Paul Ezra Rhoades was convicted in Idaho of three murders, though all told he is believed to have murdered at least six people. One of the three murders he was convicted of in Idaho was the sister of a family friend. I know what her death did to her family. I have seen the cost, the pain and the anger. However, knowing what I do, I cannot fathom any amount of closure or relief coming from the state executing Rhoades. It will not bring back his victims and it will not make what he did any less evil. If the law enforcement officials who brought Rhoades to justice will not find any satisfaction in his execution, what satisfaction can the state find in their killing him?/The Political Game. More here.

Question: Would you witness an execution if you could do so?

RICHMOND, Va. (Aug. 1) — A Virginia inmate who warned prosecutors he would kill again if not given the death penalty for strangling his cellmate was involved the death of another inmate, authorities said.

Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ron Elkins confirmed late Saturday that Robert Gleason Jr. was “involved” in the death of 26-year-old Aaron Alexander Cooper, though Elkins refused to elaborate. Gleason, who was already serving a life term for murder before killing his cellmate last year, has not been charged in the death. Read more. Posted at aolnews.com

Should inmates who ask for the death penalty be granted their request?

Item: Bill that would ban firing squads advances in Idaho Legislature/Idaho Statesman

More Info: A bill that would remove firing squads as an alternative for execution in Idaho is moving on to the full Idaho House. The House Judiciary and Rules Committee unanimously approved the HB107 Tuesday afternoon. … Staffers with the Idaho Attorney General’s office told the committee the changes were necessary to prevent lawsuits and make Idaho’s antiquated death penalty laws constitutional. If approved, it would also make it faster for Idaho to carry out death warrants.

Question: Is there a universal method of execution that you’d prefer in extreme capital punishment cases that warrant the death penalty?

Kevin Richert of the Idaho Statesman complains that Gov. Otter’s proposed 2009-2010 budget creates three new full-time attorneys in the public defender’s office, the agency responsible to defend death-row inmates. He claims this has turned capital punishment into a “growth industry” in Idaho, even though Idaho has executed only one criminal in the last 50 plus years. But there is a connection between an increase in public defenders and a decrease in executions, and the connection is out-of-control judicial activism. Taxpayer-funded public defenders are nowhere required in the Constitution, and have been imposed on a compliant and meek public only by activist judges/Bryan Fischer, IVA. More here.

• Winter Ducks/Free In Idaho!
• How soon before we talk secession?/Fort Boise
• 4 more days/ThomG, 43rd State Blues
• Potholes over people/IdaBlue
• Did Bushies set up Obama on wolf issue?/Rocky Barker