April 24 , 2008

Powell clerks take 'Trust For Life' program seriously
By James Cook, Times Editor

Many of us do not think about it, but what if we needed a kidney transplant or some other organ to stay alive? What if your family or your child needed it? Sad to say, but literally hundreds of thousands of people every year need such an emergency procedure and the number needing help exceeds those who volunteer to help. But thanks to some very caring people, many receive the organ or tissue they need in time.
Licensed drivers in Powell County once again showed their support of organ donation by being “above average” in donating an extra dollar to the Kentucky Circuit Court Clerks Trust for Life when renewing their driver’s licenses in 2007.
Many Powell County residents also placed their names on the new Kentucky Organ Donor Registry at the same time.
According to the Trust For Life, Powell Circuit Court Clerk Darlene Drake’s office collected the donated $1 from 50 percent of those obtaining their drivers license last year. The average number of drivers who donated $1 when they got their new or renewed license in Kentucky’s 120 counties was 41.6 percent And, since last May 15 when it was added to the driver’s license process, over 500 county residents have placed their names on the donor registry.
“Darlene Drake and her staff should be very proud of their efforts in collecting the $1 donations and in adding names to the donor registry,” said Trust President Doug Hall, who is also the Floyd Circuit Clerk.
“We just want to be able to help those who need it,” Drake said. “There are so many right here in Powell County who have benefited from the program. Whether it is a kidney or maybe a ligament from a cadaver, people benefit from it.”
The Trust For Life was created by the Kentucky Circuit Court Clerks Association and the state legislature in 1992 to collect the $1 at driver’s license counters to fund a year-round education and promotion effort to encourage all Kentuckians to be organ and tissue donors so that others might live. They were also very instrumental in establishing the new Kentucky Organ Donor Registry.
Currently more than 770 Kentuckians are on waiting lists for lifesaving organ transplants and many more need life-enhancing procedures requiring donated tissue like corneas, heart valves and veins. Many of these patients will die waiting.
“We had set a goal of getting 100 percent contributions for this month, since April is Trust for Life Month, but we came up short,” Drake said. “But I know the people of Powell County and this county cares and it shows with the number of people who do sign up.”
Powell County ranked 41 out of 120 counties in February when it came to donations and registering people to become donors.
Any Kentucky resident with a valid state driver’s license or state ID can now make their wishes to be a donor known by registering on Kentucky’s new Organ Donor Registry when they go to the Circuit Clerk’s offices to renew. Or they can access the registry by visiting www.DonateLifeKY.org. The registration process is quick, easy and secure. The clerks and the Trust encourage everyone to tell their families of their decision.
For more information about the Trust and the Organ Donor Registry, call toll-free (866)945-5433 or visit the TFL web site at www.trustforlife.org.
Governor Beshear reported that the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry, which receives most of its registrations through the Circuit Court Clerks administration of the state’s drivers license program, now, has more than 280,000 names on it. The registry began recording names at the drivers license counter in May of last year.
Officials with the Circuit Clerks’ Trust For Life have announced a goal of having more than one million Kentuckians on the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry by the end of 2010.
For more information about organ, tissue and cornea donation and the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry, visit: www.DonateLifeKY.org or www.TrustForLife.org .

