What’s with all this talk about firing squads?

• March 25, 2023

By Michael Tarm | Associated Press

CHICAGO — The image of gunmen in a row firing in unison at a condemned prisoner may conjure up a bygone, less enlightened era.

But the idea of using firing squads is making a comeback. Idaho lawmakers passed a bill this week seeking to add the state to the list of those authorizing firing squads, which currently includes Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Fresh interest comes as states scramble for alternatives to lethal injections after pharmaceutical companies barred the use of their drugs.

Some, including a few Supreme Court justices, view firing squads as less cruel than lethal injections, despite the violence involved in riddling bodies with bullets. Others say it’s not so cut-and-dry, or that there are other factors to consider.

A look at the status of firing squads in the United States:

WHEN WAS THE LAST EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD?

Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed at Utah State Prison on June 18, 2010, for killing an attorney during a courthouse escape attempt.

Gardner sat in a chair, sandbags around him and a target pinned over his heart. Five prison staffers drawn from a pool of volunteers fired from 25 feet (about 8 meters) away with .30-caliber rifles. Gardner was pronounced dead two minutes later.

A blank cartridge was loaded into one rifle without anyone knowing which. That’s partly done to enable those bothered later by their participation to believe they may not have fired a fatal bullet.

Utah is the only state to have used firing squads in the past 50 years, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.

WHAT HAS CAUSED THE LETHAL DRUG SCARCITY?

Under Idaho’s bill, firing squads would be used only if executioners can’t obtain the drugs required for lethal injections.

As lethal injection became the primary execution method in the 2000s, drug companies began barring use of their drugs, saying they were meant to save lives, not take them.

States have found it difficult to obtain the cocktail of drugs they long relied on, such as sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Some have switched to more accessible drugs such as pentobarbital or midazolam, both of which, critics say, can cause excruciating pain.

Other states have reauthorized the use of electric chairs and gas chambers — or are at least considering doing so. That’s where firing squads come in.

ARE THEY MORE HUMANE?

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is among those who say firing squads are a more humane method of execution.

That idea is based on expectations that bullets will strike the heart, rupturing it and causing immediate unconsciousness as the inmate quickly bleeds to death.

“In addition to being near instant, death by shooting may also be comparatively painless,” Sotomayor wrote in a 2017 dissent.

Her comments came in the case of an Alabama inmate who asked to be executed by firing squad. A Supreme Court majority refused to hear his appeal. In her dissent, Sotomayor said lethal drugs can mask intense pain by paralyzing inmates while they are still sentient.”What cruel irony that the method that appears most humane may turn out to be our most cruel experiment yet,” she wrote.

BUT IS DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD REALLY PAINLESS?

In a 2019 federal case, prosecutors submitted statements from anesthesiologist Joseph Antognini, who said painless deaths by firing squads are not guaranteed.

Inmates could remain conscious for up to 10 seconds after being shot depending on where bullets strike, Antognini said, and those seconds could be “severely painful, especially related to shattering of bone and damage to the spinal cord.”

Others note that killings by firing squad are visibly violent and bloody compared with lethal injections, potentially traumatizing victims’ relatives and other witnesses as well as executioners and staffers who clean up afterward.

ARE FIRING SQUADS MORE RELIABLE?

If reliability means the condemned are more likely to die as intended, then one could make that argument.

An Amherst College political science and law professor, Austin Sarat, studied 8,776 executions in the U.S. between 1890 and 2010 and found that 276 of them were botched, or 3.15%.

The executions that went wrong included 7.12% of all lethal injections — in one notorious 2014 case in Oklahoma, Clayton Locket writhed and clenched his teeth after midazolam was administered — as well as 3.12% of hangings and 1.92% of electrocutions.

By contrast, not a single one of the 34 firing squad executions was found to have been botched, according to Sarat, who has called for an end to capital punishment.

The Death Penalty Information Center, however, has identified at least one firing squad execution that reportedly went awry: In 1879, in Utah territory, riflemen missed Wallace Wilkerson’s heart and it took 27 minutes for him to die.

WERE FIRING SQUADS EVER IN WIDE USE?

Firing squads have never been a predominant method of carrying out civilian death sentences and are more closely associated with the military, including the execution of Civil War deserters.

From colonial days through 2002, more than 15,000 people were put to death, according to data compiled by death penalty researchers M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla. Just 143 died by firing squad, compared with 9,322 by hanging and 4,426 by electrocution.

HAS THE SUPREME COURT WEIGHED IN?

High court rulings have required inmates who oppose an existing execution method to offer an alternative. They must prove both that the alternative is “significantly” less painful and that the infrastructure exists to implement the alternative method.

That has led to the spectacle of inmate attorneys bringing multiple cases in which they argue the merits of firing squads.

In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in Bucklew v. Precythe that some pain does not automatically mean a method of execution constitutes “cruel and unusual” punishment, which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

The Constitution “does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death — something that, of course, isn’t guaranteed to many people,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the 5-4 majority.

Key factors in deciding whether a method is “cruel and unusual” include whether it adds extra pain “beyond what’s needed to effectuate a death sentence,” Gorsuch said.

