It was another botched execution – this time in Arizona. It took nearly two hours for murderer Joseph Wood to die. As in the Oklahoma botched execution, there was a prolonged battle in the courts between the state and the lawyers about the fatal cocktail – who made it and how it was applied. The major difference is that Arizona officials are insisting that Wood did not suffer at all, despite what Arizona Republic reporter Michael Kiefer described as “660 gasps” taken by Wood before he became unconscious. Another witness, a spokesman for Arizona’s attorney general, said she “was surprised by how peaceful it was.” Via the National Journal.
A federal judge says that the guillotine and firing squad are better methods for capital punishment than lethal injection, which try to make executions look “serene and peaceful.” Let’s just admit, Judge Alex Kozinski writes, that executions are “brutal, savage events.” Via the Washington Post.
And now a federal judge has ruled that Colorado’s gay-marriage ban is unconstitutional. It’s another defeat for Attorney General John Suthers, who will appeal this ruling, too. Via Fox31 Denver.
E.J. Dionne deconstructs the D.C. Circuit’s Obamacare ruling and laments what happens when judges become ideologues. Via the Washington Post.
John Cassidy writes about trying to take a vacation from the news, but how the news wouldn’t let him. And in any case, it was there waiting for him, with a vengeance, when he returned. Via the New Yorker.
Note to Scott McInnis: Montana Sen. John Walsh plagiarized his thesis. According to the New York Times, about one-fourth of his 14-page master’s degree thesis was lifted.
It was inevitable, but Darth Vader is polling higher than all the potential 2016 presidential candidates. Via the Washington Post.
Rockies win the game, but lose the all-important pre-game standoff. It’s a must-watch video. Via Bleacher Report.
The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission voted 3-2 to okay Secretary of State Scott Gessler going to a Republican National Lawyers Association seminar in Las Vegas next month at the organization’s expense because he is a conference speaker. The commission ruled that Gessler violated ethics when he attended the RNLA conference in 2012. Via the Denver Post.
