No More Last Meals For Texas Death Row Inmates

[tropicsgoddess]

Lawrence Brewer was executed for the racially motivated death of James Byrd. His last meal request was HUGE, he ordered :

• Two chicken fried steaks
• a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger
• a cheese omelet
• a large bowl of fried okra
• 3 fajitas
• a pint of ice cream
• a pound of barbecue
• peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts
• a meat lovers pizza
• three root beers

and didn't touch any of it. This upset Senator Whitmire so much that he wanted to propose that death row inmates no longer have the privilege to request a last meal since he felt that the victims don't get that while the condemned perpetrators do (he wrote an open letter to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice about this). To be honest, I agree with Senator Whitmire on this and also if that came to pass where Texas death row inmates no longer could request a last meal before execution, I could see it being a trickle effect with the other states (that have the death penalty) follow that.

Link!

[Gravekeeper]

I guess since Texas isn't allowed to execute the mentally challenged anymore, they had to find some other way to meet their vindictiveness quota. -.-

Seriously though, one guy was a dick about it so they stopped it all together? Removing that last token bit of respect they have for human life does more to dehumanize the excutioners than the excutionee.

[Boozy]

...and didn't touch any of it.

What a shock that a man who is aware that he is about to be killed didn't have a big appetite.

He would have been told to order his last meal days in advance, and asked for all the things he liked. It's not terribly surprising that his anxiety the day of his murder caused him to lose his appetite.

[Amanita]

I remember reading that in one state with the death penalty (can't remember which one) the rules for last meal stated that while the prisoner could ask for what they wanted, it had to be something that the prison could get locally, and I think it had to cost less than a certain amount. I think it was in the neighborhood of $20, give or take.

That seems a fair compromise.

[Andara Bledin]

Wow.

We're about to kill these people and the sight of a meal uneaten is getting people all bent out of shape.

But they have no issue about the fact that they're taking someone's life.

Way to have your priorities in order.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

I remember reading that in one state with the death penalty (can't remember which one) the rules for last meal stated that while the prisoner could ask for what they wanted, it had to be something that the prison could get locally, and I think it had to cost less than a certain amount. I think it was in the neighborhood of $20, give or take.

That seems a fair compromise.

$20? Wow, what kind of meal is that? Can't even get a decent steak!

[Rapscallion]

I remember reading that in one state with the death penalty (can't remember which one) the rules for last meal stated that while the prisoner could ask for what they wanted, it had to be something that the prison could get locally, and I think it had to cost less than a certain amount. I think it was in the neighborhood of $20, give or take.

That seems a fair compromise.

I think that was Texas. The department of correction (or whatever it's called there) used to keep a public webpage with last meal requests of condemned prisoners. It had a warning of that nature on it.

They took it down a few years back. I used to peek every so often. A touch ghoulish, I guess, but the sheer scale of some of the requests were fascinating, along with the occasional request for 'world peace' or similar.

Rapscallion

[LexiaFira]

if they have to do this then why couldn't they at least put a limit on it because the amount of food ordered would have fed a small group and unless he has a black hole or bottomless pit there is no way he could have eaten ALL of that unless he sampled everything

but yes that was a waste buut....was more shocked he ordered all that and didn't touch it. but was not going to ask why he didn't touch it. like Amanita said make a limit, keep it local and be reasonable

[linguist]

the headline is a bit misleading. they aren't doing away with last meals altogether, just with special requests. the condemned still get their last meal, it just happens to be whatever the other inmates are being served that day.

[KabeRinnaul]

What a shock that a man who is aware that he is about to be killed didn't have a big appetite.

He would have been told to order his last meal days in advance, and asked for all the things he liked. It's not terribly surprising that his anxiety the day of his murder caused him to lose his appetite.

My first thought was that he ordered the most he could just to cost the state a bit more money before he went - that it was an act of spite. But maybe I'm a cynic.

As for the question of limits, I can understand restricting it to $20-$50 and local. Not that I have much support for the death penalty, but that's a bit of a different topic.

[Andara Bledin]

Honestly. With how few people we kill in our prison systems, this is an assinine issue for a Senator to even be thinking about. >_<

"Oh, hey, rather than tackle any of the difficult questions, let's just focus on this non-issue that almost everybody will agree with out of hand to get my name in the press and increase my poll ratings."

^-.-^

[blas87]

That's stupid.

Ya know, I have little tolerance for most people in prison, much less people who have been put on death row. But for Pete's Sake.......Timothy McVeigh wanted ice cream, and dammit, he got ice cream.

Surely with all it costs to feed/house an inmate, much less kill them, why not let them eat something a little better than their fellow inmates for their last meal? Hell, let em have McDonalds. KFC. Even a steak dinner. Who gives a shit over a few extra bucks.

[Canarr]

Exactly. Even if he eats a 1,000$ worth of food, that's nothing compared to the annual budget that goes into corrections and executions in Texas. For a Senator to concern himself with such trivialities shows a seriously screwed sense of priority.

[Greenday]

That's stupid.

Ya know, I have little tolerance for most people in prison, much less people who have been put on death row. But for Pete's Sake.......Timothy McVeigh wanted ice cream, and dammit, he got ice cream.

Surely with all it costs to feed/house an inmate, much less kill them, why not let them eat something a little better than their fellow inmates for their last meal? Hell, let em have McDonalds. KFC. Even a steak dinner. Who gives a shit over a few extra bucks.

Seriously, if the government is going to screw and murder someone, they might as well wine and dine them first.

[Akasa]

That's Texas for ya!
(I can say that, I grew up there.)