Lethal injection is not a medical act
The Georgia Supreme Court has stayed the execution of condemned killer Warren Hill.
To suggest that the death penalty by lethal injection can be botched wrongly suggests that it can be improved.
Lethal injection creates an illusion that the death penalty is a medical act, and therefore, somehow subject to thoughtful oversight and public protection that medical practice provides.
The state may choose to execute its citizens, but it is an illusion of the worst kind to believe that medicine, used for healing, can civilize this activity.
It might be time to create execution specialists, schooled in the details of ending life in the face of the complex legal issues that routinely attend these cases.
Perhaps attorneys?
DR. JOEL ZIVOT, ATLANTA
Gun culture exerts a malign influence
There is absolutely no (good) reason for anyone to own a weapon that is capable of using a high-capacity ammunition magazine.
None.
The fact that we are even discussing this in a civilized society is an indication of how out of control our gun culture has become.
My heart goes out to the families in Aurora, Colo.
BETSY SCATTERGOOD, ATLANTA
What happens to unfinished projects?
I feel like we voters are deliberately not being told the whole story about T-SPLOST.
Logic tells you that all the planned projects will not begin on Day One — nor will all of them be completed by the last day of the tax period.
What will happen to all the unfinished projects after the proposed tax has ended?
Will we be left with unfinished roads, intersections, barricades, etc.?
Of course not.
We’ll be asked once again to vote for another T-SPLOST to finish the work, thereby perpetrating the “forever tax.”
Open your eyes, Atlanta!
MELISSA WADE, JOHNS CREEK
Remember, Aurora was not isolated event
Only time will tell if we are able to learn anything of the motives behind James Holmes’ shootings.
While there may be a lot of animosity against Holmes, one thing as a society that we can all do is reflect upon the deeper nature and significance of this event.
This was not an isolated event.
We must recognize that someone manufactured and sold those guns to Holmes.
Additionally, we have violent video games and movies which re-create such horrific scenes.
This does not excuse Holmes of his responsibility.
However, we should not be so shocked that such violence crosses the line between “fiction” and reality.
JONATHAN BLASE, ATLANTA
