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A View from the Cheap Seats by Garren Shipley
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As astute readers have no doubt noticed on our front page, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for Ed Bell, the Jamaican national sentenced to die for the 1999 murder of Winchester Police Sgt. Ricky L. Timbrook.
The court's grant of certiorari certainly caught this Cheap Seater off guard, and for good reason. Getting a grant of certiorari from the nine justices is a bit like getting hit by lightning -- it doesn't happen very often, and when it does, it tends to make a big impact.
Needless to say we're working hard and fast to parse out what the court's decision means, where things go from here, but there's one political aspect that bears mentioning today.
Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine was beaten about the head and shoulders during the 2005 campaign over Bell's case by Republican Jerry Kilgore. He took another good pummeling in April when he stopped Bell's execution seven days before it was scheduled to go forward.
Now, with the U.S. Supreme Court having taken the case, it is entirely possible that Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine won't be the governor who decides whether to spare Bell's life, if such a decision even remains to be made.
The court's grant of certiorari certainly caught this Cheap Seater off guard, and for good reason. Getting a grant of certiorari from the nine justices is a bit like getting hit by lightning -- it doesn't happen very often, and when it does, it tends to make a big impact.
Needless to say we're working hard and fast to parse out what the court's decision means, where things go from here, but there's one political aspect that bears mentioning today.
Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine was beaten about the head and shoulders during the 2005 campaign over Bell's case by Republican Jerry Kilgore. He took another good pummeling in April when he stopped Bell's execution seven days before it was scheduled to go forward.
Now, with the U.S. Supreme Court having taken the case, it is entirely possible that Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine won't be the governor who decides whether to spare Bell's life, if such a decision even remains to be made.
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