Strong brutally stabbed and slashed 23-year-old Eva Washington and two-year-old Zandrea Thomas to death after an argument in October, 2000 at the couple's apartment in St. Ann.
Strong spared his own daughter that he had fathered with Washington, Alyshia Strong, who was 3 months old at the time. She has asked Gov. Nixon to commute his sentence to life in prison, saying that he is an important part of her life.
A member of the family of Washington and Thomas who declined to give his name called Missourinet and said that they are, "sorry for the parents ... his parents ... and of course the daughter, our cousin, but right now he has to pay for what he's done, and we're ready for closure. Right now we would like for this man to be executed today and that would give us closure."
Eva Washington
Zandrea Thomas
Once again, after years of appeals, and a decent amount of time from the setting of the execution to execution date, the Gang of Four tries to deny justice to victims' families who have waited for so long. What makes it worse--they don't even bother to explain it. This is the very definition of lawless. As everyone knows, the interest of the state (and the victims' family) in the carrying out of a death sentence is at its zenith when habeas is done. Additionally, the last-minute nature of the stay request cannot be ignored, whether or not one can lay the blame at the feet of the defendant (or his attorneys).
It's high time to start vilifying these liberal judges as anti-victim and criminal coddling. How silly was it for Justice Ginsburg to shout out Kermit Bye's ridiculous comment about high school chemistry experiment? Can anyone defend such silliness? Nope. As a society, we have fetishized judicial supremacy. It's high time some democratic pressure (hardened by the white-hot anger about ridiculousness like this) was brought to bear. Ginsburg's silliness and unseriousness call into question her basic competence, and it is an affront to all of us as free citizens that she wields so much power in our society.
These are harsh words. But imagine, just imagine, waiting patiently for justice to be done in a situation that you did not create. And some unserious hack tries to thwart justice and praises silly hyperbole without stating why a stay is compelled by law. When looked at it that way, words just aren't strong enough to show the contempt that is deserved.
It would have been appalling for the victims' family, having waited so long, to have been denied justice, and denied it at the last minute.
I think you've nailed it in saying that democratic pressure should be brought to bear to correct excessive judicial involvement with executions. Once we know we have the right guy, as we did in this case and the huge majority of other capital cases, we should insist that the judgment be promptly carried out.
Legal process is good, indeed it's essential (to liberty) up to a point. But, as you have explained before, the democratic will -- not to mention justice -- is increasingly being thwarted by years of manufactured procedural delays. The fact that defense bar hucksters are running the clock for their own purposes is, by comparison, a minor annoyance.
The point of these delays is not to insure fairness (although it is undertaken in that name). The point is starkly political -- to lay the groundwork for abolition using arguments (like the ones that made the difference in the Nebraska legislature) concerning, not morality, but simply budgeting and logistics.
Abolitionism long ago gave hypocrisy a bad name. Now it is showing, in addition, its callousness.
HuffPo must read this blog, as the piece on the execution reprints the victim's letter.
I'll bet you a steak dinner in Toledo that the HuffPo doesn't read this blog. If they do, it will be worth every bite you munch.