News Comment 4
If you are on death row and your date for execution is coming up fast, don’t expect the last meal of your dreams the night before your execution. After Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was executed Wednesday for the hate crime slaying of James Byrd Jr. more than 10 years ago, asked for “two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover’s pizza, a pint of ice cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts” and then didn’t eat any of it. After a few letters and comments back and forth, Texas officals aggreed that the men and women on death row do not deserve special treatment on their final night. They will get to eat what everyone else in their unit is served. Brewer, was a white supremacist gang member. He was put on death row because he was convicted of chaining James Byrd Jr, 49, to the back of a pickup truck and dragging him to his death along a road. “Mr. Byrd didn’t get to choose his last meal. The whole deal is so illogical.”
The whole last meal before execution thing has been going on for quite a long time. In my opinion, if a state wants to offer a last meal, they should set a cap on how much money the meal cost. In this case, $15 should be enough. Tax payers should not be happy about this Brewer guy who probably ordered over $100 of food. It will be interesting to see if other states follow suit or if they continue to keep their last meal for people about to executed the same that they have always had it.