Texas leads all other states in executions since capital punishment was reinstituted in 1976, and we continue to far outpace other states on an annual basis.
And just how does the state maintain its league lead? By planning ahead, and this year stands as a prime example.
According to a USA Today report, Kentucky had to forego two death-by-lethal-injection sentences because the state has only enough sodium thiopental — the drug used for such punishment, also called “killin’ juice” — to perform one execution, and officials declined, evidently, to flip a coin.
Oklahoma finds itself in the same boat that won't cross the River Styx. It put off an execution because a judge called for a hearing before corrections officials could use a substitute, which "wasn't at the quality we wanted," according to Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, and when you’re talking lethal injection you don’t want the stuff to be cut down to street purity.
Texas, though, has plenty of sodium thiopental. Enough, in fact, to carry out all the executions on schedule and then some, so, hey, good for us.
You don’t get to the top of your game without putting in the advance work.
There are some things this state will damn sure plan ahead for. Not enough state funds for child insurance? No problem, because we can kill the bastards that need killin.'
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Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He is so very proud of his native and home state.
