Death Dibs

Like all precious and wonderful things, law and order come at a cost; which explains why the Christian state of Idaho is beginning to worry about the fiscal implications of executing dying people. Quite apart from the problems involved in obtaining the necessary drugs, at least one lawyer has pointed out that some death rows are "starting to feel like assisted living," handing out room and board and even medical care to elderly residents who have been awaiting execution for an average of almost two decades. Evidently the spectre of penitentiary Socialism has stirred the Christian state of Idaho into virtuous action, as it's now readying itself to put to death a sixty-five-year-old with diabetes, bladder tumours and diseases of the heart and lung. The prisoner's sister has expressed the hope that God will take him first; although given that God sat complacently by while her brother committed two murders, she may yet be disappointed. During the man's childhood his stepfather beat him badly enough to cause brain damage, raped him and hired him out for others to rape; since God was presumably in conference with the Vatican at the time, it remains as yet unclear whether His mercy will exceed that of the Christian state of Idaho.