Posted on 01/13/2006 3:04:47 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Calif. Governor Has No Mercy for Inmate
By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago
California's oldest death row inmate — a 75-year-old who is legally blind and nearly deaf — is asking the U.S. 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 attorneys contend that executing a feeble old man amounts to cruel and unusual punishment banned by the U.S. Constitution.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday denied Allen clemency. Barring a last-minute reprieve by the courts, the governor's decision means Allen will become the second-oldest person put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976.
He is set to die by injection Tuesday for ordering three slayings while behind bars for another murder.
Allen, who turns 76 on the eve of his execution, has been on death row for more than 23 years. He often uses a wheelchair and had to be resuscitated after suffering a heart attack last year at San Quentin Prison.
"The spectacle of Mr. Allen being wheeled into the death chamber, unable to walk and unable to see those who have come to witness his execution, violates all standards of decency and would amount to nothing more than the purposeless and needless imposition of pain and suffering prohibited by the Eighth Amendment," said Annette Carnegie, one of Allen's attorneys.
Schwarzenegger said Allen's age and health did not matter and noted that he committed his crimes at the age of 50. "His conduct did not result from youth or inexperience, but instead resulted from the hardened and calculating decisions of a mature man."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Well, Allen had no sympathy for his victims.
Did this murderer extend "mercy" on who he murdered?
Then WHY should there be "mercy" for him?
but wait I thought Ahnold was a racist.
"Barring a last-minute reprieve by the courts, the governor's decision means Allen will become the second-oldest person put to death..."
Not our fault. Blame it on the ACLU. He should have died 23 years ago. Lots of borrowed time for this convict.
He wouldn't be old and feeble now if he had been executed years ago like he should've been.
I'll bet noone on death row has a DNR order. After all, they're all innocent.
He is being executed because he was involved in murder of three witnesses while in jail for another murder. The only reason he is old and sick is that California does not carry out executions until 25 years have elapsed.
Only God can have mercy on this man.
They shoot horses don't they?
Very true ... and while on this earth he needs to take his punishment like a man.
Exactly. Did the victims youth matter to him when he had them snuffed out?
"Mr. Allen feels he is too old to die," Rocha said. "We feel Josephine was too young to die. She was only 17 when she was taken from us and murdered."
Well said!
New definition of Chutzpah is to fight your death penalty sentence tooth and nail for years and years and claim old age when you run out of time.
I think the electric chair should be brought back. It was better when their heads burst into perdition's flames.
He's a racist and hates old people with disabilities. Obviously.
Bravo Governor Schwarzenegger.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.