constitutional grounds for such relief? Well, the Eighth Amendment’s
prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. According to Post’s
filing:
Because such an execution will not, and in Mr. Post’s case cannot,
accord with the “dignity of man” as required by well-settled principles of
the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment as made
applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment . . . Mr. Post cannot,
consistent with his rights under the United States Constitution, be executed
under Ohio’s current execution policy.
Post, 53, is scheduled to die Jan. 16 for the 1983 shooting death of Helen
Vantz in Elyria, Ohio, according to the AP. The prisons department was not
aware of the filing and could not immediately comment to the AP.
So… the question lingers: Will such an argument work? Lo and behold, courts
have actually wrestled with this issue in the past and the precedent isn’t
that good for Mr. Post. The AP story refers to a handful of other cases in
a variety of states in which such an argument failed.
Medical personnel have had a hard time inserting IVs into Post’s arms,
according to the court filing, which also states that Post has tried losing
weight, but knee and back problems have made it difficult to exercise. |
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