Captured Souls

I once knew what it was to be free
To wander unknowingly, no destination
Freedom, the product of my environment
A sense of my imagination

How quickly that freedom can be swallowed up
Like a vapor that disappears into the light
Freely taken away but freely I give
Completely, unconditionally, my all to you

Captured but not tormented
If so, only by the need to have you as I want
Desiring more of you, all of you
Captured willingly by your presence

Desire makes way to desperation
The deal is on the table, all in
A gamble to remain free forever
Two captured souls

by Andre Daye

Reasonably Desperate 

Recently, the State of Tennessee diverted back to its electric chair, as a means of executing its citizens condemned to die by execution. Because of the continued lack of execution drugs, and growing refusal of European pharmaceutical companies to supply them, states within the U.S. are left to take drastic, even desperate measures. One would expect that more states will follow the direction of Tennessee, especially the Southern States, and switch back to electrocution as a means of execution. It is very possible that death penalty states have reason to be desperate.  

With recent challenges to the lethal injection protocol and some states’ secrecy laws, along with the recent botched execution of Clayton Lockett, the death penalty and its use could be facing the greater debate. Public support of the death penalty has decreased over recent years, and its belief to be a deterrent, is all but non-existent. Both are two key arguments by death penalty supporters as to why the death penalty is needed. Yes, much reason to be desperate, as use of the death penalty may be slipping away from clinched fists. 

Now, the return back to the electric chair. One must recall the reason for the switch to lethal injection. The electric chair faced much scrutiny and tough challenges in the past. Challenges that in some opinions, were close to making the use of the electric chair extinct. So, many states switched to lethal injection with the belief that it would be better accepted by the public eye, clinical, and less barbaric. But, a desperate move overall, one to preserve the use of the death penalty. The public must remember the horror stories of burning flesh and executions gone wrong. Must we be so desperate to kill those that kill? Is it truly the will of the people that I be put to death, or simply the will of the state? 

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill into law allowing the state to execute death row inmates in the state’s electric chair should the state be unable to obtain the drugs for lethal injection – Source: The Tennessean 

With Reason,
Andre Daye

~ KILLING HUMANITY ~

The great debate over the use of the death penalty has rose again in the make of the botched execution of Clayton Lockett. Lockett died of a heart attack after a forty-three minute botched execution in Oklahoma’s death chamber. Many can offer personal opinions of the matter, but in my own opinion I think it runs deeper than procedure.

We all are aware of the nationwide scramble of states searching out the drugs for the deadly cocktail used in lethal injection, because of European pharmaceutical companies refusing to supply drugs for the use of executions. States are searching out compounding companies to produce the needed drugs. Meanwhile, they are working with legislators to pass laws to keep it all a big secret. In my forty-two years of life, anything needed to be kept secret meant there was something wrong about the act, or to be politically correct, something inhumane.

So, I ask why have we ended up where we are with the horrible death of Clayton Lockett? One reason I say is because of our continued ignorance as a civilized society of human error. The key word is human, better said, humane! What did we learn with “Tiny”, executed in Florida’s electric chair, body badly burned and the blooded hood that attempted to hide the horror from onlookers. Or Todd Willingham of Texas who was executed and found to possibly have been innocent. Our humane voices again stood to be heard, after the fact!

Now we debate if the death penalty is unfair, cruel and unusual punishment, and/or inhumane. Maybe we should debate the humanity. Not of the procedure or the use of it, but the humanity of ourselves.

Anytime that we as a people can be okay with “he deserved to suffer because his victim died”, our humanity should come into question. Maybe we are just unconsciously revealing the heartless killer within ourselves? Yes, we all are human and full of emotions, but it is us who must keep those emotions in check. We all say that it is okay when we allow the killing to go on. Whether we read it in the paper or see it in the news, we are okay if we continue to do nothing and accept it. If we are okay with the torture and suffering in an execution, or the chance that an innocent person is being murdered, why then stand up and be heard when a member of our family or friend is a victim of murder? I guess it’s an unknown switch within ourselves we can turn off and on, my offer of an excuse for a civilized society. If you’re okay with it, then I guess you recognize the killer in you. If not, then let’s stop being victimized by the vengeful and murderous opinions of others and allow the humanity within us to live!

In Love & Peace,

Andre Daye

The Rush To Fairness

Who doesn’t want a fair shot? Yes there is the saying “Life isn’t fair”, and we can all argue the truth of that statement if we wish. But, we as a human race, do make efforts to be fair and treat others fairly. Do we always get it right, No! Most times because we also have human emotions involved in our judgments. Human emotion can be a good thing, in makes us who we are, but we must learn what mistakes we’ve made along the way in efforts to get it right. The focus should be at what cost.

Any hopes or beliefs that our justice system is fair should be rushed in disbelief by now. Who hasn’t heard of someone being exonerated from a crime they did not commit? How often do our local district attorneys rush to not only solve a case, but close it? This rush to judgment has led to mistakes time and time again. Some would argue that, the system works, and will point out the cases of exoneration. But what about those that couldn’t get DNA testing, a witness didn’t some forward admitting their testimony was a lie, or any other truth imaginable?

Each session of our state legislature here in Alabama, some type bill is put forward to speed up death penalty appeals, and/or another qualifier for a capital case is introduced. There is nothing fair about this. Nothing fair about the disproportion of the death penalty. There is nothing fair about the social and economic effects the death penalty has on the less fortunate. Sure, this argument is made time and time again, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. The death penalty machine is broken and has been since its existence, but we continue to try and make it fair, right? I loved cars and had sense enough to know when one continued to break down, it was time to get rid of it, accept it as totaled.

Allow me to use a better example of the rush to be fair, the rush to judgment. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconditional to execute juveniles, many men escaped the clutches of the death machine. The rush to fairness and judgment is, there were many, since even in the state of Alabama would still be alive today had the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 1 to 3 years earlier! This fairness continues to be a slap in the face with the hands of death, guided by our vengeful, selfish, and hateful desire to “make somebody pay for this”. Yes, we all are paying, out of our pockets, with our lives, and for what, fairness! 

By Andre Daye

My Pocket Full of Stones

It’s said that those that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Seeing as that I am currently on death row and the State observes everything I do through my “glass house”, what am I to do?

I’ve been on death row long enough to learn all of the strategies the State uses to get closer to my planned death. Yes, that’s a hard pill to swallow I must say, know your death being planned. Year after year the State has smashed my glass windows in efforts to hurrily extinguish my appeals. The advantage of looking in and seeing my every move and cut off any move made for relief in the courts.

I’ve seen many men meet their death in Alabama’s execution chamber. Their glass houses smashed to bits of shard glass, causing injury and death. Maybe in the States eyes I am fair game because I am labeled a “killer”. My constitutional rights cut to near threads, like left hanging in the balance. Now with election year approaching, the State’s politicians have reloaded and began casting storms again. Yep, like the modern day Earnest T. Bass of Mayberry. Casting storms of unfair justice, labeled the “Fair Justice Act”. He that is “without sin” has cast the first stone and more! A fair act with unfair consequences, lined with lies and secretism. Well news flash. I’ve licked my wounds, gathered your storms, and with pockets full, will give you the fight of, or should I say for my life.

By Andre Daye