Two death penalty cases...

Oklahoma sinks to a new low today, executing a terminally ill man. The federal death penalty came under scrutiny on Capitol Hill, as a former US Attorney testified about Abu Gonzalez' insistence on putting people to death, no matter how circumstantial the evidence.

In OK, they really excuted a man who had terminal cancer:

Jimmy Dale Bland, a two-time killer who shot his 62-year-old employer in the back of the head 11 years ago, became the second person executed by the state this year.

Bland, 49, was terminally ill with advanced lung cancer that spread to his brain and his hip bone, according to his attorney, David Autry. Bland received radiation and chemotherapy treatment, and his doctors said he had as little as six months to live.

Autry had warned that Bland's execution could have been a catastrophe if the veins in his arms were compromised by his chemotherapy treatments before a lethal dose of chemicals were injected as part of the execution process.

The part about Bland's veins is just disgusting. Talk about an 8th Amendment violation.

On the federal front, listen to the NPR story. The government is seeking the death penalty for a man, but they haven't bothered to dig out the victim's body from a landfill. Why not? Because the body may actually turn out to be exculpatory evidence.

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