R.I.P. Thomas West

Roman Colosseum lit to protest an execution

On July 19, Arizona executed Thomas West, who was convicted of the 1987 murder of Donald Bortle.  At his clemency hearing, West apologized to the victim's family, and witnesses explained that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from physical and sexual abuse he suffered as a child.  By a 3-2 vote, the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency voted to reject the plea to commute West's sentence to life.  Federal court challenges based on Arizona's failure to follow the official execution protocol in prior executions were rejected after the state guaranteed they would follow it this time.

This is the 27th execution in the United States in 2011, the fourth in Arizona.