Did Mike Lambrix enjoy less rights than a dying stray dog?
Under the 2017 Florida Statute 828.058(4)(a): "Euthanasia [of dogs and cats] shall be performed only by a licensed veterinarian or an employee or agent of a public or private agency, animal shelter, or other facility that is operated for the collection and care of stray, neglected, abandoned, or unwanted animals, provided the employee or agent has successfully completed a 16-hour euthanasia technician certification course."
Did the people involved in Mike Lambrix's execution have any such certification at all? We do not know.
As his family is preparing a memorial service for Michael Lambrix, his close friend Geesje offers her reflection on his execution.
at the Center of Nobel Peace in Oslo next September 2018.
He always maintained his innocence.
I'm deeply troubled by something he wrote a week before his execution":
“And shortly after they removed all my property,
the warden came down with a few people from Medical. I can only assume that it was the “doctor” responsible for carrying out the execution. They went to great lengths to conceal his identity, as although I could tell he was an upper middle aged white man, maybe just a bit shorter than I am, he was dressed from head to toe in a light baby blue hazmat suit, which included a white surgical mask. So all I could see of him was his eyes. He kept his head down — probably some part of him has to be ashamed of making a living putting people to death.
(...) With total detachment, I was ordered to extend my arm through the cell-front bars and this masked man proceeded to touch my veins at the inner elbow, first the left arm and then the right, while whispering to another man standing beside him, and that was that.
Now they were ready to kill me.
Yep, not just a job — it’s an adventure.”
Mike Lambrix
There was absolutely no medical reason for this.
Was he hiding his identity, or was he ashamed of what he was doing?
Why was he not facing Michael, looking him in the eyes, introducing himself, or even speaking to him?
Michael Lambrix was a person, a human being, not a thing that needed to be expelled of. To me, it seems as heartless as giving a kick to a dying stray dog.
I need to understand the reason for, what seems to me, an unreasonable cruelty inflicted upon a defenceless man facing death. I understand the necessity of checking someone's veins before you execute him, after all you don't want any last minute nasty surprises, but surely it doesn't have to be this way?
When asked the warden of Florida State Prison (Warden Barry Reddish) about this, the reply was:
The Florida Department of Corrections supports a dignified death process for those inmates with an active death warrant. The identity of the medical providers involved in the death process is restricted by Florida Statute, thus it’s not open to public disclosure"
What is dignified or even remotely decent about any of this??
If we have to have the death penalty, there is no need to treat condemned people in their final days like sub-humans, any person facing death should be treated with some dignity and compassion."