#kenneth smith

[retroscifiart]

Ad for Phantasmagoria, a one person art fanzine by Kenneth Smith that ran 1971-77

#phantasmagoria #1970s #fanzine #Kenneth smith

[pulpsandcomics2]

Kenneth Smith

#kenneth smith #fantasy art

[thevaultofretroscifi]

#Kenneth Smith #1970

[70sscifiart]

Kenneth Smith, 1977

#kenneth smith #1977 #surreal #beach #figures #nude people

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law Tuesday a bill allowing executions by nitrogen gas and electrocution, opening the door for Louisiana to revive capital punishment 14 years after it last used its death chamber.

Landry signed the legislation, House Bill 6, and 10 other bills into law while surrounded by crime victims' loved ones and law enforcement officials in a ceremony at the State Capitol. HB 6 also shrouds records of the state's procurement of lethal injection drugs in secrecy, a step supporters say will make it easier to obtain those drugs.

The death penalty bill headlined a slate of tough-on-crime legislation approved by the Republican-controlled state Legislature last month and championed by Landry, a Republican and former state attorney general who campaigned on a promise to punish criminals and uplift people affected by violent crime. The new laws reverse a path charted by the state's 2017 Justice Reinvestment Initiative by slashing chances for convicted criminals to be released from prison early and lengthening sentences for some crimes.

"This is what I ran on," Landry said Tuesday.

The Governor also signed bills that allow people to carry concealed handguns without permits, eliminate parole for adults who commit crimes after Aug. 1, dramatically cut the availability of good behavior credits in prison and limit how people can request plea deals after their convictions, among others.

Landry is expected to sign additional bills passed in last month's special session in New Orleans on Wednesday, including measures to publish court minutes for youth accused of violent crimes, increase penalties for carjacking and weapons offenses and give Landry more control over the state's public defense system.

Protests against that legislation — particularly the death penalty bill, which opponents caution promotes one method that has hardly been tested and another ruled inhumane by courts in some states — spurred fiery debate but did little to sway lawmakers, most of whom fell in line with Landry's agenda.

A series of criminal justice advocacy groups spoke out against the new laws again on Monday, saying they will do little to curb crime and risk bloating the state's prison population to pre-2017 levels.

The 2017 public safety laws, which drew bipartisan backing and support from law enforcement, released people with convictions for nonviolent crimes and saved the state some $153 million, a recent audit found.

"Blaming the wrong problems doesn’t get the right solutions, and our communities for years have made clear the solutions necessary to address the very real concerns and needs of all Louisianans," said Danny Engelberg, the chief public defender in New Orleans. "These misguided bills will balloon our already bloated legal system, jails and prison system, and further widen the inequities in justice, safety, and community well-being."

The first modern execution by nitrogen gas occurred in Alabama in January. It sparked pushback from anti-death penalty advocates who expressed concern about eyewitness reports that Kenneth Smith, who was put to death for a 1988 murder-for-hire, writhed and struggled for air for some 20 minutes after nitrogen began flowing into his mouth. Alabama officials said the execution was humane and offered to aid other states' efforts to put the method to use.

Difficulty obtaining the cocktail of execution drugs from pharmaceutical firms, along with former Gov. John Bel Edwards' opposition to capital punishment and a series of federal court orders pausing executions in recent years, had kept Louisiana from putting anyone to death since 2010.

It's unclear when state officials might begin taking steps to obtain materials needed to carry out executions or when executions could resume in Louisiana. Also unclear is which of the three execution options the state will use; the new law leaves that choice to the secretary of the state's Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

HB 6's sponsor, Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond, said in an interview last month that Landry has indicated that his preferred execution method is lethal injection.

Last week, a DPSC spokesperson referred questions about the death penalty process to Landry's office, which did not respond to requests for comment. Landry left Tuesday's bill-signing ceremony without taking questions from reporters.

The new law letting people carry concealed handguns without permits, which supporters dub "constitutional carry" because they argue it restores an absolute right to self-armament enshrined in the United States' founding document, drew applause from gun rights activists and condemnation from gun safety groups.

National Rifle Association Interim CEO Andrew Arulanandam in a statement praised the "resolve" of Landry and "pro-self-defense legislators" who voted for the new law. Angelle Bradford, a volunteer for the Louisiana chapter of the pro-gun control group Moms Demand Action, criticized Landry for "cater(ing) to the gun lobby and reinforc(ing) their deadly ‘guns everywhere’ agenda."

#us politics #news #nola.com #2024 #louisiana #Gov. Jeff Landry #capital punishment #executions #nitrogen gas #electrocution #criminal justice system #parole #concealed carry without permit #concealed carry #gun laws #Kenneth Smith #John Bel Edwards #Rep. Nicholas Muscarello #Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections #conservatives #republicans #gop

[cheerfullycatholic]

