Bruce Webster spends his days in a solitary, 12-by-7 foot cell, 23 hours a day on death row in Terre Haute, IN. But Bruce isn’t supposed to be there.
A federal judge in Indiana ruled in 2019 that the 49-year-old has an IQ in the range of 50 - 65, a severe intellectual disability which would prohibit him from legally being put to death. His lawyers based their argument on Atkins v. Virginia, a landmark supreme court decision in 2002 that ruled that executing those with intellectual disabilities violated Eighth Amendment protections against “cruel and unusual” punishment.
But four years after that ruling, the justice department and the federal bureau of prisons haven’t moved him to a less restrictive unit or different prison. Webster’s case illustrates the chronic and often lethal bureaucracy in the prisons system and the difficulties in getting anyone off death row.
To be clear, Webster wouldn’t be leaving death row as a free man. He was convicted of murder among other charges back in 1994, and the best possible scenario for him is life in prison, but it’s a significant step up from continuing to rot on death row. But if there’s one thing this country endorses, it’s a “tough on crime” attitude with little room for logic or exceptions.
Side Items
Film Review: I went and saw “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” yesterday in theaters, and it was without a doubt the best film I’ve seen this year. Obviously the shock value of the title and subject matter will turn some people away, but the storytelling was top-tier, the pacing of the movie was excellent, and it featured a twist that kept viewers guessing until the very end. I give it a solid 8.5/10, but fair warning, you might feel a strong desire to commit property damage after watching
Chaos in Sudan: The violence in Sudan’s capital led to the deaths of at least 56 civilians, including three employees of the UN food agency. The clashes are part of a power struggle between General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese armed forces, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group. The two generals were allies who jointly orchestrated a military coup in October 2021 that derailed Sudan’s transition to democracy. The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate said it believed there were dozens of additional deaths among the rival forces and claimed that close to 600 people were wounded, including civilians and fighters.
Back to Office: Apparently there are still corporate executives out there desperate to get employees back to the office. So desperate in fact that they’re turning to consultants to try and help make their case. These consultants are focusing on changing employee hearts and minds by extolling the benefits of working from an office as opposed to the comfort of one’s home. For some people it might make sense; maybe their commute to work isn’t too long, maybe they feel more productive in an office setting, or maybe they just really enjoy the repetitive water cooler conversations that an office provides. Safe to say I’m not one of those employees. Call me a revolutionary, but I’m a big fan of letting people choose where to get their work done, so long as that work is getting done