Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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Nevada’s death penalty system is extremely flawed — a stark example of its shortcomings is the case of Zane Floyd.
Floyd is a brain-damaged veteran who might be executed this fall. Ideally, the legal system would protect the innocent and ensure that only the guilty are punished, but in reality, the system can never fully overcome human error or deal with all the nuances of each case.
The system failed Floyd: His jury never heard about his traumatic childhood, his mother’s drinking which led to permanent brain damage, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. They never heard of his severe PTSD from serving as a Marine at Guantanamo Bay, which went untreated for years before his tragic crime took place. The jury was not able to assess how his young age at the time of his crime, combined with his mental impairments, would have affected his behavior. Moreover, the state seeks to execute Floyd with an experimental and untested method that is used to euthanize pets; such methods constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
There is no doubt that Floyd’s crimes are reprehensible, and he should be held accountable. However, when we think about who the death penalty is reserved for, it is immoral to execute intellectually disabled veterans with mental health problems, especially when we have alternatives to adequately punish crimes. It is time to rethink the death penalty system that would allow this to happen.
