Everyday Erinyes #46

I have two items today which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

Barely had I posted #45 than I got an email which made me say "WTF!"  The subject line was "Death Penalty bill Includes public pregnancy examination for accused women, antiquated 'retard' provisions"  It was from Progress Now New Mexico.  After three articles of picking on places the staff live, I was hoping for something from Colorado, but next door is as close as I could get.  And, although the bill in question will not be considered in this session, in fact pursuing it will apparently now wait till January, I wanted to share it because it is not every day we see a legislative story with so many kinds of ick in just one bill.  Death penalty – women's health – mental illness.  Quite an achievement.

A little history here.  New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009.  At that time there was a Democratic Governor as well as a Democratic majority in both legislative houses.  Today the Democratic majority in the Senate is all that is left of that.  So far in 2016 there have been a couple of high profile cases involving LEOs being killed, and one even higher profile case involving the death and dismemberment of a child.  The Governor and the rest of her party seized upon this to push reinstating the death penalty – specifically for people who kill children and/or LEOs, whether in police or in corrections. 

Enter HB 7.  You can read the full bill at that link, but unless you are a lawyer, you may prefer the report on the website of Progress Now New Mexico.  Right away you will se an image that appears to have nothing to do with the death penalty.  Ah, but it does.

Section 18 of HB7 requires judges to “inquire into the question” of pregnancy of female death row defendants by having three physicians conduct physical examinations of the woman, in open court before a judge and witnesses, if a woman is suspected of or raises the question of pregnancy…. The sponsors would require these procedures to be forced on convicted women and performed in open court, though she can ask for the courtroom door to be closed.

Then there are the sections on "mental retardation" and "insanity."  Since what used to be called "mental retardation" is now recognized as a mental disability, this will be interesting.  "Insanity" can postpone execution, but if the indivudal "recovers sanity" the execution is to proceed as directed.  Does this remind anyone besides me of Catch-22?

Dear ladies, here's what I'd like to see – I'd like to see the New Mexico Senate remain in Democratic control, and the House transition to Democratic control (The Governor is not up this year).  If you listen to Republicans, an election that is rigged by supernatural beings does not count as a rigged election.  Can you work on that please?

The second title that made me go "WTF?" was the title of a Daily Kos story:

Man shoots and kills wife, blames his fear of Black Lives Matter

Here's the story as prominent Atlanta attorney (don't you just already know this is going to be a doozy?) Tex McIver tells it, cut and paraphrased:

He and his wife were being driven by a chauffeur.  She was in the front seat, he in the back.  He saw what he thought were "threatening people" and asked her for his gun.  He took it and fell asleep.  They hit a bump.  The gun went off and hit his wife in the back.

(And if you are thinking of looking for a bridge to buy, check with me first.  I'll make you a really good deal.)

They took her to a hospital twice as far away as the nearest one, where she later died during surgery.  After which McIver went home on his own recognizance, as authorized by an Atlanta police officer.  The vehicle was impounded (Bad SUV! Bad SUV!) and the driver was interviewed.  Apparently McIver was not.  The police report does not include information about who was in the vehicle, nor about what the driver said.

McIver is a labor and employment lawyer who exclusively represents employers.  He has "successfully defended employers in more than 200 union organizing campaigns.”  He once personally represented Governor Nathan Deal (great name for a Republican, isn't it?  Sorry – I just notice people's names sometimes.)  He was, incidentally, back to work within a couple of days, although he said he felt bad.

You know, this wouldn't even make a good detective story.  It's both too obvious and too unbelievable.  Unless it were going to turn into a huge expose of corruption in high places, i.e. at least up to the Governor.  Yeah, like that's going to happen.  I see that, this week, he passed a polygraph, but, knowing what I do about polygraphs, I'm afraid I'm not terribly impressed.

Well, dear Furies, you have a little time before the November election.  Maybe you can learn what the Atlanta police have not shown any interest in – and get someone to hear it, which may actually be the hardest part.  Good luck.

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4014818