Quotes
Beecher: Okay. Let's say I give you the benefit of the doubt. Let's say you didn't do it on purpose. The bottom line is, I believe you would, that you're capable of it. That's the kind of man I think you are, and I wish to God I'd left you on death row.
McManus: Omar, all we've got in Em City are scum bags, including you! I mean, given everything you've done, starting with the cold blooded murder of Felecia Brown, I don't exactly see why you are so self righteous.
Alvarez: You know, someday, maybe soon, these guys are gonna be carrying my body out.
Ortolani: Accidents are the fifth leading cause of death. But you know as well as me, there's no such thing as an accident. That's just some bullshit word we used instead of blaming ourselves, because no matter what damn lie you've been told, we're the leading cause of death. Mankind. And there's no cure for us.
Redding: Suppose you wouldn't want to trade that service spoon for a telephone, O'Reily, come on over and join our company? Ryan: Yeah, that'd be a dream come true, pissing off strangers at dinnertime. Redding: Ain't no money in the kitchen. Ryan: That's why my middle name is 'subsidize.'
Hill: 13 years after banging the opposite side of the gavel, the supreme court did an about face and decided last June to bar the death penalty on retarded defendants. 'The large number of States prohibiting the execution of mentally retarded persons provides powerful evidence that today our society views mentally retarded offenders as categorically less culpable then the average criminal."
Dr. Nathan: Ryan, lethal injection isn't just falling asleep. Ryan: What do you mean? Dr. Nathan: It definitely makes execution easier on the public, easier on the staff, but we don't really know how painful lethal injection is. What I can tell you is the little-known-fact that it was invented by the Nazis.
Dr. Nathan: Think about it. I mean, he's had electroshock therapy, which isn't such a far cry from electrocution. I mean, at least in his mind it wouldn't have to be. By now, he's used to the straps and the electrodes. Just tell him he's going in for a special session. He might never know the difference.
Neema: Listen...I haven't been very friendly since I got to Oz, but now, I've talked to Susanne, I'm aware of how hard you've tried to stop your brothers execution. I admire your efforts. I want you to know at the hour of his death, everyone in Em City will be with him.
Hill: Each individual state has to decide if a person is retarded or not, meaning a murderer could get a life sentence in Maine where he's considered retarded, but the gas chamber in Iowa where he's normal enough to die. Same guy, same problems, same crime, two opposite fates depending on which invisible state line he crosses. Guilt or innocence, hell, one's entire identity is now a matter of geography.
Hill: There's widespread agreement that retarded people are less accountable for their crimes then those of average intelligence. But if so, something or someone has to be held accountable, has to pick up the slack and take the rest of the blame, right? After all, these victims still die heinous deaths and families still grieve. If the retarded person is not fully at fault, then who or what shares the responsibility? God? Human nature? Society? Maybe the question is, who isn't to blame?
Hill: Flashback to 1989 when the Supreme Court first weighed in on this issue. "Based on evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society, there is not sufficient evidence present of a national consensus against such executions." Well, supposedly today, there is. Polls show most Americans agree that an adult with the mind of a third graded should not be on death row. But are we a maturing society with evolving standards of decency? Who's to say we're any further along than some cosmic equivalent of third grade? Who's to say we, as a whole, aren't retarded.