The use of the death penalty is on the rise in Missouri. I looked at the numbers recently, and the state has carried out more executions in the past five months than it has in the preceding eight years.
The Nine Network's Stay Tuned devoted a full hour to the topic: the death penalty's implementation, struggles, and of course, the secrecy surrounding its use.
The show delved into the issue from all sides:
- Legal: Is the state following its own laws in carrying out the death penalty? Lawyers Kay Parish and Richard Sindel, who have represented death row inmates, weigh in, and St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch speaks in favor of the state's death penalty methods.
- Ethical: Why should we care? Saint Louis University's Susan McGraugh and SLU Law student Grant Boyd discuss. The Post-Dispatch's Bill McCllellen knew the inmate Missouri executed this week, as well as his victim's family. He shares his insight.
- Transparency: Is oversight possible with the state's secrecy assertions? I talk about St. Louis Public Radio's investigation into the state's methods and the struggles we've had to get answers.
- Trends: Where is the death penalty going to go? Expert Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center gives a national perspective.
St. Louis On the Air has also delved into the death penalty in a recent show.
Follow Chris McDaniel on Twitter: @csmcdaniel
