Once again last night, Arkansas broke a record. Last week (as I blogged yesterday) they put to death the first prisoner on death row in the state since 2005. This follows the election in 2015 of State Governer Asa Hutchinson. Last night they were the first state to put to death two prisoners since 2000. These individuals each has a story and each has been convicted and their families and the families of their victims are no doubt full of emotional reaction to the loss of the three men concerned. My suspicion is that if a foreign nation had put to death 3 American Hostages our newspapers and TV screens would have gone into over drive. However apparently these three men’s lives don’t matter as there has hardly been a mention.

The man who was executed last week was Ledell Lee, and then last night Jack Jones and Marcel Williams. Three men who were scheduled to be killed last week were spared execution. However there are two more due to die this week before one of the drugs used in the process passes its use by date.

According to one news report had all 8 been executed, this would have been the largest number of state executions since the death penalty was reintroduced by the US Supreme Court in 1976. It is time that they ended this barbaric form of murder.