On January 25, 2024, Alabama executed Kenneth Smith using nitrogen hypoxia, a first in American history. Though state attorneys had assured courts that the method would cause “unconsciousness in seconds,” witnesses reported that Mr. Smith appeared awake for several minutes after the nitrogen gas began. They observed that he “shook and writhed” for at least two minutes before breathing heavily for another few minutes. “This was the fifth execution that I’ve witnessed in Alabama, and I have never seen such a violent reaction to an execution,” said media witness Lee Hedgepeth. Mr. Smith was pronounced dead 32 minutes after the gas began to flow. Mr. Smith would not have been sentenced to death today. His jury voted 11-1 in favor of a life sentence, but the judge overrode the recommendation and imposed a death sentence in a practice now outlawed nationwide. Mr. Smith also survived a botched lethal injection attempt in November 2022 in which Alabama officials strapped him to the gurney for four hours and inserted needles into his muscles. He was one of the few people in history to face execution twice, and experienced severe PTSD symptoms leading up to his second execution date. The Supreme Court denied a stay of execution and certiorari review to Mr. Smith over the dissents of Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson. “Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before,” wrote Justice Sotomayor. Justice Kagan, joined by Justice Jackson, emphasized the risk of Mr. Smith choking on his own vomit as he was deprived of oxygen. Prison officials did not allow Mr. Smith to eat in the ten hours before the execution or drink in the four hours before. Medical experts had also raised the risk of nitrogen hypoxia putting a prisoner into a vegetative state or harming staff and advisors in the execution chamber if the gas leaked. “With deep sadness, but commitment to the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, I respectfully dissent,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “The world is watching.” “Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards,” Mr. Smith said in his last words. “I’m leaving with love, peace, and light.” He signed “I love you” to his family after the gas mask was put on.

#tw death #tw torture #death penalty #anti death penalty #death penalty information center #alabama #kenny smith #kenneth smith

[thebeautyofblacklines]

#kenneth smith

[uwmspeccoll]

Ray Bradbury Birthday Anniversary!

On this day, August 22 in 1920, the great American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury was born just over the Wisconsin border in  Waukegan, Illinois. He would go on to become what The New York Times called "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream," with such classics as The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and Fahrenheit 451 (1953). He died in 2012 at the venerable age of 91.

To memorialize Ray Bradbury’s birth, we present some images from a 1983 collection of stories and poems related to the author’s earliest childhood and life-long fascination with dinosaurs in Dinosaur Tales, published by Bantam Books. The collection includes the short stories "Besides A Dinosaur, Whatta Ya Wanna Be When You Grow Up?" (1983), "The Fog Horn" (1951), "Tyrannosaurus Rex," originally published as “The Prehistoric Producer” (1962), Bradbury’s classic time-travel, “butterfly effect” story "A Sound of Thunder" (1952), and a new poetic collaboration with the legendary cartoonist Gahan Wilson, "What If I Said: The Dinosaur's Not Dead?" Other illustrations in this book are by William Stout, Steranko, Moebius, Overton Loyd, Kenneth Smith and David Wiesner. Click on the images for the attributions.

Happy Birthday Anniversary, Ray Bradbury!

View a post on Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles.

View other Milestone Monday posts.

#Milestone Monday #birthdays #Ray Bradbury #August 22 #Dinosaur Tales #Bantam Books #illustrated books #Gahan Wilson #William Stout #Moebius #Kenneth Smith #david wiesner #science fiction #fantasy #dinosaurs

[science70]

New Worlds of Fantasy #3, edited by Terry Carr (Ace Books, 1971).

Cover art: Kenneth Smith

#science fiction #anthology #book #New Worlds of Fantasy #Peter S. Beagle #Jorge Luis Borges #Fritz Leiber #Roger Zelazny #Terry Carr #Kenneth Smith #USA #1971

[thebristolboard]

Whales print by Kenneth Smith, 1983.

#Kenneth Smith #whales #print

[tomoleary]

Ken Steacy and Kenneth Smith “The Derangers” - Superhero Team Unused Concept Art

Source

#ken steacy #Kenneth Smith #The Derangers #unused

[jesseleelazyblog]

Unethical Execution In Alabama

Kenneth Smith, victim of a botched execution last year, has new execution date set for January 25th, 2024

Alabama has a history of botched executions, and the release statement detailing their new protocol for hydrogen hypoxia executions has been heavily redacted.

Sign this petition here to call for a stop to this execution:

If you live in Alabama you can also join this letter/email campaign:

https://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent-actions/urgent-action-jury-voted-for-life-state-resets-execution-usa-116-23/

#Alabama #Kenneth Smith #end the death penalty #death penalty #True crime #Crime #criminal justice reform #criminal case #Criminal justice #anarchy #anarchism #progressive politics #Progressive #leftist #leftism #liberal #liberty #us politics #Alabama governor

[sandmandaddy69]

Kenneth Smith

#Kenneth Smith

[pilgrim1975]

The non-capital execution of James Coburn. No, not that one.

Executing Americans for crimes other than murder was once standard practice. Robbery, armed robbery, house-breaking, burglary and rape could all earn a death sentence in a number of States. Under Federal law, bank robbery was once a capital crime even without a shot being fired. The death penalty for rape, particularly in the South, was undoubtedly used along racial lines with far more…

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#Alabama #Arthur Bremer #Arthur Lee Jones #Bill Baxley #Clarence Burford #crime and punishment #death penalty #George Wallace #Horace DeVaughn #James Coburn #John Louis Evans #Kenneth Smith #Kilby Prison #Linda Lyon Block #murder #nitrogen hypoxia #true crime #William Bowen #Yellow Mama

[stanthejokemanshow]

THIS IS IT FOLKS! Welcome to Kill Cafe, BUT IT'S NOT a restaurant! THAT'S RIGHT! You get what we serve and Alabama is missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime! Give me 3 minutes!

#alabama #mobile alabama #execution #kenneth smith #death penalty #alabama crimson tide #alabama news

[gnadlib]

Totmachen

Ziemlich genau vor zehn Jahren hatte ich schonmal was über die Todesstrafe in den USA geschrieben. Seitdem ist viel passiert, und jetzt begegnet mir das Thema wieder. Nach den offenbar sehr qualvollen Hinrichtungen von Dennis McGuire und Clayton Locket im Jahr 2014 durch Lethale Injektionen mit unerprobten Giftmischungen hatte man angekündigt, sich die Art und Weise nochmal anzuschauen, wie die…

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#Ersticken #Kenneth Smith #Todesstrafe