IT'S moronic to give a condemned man (most inmates on Death Row are male) whatever he wants to eat before executing him. First off, someone destined to be lethally injected in a few hours probably won't have a very hearty appetite. Could he even taste the food? Giving murderers their just desserts
Second, why spend more taxpayer dollars on specially prepared meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, fancy pastries and brand-name ice cream for an inmate found guilty of committing a heinous crime? Think of the millions already "wasted" on courtroom appeals and incarceration costs before the ultimate penance is carried out.
Third and most important, get real. Granting a fine last meal to a criminal sentenced to death is hypocritical. Why is the system being nice to a person it has ordered to die?
Maybe it's guilt or some last-minute gesture of warped humanitarianism.
Whatever the case, this Sunday's New York Times ran an informative article by Sam Howe Verhovek about what foods were ordered by 144 condemned men in Texas prisons. (There's no capital punishment in Hawaii.)
The most popular entree was hamburger (46 requests), followed by steak (27) and eggs (10). Favorite side dish was french fries (56); ice cream was most desired dessert (21).
Laughably, a final cigarette is not allowed because smoking has been banned from the Texas prison system since 1995 (bad for the health?). Also dubbed a no-no is another common request - alcohol - although a few stiff drinks would be a mercy.
Personally, like any good liberal, I don't believe in the concept of capital punishment for a variety of reasons. But it is still disturbing to mull some of the voracious last-meal requests.
Ronald O'Brian, executed on March 31, 1984, ordered T-bone steak (medium to well-done), french fries and ketchup, whole kernel corn, sweet peas, lettuce and tomato salad with egg and French dressing, iced tea, sweetener, saltines, Boston cream pie and rolls.
Robert Drew, executed Aug. 2, 1994, wanted steak (rare), ham, two hamburgers, two pieces of fish and a chocolate milk shake.
And Richard Beavers, executed April 4, 1994, asked for six pieces of french toast with syrup, jelly, butter, six barbecued spare ribs, six pieces of well-burned bacon, four scrambled eggs, five well-cooked sausage patties, french fries with ketchup, three slices of cheese, two pieces of yellow cake with chocolate fudge icing and four cartons of milk. There goes the diet.
HOW ironic that we give convicted murders the choice of whatever they want to feast on before they "go," while their victims didn't have any say in the time or method of their demise.
For example, I hope the future judge or jury panel in the Jose Luis Rodriguez murder case weighs heavily the fact that the Schofield Barracks soldier had the opportunity to tell the truth about his wife's death. Instead, he concocted a story about how the couple had been kidnapped on Sunday by two or three "local" men from their home on the base, were taken to the Pu'u O Mahuka Heaiu in Pupukea, and how he had managed to escape.
But the condition of the body of 22-year-old Angela Rodriguez, found in the couple's car, indicated she had been killed earlier, possibly on Saturday. Rodriguez, 27, confessed to the crime on Wednesday.
If he's found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, Jose Rodriguez would be granted a last meal of his choice - a luxury not afforded his now deceased wife.