As Arkansas' eight executions in 10 days looms, Professor Valena Beety reminds us at Jurist that until now, Arkansas's mark in death penalty history
was its execution of Rickey Ray Rector: a man so unable
to comprehend his surroundings that he ate his final meal and saved
his slice of pecan pie for later.
Rector had shot himself in the head after
committing his crime, but survived. Legally, the state may not execute a person
who does not understand they are about to die. Yet the courts ducked the issue,
and another famous Arkansas Governor—Bill Clinton—made sure to be present for
Rector's execution even while campaigning for the presidency in 1992.
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