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ Shohei Ohtani ready to turn page from World Baseball Classic to Opening Day

• March 25, 2023

TEMPE, Ariz. — Friday afternoon was something of a palate cleanser for Shohei Ohtani.

In between the electric atmosphere of a World Baseball Classic title for Japan and Opening Day of a season that’s critical for him and the Angels, Ohtani went through the formality of one last spring training workout.

A couple of hundred people – half of them media members – watched Ohtani throw 81 pitches against a team of Arizona Diamondbacks Class-A players on a back field at the Angels’ complex.

The Angels had originally planned to have Ohtani pitch in Friday’s Cactus League game against the Padres, but they opted instead for the low-stress, controlled environment of a minor league game, in which innings can be shortened or extended to fit the pitcher’s needs.

“With all the pitches and the high intensity I was throwing in the Classic, I felt like I was already ready for Opening Day,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “Today was just fine-tuning stuff.”

Ohtani threw all of his pitches except his curveball, giving up one run on a wind-blown homer by 19-year-old Gavin Conticello. Ohtani struck out eight and walked one. He worked 4-2/3 innings.

Ohtani, who will pitch the Angels opener next Thursday night in Oakland, said his “body was a little more sore than normal” because it had been just three days since his 15-pitch outing to close out the WBC with a strikeout of Mike Trout.

Ohtani punctuated that moment by hurling his glove and cap into the air, and he later described it as the best moment of his life.

Ohtani said his best memories were pitching in front of the fans in Japan, starting with the first game of pool play in the Tokyo Dome against China.

“How quiet the stadium was, even though it was a full stadium, that kind of gave me chills,” Ohtani said. “It was a weird feeling.”

Now, he has traded in his Japan uniform for the red of the Angels, and all of the exhilaration has been replaced by the same questions.

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Ohtani is set to be a free agent at the end of the season, and most around the sport assume that he will sign a deal of at least $500 million to pitch somewhere else.

The Angels have not had a winning season in any of Ohtani’s five years, a point that fans and analysts mentioned frequently as the baseball world enjoyed seeing him perform in the spotlight of the WBC.

For the record, Ohtani said nothing has changed about his potential free agency since he experienced the WBC, but he said “I definitely want to win a ring with the Angels.”

Ohtani said his appetite to enjoy that kind of atmosphere with the Angels is now even greater: “After experiencing those games, win or go home, I definitely felt like I want to experience that here too.”

​ Orange County Register 

OCC creates store for fashion design students to stock up on experience

• March 25, 2023

One day, Christian Hernandez wants to open a shop of his own to sell the clothing he designs.

For now, customers can browse his pieces – and buy them – from a pop-up shop recently opened at Orange Coast College.

Understanding that there is no substitute for putting his textbook knowledge to use in the real world, Hernandez said he created a marking plan that he presented to his classmates in the college’s fashion design program, who then selected the sophomore to display and sell his merchandise at the new Coast Collective Co-Lab on the first floor of the campus College Center.

He finds the inspiration for his designs in observing and interpreting the everyday life going on around him, he said, and wants his apparel to prompt “people to stop and introspect and think about life.”

He is selling his apparel under his label, CH.

“I’m looking to see what my classmates like, see how my designs are doing and how they sell,” Hernandez said. “Just like a little crash course before I go on and do my own thing.”

The students will be developing their entrepreneurial skills by merchandising their own products in the process, Fashion Department Program Coordinator Lauren Becker said.

“(The students are) understanding how their brands fit into a retail environment,” Becker said. “It allows them to connect directly with the consumer and speak with them. It really allows them to troubleshoot and problem solve and get feedback. It allows them to see their product in a living space, which maybe they haven’t had that opportunity yet.”

Students can pick up valuable information such as how their products look displayed on a sales floor, and whether they should change the display or the line of merchandise being offered, she said.

The student entrepreneurs keep 100% of money made from sales.

“I’m very appreciative for the opportunity to sell at this space and very much looking forward to the opportunity to that comes with it,” said Jean-Victor Lairmore, whose merchandise brand, Stream & Grounds combines influences from European and Southern California subcultures. “This will help me tailor my customer service skills and get a better understanding of the customer.”

Along with the six student entrepreneurs, a current faculty member in the fashion design program and two alumni of the program were given initial space in the co-lab.

Another area of the pop-up is student-designed merchandise donated by the students with the proceeds going to support the college’s on-campus food pantry, the Pirates Cove.

“I think it is a cool opportunity for people to be able to sell their things and also, as a buyer, get things that are pretty unique, that you can’t get anywhere else,” said sophomore fashion student Madeline Lietz, who purchased a hoodie for $25 and necklace designed and sold by student Mariam Abdelrehim, under the brand Bebe Rouge. “You can’t go to any other store and get any of those.”

The current displays will be up through the end of the semester and then a new group of student entrepreneurs will be selected to display their merchandise in the fall.

Becker said she would like to see the co-lab expand beyond the fashion department to allow other programs, such as art, culinary or horticulture students, to have the experience of selling their creations.

