Agents of Wrath

There is only one county in the United States in which there are two death chambers, that is, two places where a prisoner condemned to death may meet his fate.  And since I'm blogging about it, my readers would correctly assume that I'm referring to the county I currently reside in, Leavenworth County, Kansas.

Surprisingly, USP Leavenworth (the famous one) isn't one of those places.  The Federal Bureau of Prisons conducts executions in Indiana, most notably the Oklahoma City bomber.  However, military executions and state executions would take place within 10 miles of my house.

Military executions take place at Fort Leavenworth's US Disciplinary Barracks.  Although there hasn't been an execution at Fort Leavenworth since 1961, 6 men are on death row, including the soldier responsible for the Fort Hood attack.

If the state of Kansas chooses to actually execute any of the 9 or 10 men on death row, they'd be transported to Lansing - the prison that my father worked at for 25 years.  The "new" death chamber has never been used.  Also, it's been since the 1960s since Kansas carried out an execution.

Earlier this year, there was conversation that one of the military prisoners, convicted of rape and murder in the late 80s, might finally have his sentence carried out.  It gave me a chance to contemplate the issue of capital punishment.  Another pause for thought occurred when the Charleston shooter unsuccessfully tried to avoid a death sentence earlier this year.

Unfortunately, it can be agreed that the death penalty is not consistently applied in a fair, just, timely manner.  And although I've used the phrase "Needle of Justice™" in regard to lethal injection...justice and the death penalty have a strained relationship in our country.

The problem of crime in our country, the value of human life (used in arguments for and against the death penalty), the inconsistencies, and the delay..,

Even if I remain in favor of the death penalty, I don't have to like it, and I don't have to be comfortable about it.

But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. - Rom 13:4