Supreme Court rules against Baze
By James Cook, Times Editor

The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken, for now. The court ruled in a tough 7-2 vote that the method of lethal injection used by Kentucky and 35 other states is not cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling rejected an appeal by two Kentucky Death Row inmates, including convicted cop killer Ralph Baze and double murderer Thomas Clyde Bowling, who claimed the method was cruel punishment as it caused pain and terror.
Writing the lead opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts stated, “Because it is undisputed that Kentucky adopted its lethal injection protocol in an effort to make capital punishment more humane, not to add elements of terror, pain, or disgrace to the death penalty, petitioners’ challenge must fail.” But the court looked to be divided in some aspects as seven justices wrote differing opinions. Justices Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy joined Roberts in his opinion. Justices John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer agreed with the ruling but did not sign the opinion issued by Roberts. Thomas wrote that, “a method of execution violates the Eighth Amendment only if it is deliberately designed to inflict pain.” Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and David Souter dissented.
When the court decided to hear the case back in September, a moratorium was placed on executions, with the court delaying nearly two dozen scheduled executions. The ruling will now clear the way for states to resume executing inmates with the lethal injection cocktail used by so many states.
Baze was convicted in 1993 of the January, 1992 ambush killings of then Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe. The officers had gone to Baze’s cabin off of Little Hardwick’s Creek Road in Clay City to serve felony warrants from Ohio. One of those warrants was for assaulting a Toledo police officer. According to the evidence, Baze ambushed the officers from behind as he hid behind a wood pile. Baze shot Bennett three times in the back, then after hitting Briscoe in the back, shot him in the back of the head as he lay face down on the ground. Baze has never denied shooting the officers, but claims it was self defense. Bowling was convicted in the shooting deaths of Edward and Tina Earley, as well as the shooting of their two years old son outside of their dry cleaning business in Lexington in 1990.
At the heart of the suit, known as Ralph Baze vs. John D. Rees, was the three drug cocktail used in the lethal injection process is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. That amendment deals with what is known as “cruel and unusual punishment.” The inmates’ attorneys claimed that the first drug, sodium thiopental which renders the prisoner unconscious, wears off too quickly. There have been claims that some prisoners are awake and able to feel pain while the execution is underway. The second drug, pancuronium bromide which paralyzes all muscle movement, prevents the inmate from speaking out and expressing awareness if there is pain. The third drug, potassium chloride, induces cardiac arrest and is “excruciatingly painful in a conscious person,” the inmates and their lawyers stated in court papers.
However, attorneys for the state told justices that they “work hard to execute inmates humanely.” They also warned in briefs that “an endless road of litigation. ... Condemned inmates will never run out of ideas for changes to the procedures, drugs or equipment used during lethal injection.” However, both sides agreed during oral arguments that there was no proof to substantiate the claims of inmates feeling pain.
Baze, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Sept. 25, had petitioned former Governor Ernie Fletcher for clemency and had appealed through television interviews to the judges to halt his imminent death. In one interview he stated, “If the judges do not have any backbone to stand up and tell people they will not lie to us and stop this, I guess they’ll kill me.”
Baze still has another appeal to be heard by the Kentucky State Supreme Court. Baze’s latest appeal is based on his original trial being improperly moved, which he claims is a violation of his rights. Following his arrest in 1992 the trial was moved to Frankfort where a special judge was appointed. The trial was then moved to Rowan County, where Baze was convicted in the double murder and sentenced to the death penalty.
“I don’t remember the last executed inmate, Eddie Lee Harper, or the one before him, McQueen, getting this many appeals. I mean, it was his (Baze) attorney’s that asked for the change of venue and the judge who was appointed who wanted to hold it in his court in Rowan County instead of driving to Frankfort everyday for three weeks.” Rosie Bennett, widow of Sheriff Bennett and sister to Deputy Briscoe said in an interview last fall. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Because of the state appeal and the federal case, the state Supreme Court justices voted in Sept. unanimously to stay the execution and hear the appeal. Justice Will T. Scott recused himself from the case at Baze’s attorney’s request. Scott had made comments about the Baze case in campaign advertisements during his 2004 successful run for the high court.
Baze has claimed that he fired in self defense during the shooting at his cabin off Little Hardwick’s Creek in Clay City. However, evidence showed that Sheriff Bennett and Deputy Briscoe were both shot in the back. Bennett was never able to defend himself. In newspaper interviews following his arrest, Baze stated he walked up to Briscoe who was laying face down and still breathing, then shot him in the head. Baze’s wife even testified at the trial that her husband fired first. Baze claims that people lied at his trial, including his wife.
Gov. Steve Beshear announced after the court’s ruling that he will sign death warrants “under the appropriate circumstances.” He also stated he would review the cases. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said in published interviews that he was “gratified” by the court’s ruling. Conway and his office will now review the cases and their appeal statuses for the 38 inmates on Kentucky’s Death Row. But the state’s top public defender, Ernie Lewis, predicts more appeals. “Every time the death penalty is implemented and something goes awry, which it inevitably will, there will be other litigation,” Lewis told reporters in a statement published around the state.
There has been no date for the state supreme court to hear Baze’s appeal, nor has a new execution date been set.

Clay City passes restaurant tax
By David J. Griffin, Times Reporter

Like playing follow the leader, Clay City followed Stanton and passed a much needed, yet controversial restaurant tax. With a very small group of restaurant workers in attendance, the Clay City Council discussed the proposed three percent restaurant tax ordinance at its regular meeting on Monday night. Mayor Jimmy Caudill distributed copies of the ordinance for council member’s perusal.
After a brief discussion with some opposition from a few observers, Kenny Rice made a motion to approve the second reading of the tax. Garland Lacy seconded his motion and the council unanimously agreed. The funds will be collected by the Tourism Commission which will contribute half of the total amount collected to the Clay City Council. The resources will be used for parks, festivals, green space, and city beautification.
"I believe you have made a good decision," Tourism Commission Director Serena Bowen told members of the council as she was leaving the meeting. "We hope so." Councilmember Garland Lacy responded, "We can't take it back now."
In other business, Mayor Caudill discussed several items related to the city’s local parks. He explained, “Hinkle has donated two loads of gravel which was hauled by the county at no expense to the city. The gravel was designated for the perimeter of the middle school outfield.” He also mentioned that the city has been grading the little league field and working on the concession stands. “East Kentucky Power has agreed to re-set the large light pole which was damaged by weather,” he added.