I am very proud of Tim Kaine today. Sure, he could have taken the easy road politically and allowed Virginia to proceed with its second execution since he's been Governor. Instead, Kaine took the politically difficult, but morally correct, road yesterday in the case of Percy Levar Walton. According to the Washington Post:
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine delayed the execution of triple-killer Percy Levar Walton yesterday, a move that political adversaries said renews questions about the governor's commitment to enforce the death penalty.In a statement issued a little more than an hour before Walton's scheduled execution, Kaine said he would conduct an independent inquiry to determine whether Walton is too mentally ill to be put to death.
"Due to the history of judicial concern about his mental status, the claims in Walton's clemency petition are entitled to serious consideration," Kaine (D) wrote, ordering a new execution date in six months. "It would be imprudent to either proceed with the execution or grant clemency without further review."
This is exactly right - conduct "more review" and make sure Virginia gets this one right before it acts. As one of Walton's attorney commented after the decision, "[Kaine has] recognized the seriousness of executing someone with an IQ of 66 and who is severely mentally ill."
Amnesty Virginia has a legal analysis and appeal on its website. According to the group:
The execution of an insane prisoner violates the US Constitution under the 1986 Supreme Court ruling, Ford v. Wainwright. However, Ford protections have proved minimal. At a bare minimum, it requires that a prisoner be found to make a connection between his crime and punishment. However, what if the connection is highly tenuous or takes place in an inner world that is delusional and the product of severe mental illness? Precisely what the Ford decision means continues to cause dissent in the lower courts. Recent judicial decisions in Levar Walton+óGé¼Gäós case have illustrated this disagreement and highlight the need for executive clemency to prevent the injustice of killing a mentally ill man.
Amnesty also recalled that former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore (R) decided "to commute the death sentence of Calvin Swann because of the prisoner+óGé¼Gäós schizophrenia." And the Washington Post notes that "[l]ast year, Kaine's predecessor, then-Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), commuted the death sentence of Robin Lovitt to life in prison."
In other words, Tim Kaine made a morally correct and courageous decision. He also made a decision that has plenty of legal and political precedent. Good job, Governor Kaine.
Not suprisingly, the usual (Republican) suspects immediately attacked Tim Kaine for not just flipping the switch, despite all the outstanding questions. Our old friend Jerry Dubya Kilgore, for instance, had this to say:
It's predictable. A lot of things have been predictable, whether it's taxes or the death penalty. He complained dramatically about some of the death penalty ads I ran saying he was against the death penalty. I guess I've been proven right.
Yeah, whatever Jerry. So, you're saying that if you had been Governor, you wouldn't have even bothered to look into this case carefully before you proceeded with the ultimate governmental power - executing a person? Do you have any clue how irresponsible that sounds, or why the voters of Virginia rejected your reckless political pandering last November? Probably not, I know. But all I have to say today is, thank goodness we elected Tim Kaine and not you as our Governor. Gov. Kaine may not always take the politically popular route, but at least he tries to do the right thing, according to his deep moral beliefs. Who knows about you and the other "Jerry Kilgores" of this world.