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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Do you think vaccinations should be mandatory? Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake Police Reports Cheering on the champs Education For a friend: AHS seniors team up to help former fellow student Ashland builds a bridge across the STEM gap Chicken pox hits Ashland Middle School AHS speech and debate team to compete in Medford Ashland: Lions Club steps up for vision tests Environment New TAP pumps bolster Ashland's options Most residents speak against gas pipeline proposed for Southern Oregon Home Help: Make your new house feel like home ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms Business Ashland's Safeway part of Haggen acquisition The Playwright pub will be serving again Saturday Mt. 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SOU tops Marian in NAIA football finals High school Shibley-Styer, Malcolm lead Grizzlies to comeback win over Henley Feinberg scores 17 in Grizz loss Grizzlies tripped up late in tourney loss to Ridgeview Grizzlies' comeback attempt falls short against Mazama Ashland girls win three duals in home swim meet Southern Oregon University Raiders bring it home Weber's triple-double help SOU men survive OT thriller For fans who made trip, title game special Cheering on the champs Shibley-Styer, Malcolm lead Grizzlies to comeback win over Henley Opinion Latest Stories Herb Rothschild Jr.: The Christmas spirit Our View: Good news this week The vaccination deniers Granlund cartoon: Christmas season Matthew T. Mangino: The future of the death penalty in question? Editorial Our View: Good news this week The vaccination deniers Other Views: Hunting helps the economy Our View: ACH's remarkable recovery Our View: Growing up is inevitable Letters Letters to the Editor, Dec. 17 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 16 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 11 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 8 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Guest opinions Herb Rothschild Jr.: The Christmas spirit Guest Opinion: Heard the buzz about Bee City USA? Herb Rothschild Jr.: Fight Zionist suppression Guest Opinion: Life — and death — by choice Guest Opinion: The environmental tipping point Revels Latest Stories Dancing People Company celebrates the Winter Solstice 4 Things to do this weekend Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets: Dec. 18-24 'Homesman' plays grit and despair perfectly Theater ACT presents reading of 'The Quality of Life' Putting the music into 'A Christmas Carol' Meet the real Jacob Marley Music Rating old-timers’ albums from 2014 SOU presents all-percussion concert Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Movies Movie review: This ‘Museum’ entry should be closed to the public Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'Homesman' plays grit and despair perfectly Movie review: Exiting Middle-earth with a triumphant flourish Movie review: A captivating film about a girl gone ‘Wild’ Food and Drink Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Home Help: Home safety tips for a safe and happy winter season Marketta Gregory: What’s in the Bible Looking Up: The stars from the North Pole Suzette Martinez Standring: Christmas light reflections Health Watch: Change up your treadmill workout Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Do you think vaccinations should be mandatory? ... Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland ... State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake ... Do you think vaccinations should be mandatory? ... Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland ... State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake ... Matthew T. Mangino: The future of the death penalty in question? Comment By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now Posted Dec. 17, 2014 @ 12:06 pm By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now Posted Dec. 17, 2014 @ 12:06 pm » Social News The last 12 months may well mark the beginning of the end for the death penalty in America. This has been an inauspicious year for state-sponsored death. For the first time in recent history, a state other than Texas executed more men than any other state. Missouri executed 10 men and Texas executed eight men. Not to be outdone, Texas also executed two women. There were 35 executions carried out across the country, so to speak. Only eight states carried out executions in 2014, in fact three states — Texas, Missouri and Florida — were responsible for 28 of the 35 executions. There are 32 states that have the death penalty on the books — so to speak. Governors in Oregon, Colorado and Washington have imposed moratoriums on executions. In Ohio, a federal judge has stopped all executions. In seven other states with the death penalty, there has not been an execution carried out in at least 10 years. Eight executions scheduled for December were postponed by the court. Three of those postponed executions were to take place in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has executed three people since 1977, and all three volunteered to be executed. Pennsylvania has not involuntarily executed a condemned inmate since 1962. Some of the executions in 2014 created quite a stir. In January, the Ohio execution of Dennis McGuire took much longer than anticipated. The execution lasted 25 minutes. According to NBC News, witnesses said McGuire appeared to be gasping for breath. Ohio did not carry out another execution after McGuire’s. Prior to that, going back to 2010, no state other than Texas had executed more inmates than Ohio. Three months later, Clayton Lockett’s execution in Oklahoma went terribly awry. Lockett began to twitch and gasp after the lethal injection process began. He called out “man” and “something’s wrong,” according to The New York Times. The administering doctor intervened and discovered that “the line had blown,” meaning that drugs were no longer flowing into Lockett’s veins. At 7:06 p.m., 43 minutes after the execution began, Lockett died of a heart attack. Prior to Lockett’s execution, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin questioned the state Supreme Court’s authority to stay Lockett’s execution. Fallin rescheduled the execution in defiance of the Supreme Court. The near constitutional crisis focused national attention on the state just in time for the catastrophically failed execution. Then came December. In Texas, Scott Panetti narrowly escaped execution. Panetti suffers from severe mental illness. He defended himself at trial, subpoenaing over 200 witnesses, including Jesus Christ, the pope and John F. Kennedy. His mental health had not been evaluated by any court for more than seven years prior to his scheduled execution. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals intervened less than eight hours before his scheduled execution. On Dec. 12, Paul Goodwin was not so lucky. Efforts to spare Goodwin’s life centered on his low IQ and claims that executing him would violate a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling which prohibits the execution of the mentally disabled. Goodwin’s attorney, Jennifer Herndon, said Goodwin had an IQ of 73, and some tests suggested it was even lower. Goodwin received special education as a child. As an adult, he relied on relatives or his girlfriend to help with tasks such as buying groceries or paying bills. According to Goodwin’s sister, when his girlfriend died, Goodwin wasn’t mentally capable of handling the grief and turned to alcohol, which was a factor in his crime. There are no more executions scheduled for 2014. The 35 executions carried out this year are the fewest in 20 years. Things don’t look much better for the death penalty in 2015. The first three out of four executions for 2015 have already been postponed. The fourth is scheduled for Pennsylvania, and if history is a guide, there is little likelihood of that execution being carried out. Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George. His book, “The Executioner’s Toll, 2010,” was released by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewTMangino. By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Matthew T. 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