Unlawful Execution?

In the article "Georgia inmate put to death after Supreme Court denies stay" (link to article) it states that Warren Lee Hill was executed today after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case for a fourth time. Hill's execution had already been postponed three times, all within hours of when he was supposed to be put to death, in the past three years. Hill was given the death penalty after he battered to death a fellow inmate while already in prison for killing his then 18-year-old girlfriend. Hill's lawyer claims that Hill had an intellectual disability which gave him the maturity of a young boy, and thus should not have been found fully culpable for his actions. Because of this disability, Hill's lawyer believed that the death penalty was unjust for him, but because the Supreme Court refused to review the case again, Hill was put to death.

I think that while the actions of this man were horrible, putting him to death was not the right thing to do, especially if he truly had an intellectual disability. Executing mentally disabled people is considered cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution, so Hill's execution could be considered unlawful or illegal. I think that while this man undoubtedly deserved to be in prison, he did not deserve to be executed.

 

President Obama Tries to Sell His Speech to Two Red States

In the article, "President Obama to Speak Today at the University of Kansas" (link to article) it discusses how the president has already visited two "red" Republican states since his State of the Union address. One of these states is Kansas and the other is Idaho. This was actually the first time that President Obama visited Idaho as president. By visiting these states, he is trying to rally support for the middle-class economics that he spoke about in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. According to Josh Earnest, a White House press secretary, states like Idaho and Kansas are examples of states who already support these ideas, which is why President Obama chose to visit them. He wants to show that there is Republican support for many of the programs that the president wants to implement. Later on in the article it also stated that the president would like to visit South Dakota, Utah, and South Carolina (the only three states that he has not visited yet) before his presidency ends.

I am not surprised that the president chose to visit these states right after his State of the Union address. He obviously needs more support from Republicans if he wants any of the ideas that he talked about in his speech to work out.  I know that a lot of people do not agree with many of the ideas that the president spoke about on Tuesday, so it will be interesting to see if these visits have any impact on how much support the president receives.

One Step Closer to Banning Abortion

In the article, "Congress Introduces A National Abortion Ban On Its Very First Day Back", (link to article) it states that Representatives Trent Franks and Marsha Blackburn reintroduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which had already been passed in the House of Representatives last year. This is a measure that is supposed to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy because fetuses supposedly can feel pain during an abortion at this point. Republicans believe that they should have enough support to pass this measure in both the chambers this year.

Already this measure has become very controversial, for it is considered a violation of the rights that were given under Roe v. Wade. Also, some people are saying that fetuses actually cannot feel pain or survive outside of the womb until the 24th week of pregnancy, which undermines this measure's argument. Others have been supportive of the measure, saying that it will help protect vulnerable, unborn babies. I think that this measure is a step in the right direction towards developing a ban on all abortions in the future. I am definitely pro-life, so I am happy that there is a proposed measure limiting at least some part of abortions. Hopefully this will pass and then lead to abortions being made completely illegal in the future.