Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, John Errol Ferguson, an elderly Florida prisoner with paranoid schizophrenia, will be strapped to a gurney and intravenously injected with a lethal cocktail tonight at 6 pm EST by the state of Florida.
Last night the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in a divided ruling, lifted a stay of execution granted over the weekend by a U.S. District Court judge. His lawyers have since filed for a last-minute emergency reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Since Florida Governor Rick Scott signed Ferguson’s death warrant last month, one Florida court after another has ruled that Ferguson is competent for execution, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibits killing mentally ill prisoners who have no rational understanding of the reason for and effects of their execution. Ferguson clearly lacks that understanding, a conclusion reached by several state-appointed psychiatrists as well as nationally renowned experts.
Among his many delusions, Ferguson believes he’s the “Prince of God” chosen to fight two antichrists alongside Jesus – after which he will rule the world with multiple wives. He see’s his incarceration as part of a “hardening” process designed by God to prepare him to return to earth after his execution and save America from a communist plot. Furthermore, Ferguson is convinced that he is invincible because his special powers protect him from ever being killed and that “just like Jesus, you’ll come and look and you won’t find me there [in my grave]”.
Florida’s courts have come up with a number of justifications for Ferguson’s supposed competence, the most peculiar being the conclusion reached by Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge David Glant, who ruled that Ferguson’s “Prince of God” delusions, while “genuine”, are not “significantly different than beliefs other Christians may hold.”
If the U.S. Supreme Court fails to intervene, it will have lasting implications for states that routinely sidestep the constitution to execute even the mentally ill. Death penalty loving states like Texas are no doubt watching this very closely.
[…] Florida to execute paranoid schizophrenic tonight absent intervention from Supreme Court. […]
October 23, 2012 at 12:38 pmBroken society, breeds broken families, breeding broken “citizens”, born & raised to be lynched, with out legitimate justification & meaningful protection.
EVERYBODY FOR HIMSELF CULTURE leaves behind more victims than winners.
FYI: Check-out the Documentary film, THE EXONERATED, made by “INNOCENCE PROJECT”, personal interviews of DOZENS OF DEATH ROW prisoners, exonerated & realised after spending decades waiting for the DEATH CHAMBER DOOR to open.
Sadly, Society has proved many times over & over again, “JUSTICE FOR ALL” does NOT entitle, qualify & guarantee to provide “justice” for all.
Too bad, justice is expendable to those who can afford the most dollars, than those who got none.
So much for “civilized society” !!!
GOD SPEED!!!
October 23, 2012 at 9:18 pmI grew up having nightmares about dying in a nuclear holocaust. Today, I contemplate the disgusting macabre images of a society from which there’s no escape butchering selected members like hogs. As evil as Ferguson may be, or as sick, I feel no safer knowing some of my neighbors are willing to work in that slaughter house. It’s time Americans considered becoming vegans in the full sense of the word and completely renounced death as a prophylactic.
October 26, 2012 at 3:08 amI’d prefer to uslysht a bit much more on this topic
May 18, 2013 at 10:43 am