“A Texas man on death row for killing a worker who was on his property looking for city code violations was put to death Tuesday,” dfw.cbslocal.com reports. “Adam Ward was given a lethal injection for shooting and killing Michael Walker, a code enforcement officer who was taking photos of junk piled outside the Ward family home in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas.” Fair enough? Before you answer, consider this fact about the 33-year-old killer . . .
Ward’s attorneys, both at his trial and later for his appeals, described him as delusional and mentally ill. Hours before his execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal that argued his mental illness should have disqualified him from the death penalty.
Again, fair enough? More generally, do you support the death penalty? I don’t, for one simple reason: I don’t want the government being in the business/habit of putting people to death. Regardless of the validity of the trial process or the costs of lifetime incarceration. That said, I realize that my opinion could change if a killer took the life of one of my friends or family. What’s your take?