“Our dynamic and flexible space will be able to host a range of events,” she said, “including talks from industry experts, opportunities for students to showcase their skills and talents, and collaborations with brands.”

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​ Orange County Register 

USC shuttle drivers, dispatchers vote to join SEIU Local 721

• March 25, 2023

USC shuttle drivers and dispatchers who say they’re grossly underpaid voted this week to join SEIU Local 721.

On Feb. 6, the workers filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election, which was held Thursday, March 23 with a majority voting in favor. The school employs 30 drivers and two dispatchers.

“This historic win puts us in the driver’s seat, and gives us the ability to win fair pay, better benefits and a voice on the job,” driver James Sims said in a statement.

Sims said the election will improve the lives of shuttle drivers and dispatchers while also boosting the quality of services provided to passengers.

“We look forward to coming together with the university very soon, and in good faith, to begin the bargaining process to negotiate our first union contract at USC,” he said.

Representatives with USC could not be reached for comment Friday.

USC shuttle drivers start at $18 an hour, considerably less than unionized drivers at UCLA, who earn a starting wage of $22.74 an hour and top out at $30.58 an hour.

Unionized drivers at Los Angeles International Aiport earn even more, with a maximum hourly wage of $39.34.

SEIU Local 721 notes that other area shuttle drivers also receive periodic bonuses, something they say USC drivers don’t get.

What the drivers and dispatchers hope to gain through unionization:

Higher wages
The ability to negotiate union contracts that win improvements to shifts, workloads and health and retirement benefits
Grievance and arbitration procedures to enforce union contracts and provide fair appeal procedures for employee discipline

Moving forward, the workers plan to elect a bargaining team and negotiate a new contract.

Last month, the drivers and dispatchers said USC managers had sent deceptive emails to the workers with anti-union messages.

“We’re fed up with being underpaid and undervalued despite our critical role in keeping students, staff, faculty and visitors moving,” shuttle driver Sonia Olivarez said last month.

In a February posting on SEIU’s website, drivers also said they work as “at will” employees who can be let go at any time for any reason or no reason, with no recourse for unfair situations.

​ Orange County Register 

Russell Westbrook mentoring Clippers’ young guards

• March 25, 2023

Russell Westbrook has been called a lot of things. MVP. Toxic. Amazing ball-handler. Disruptor. All-Star. One of the best point guards in NBA history.

But mentor? That is among the roles Westbrook has taken on since joining the Clippers last month. And his pupils? Terance Mann and Bones Hyland, two of the team’s young guards, are happy to learn Westbrook’s secrets to success.

Asked what Westbrook has taught him, Hyland, a second-year player, said, “Man, everything. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

From his spot on the bench, Hyland said his appreciation for Westbrook’s skills has grown since the two joined the Clippers (39-35) last month. Hyland, who spent his first one-plus seasons with the Denver Nuggets, previously had only seen Westbrook from across the court.

“I got so much love and just, just everything for Russ, man. I love watching him play, his energy,” Hyland said. “He goes out there and plays 99% every time. Well, 100%, 100% every time.

“He gives it his all. So just being alongside Russ, I learned so much and he’s always in my ear telling me the good things, what he sees out there for me. I’m glad to be a teammate alongside Russ.”

Hyland showed what he had learned so far in Thursday’s 127-105 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was all over the court, going 4 for 6 from 3-point range – making two more than his mentor – and shooting 6 for 13 overall for 16 points off the bench. He also had seven assists, four rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal.

Hyland and Mann provided a spark the team needed with All-Star wing Paul George out for the next 2-3 weeks because of a knee sprain. The Clippers are going to need more of that kind of youthful energy when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans (36-37) on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.

“When it’s my time, when my number’s called, I just go out there and give it my all,” Hyland said. “It was an amazing game tonight.”

Westbrook, 34, said he jumped at the opportunity to take on a leadership role with the Clippers, something he didn’t find with the LeBron James-led Lakers.

“I like to see other people do well,” said Westbrook, who starred at Leuzinger High and UCLA. “I really enjoyed it, honestly. Man, to see him play well tonight, it speaks so great for him.

“With Terance, my job is to make sure that he knows what’s going on, to keep his spirits high, make sure he knows what’s going on throughout the game. Tonight, he did that. He obviously knows how to play at a high level.”

Mann said Westbrook has helped him stay focused during games and “not worrying about the last play and moving onto the next one. Kind of just that relentless mentality of the next play is your best play, and I appreciate that from him.”

Coach Tyronn Lue said he is excited to see veterans, such as Westbrook, interact with the younger generation, keeping them ready to play.

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Westbrook called his new role – a fresh start so to speak – with the Clippers a great experience, something he is grateful to have found.

“God has put me in this position,” Westbrook said. “I’m thankful for that and I’m just going to cherish every moment I have and hopefully we are playing at the end of June.”

Because the one thing Westbrook has never been called is an NBA champion.

PELICANS AT CLIPPERS

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV/Radio: Bally Sports SoCal, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Marvel Zombies comes to life in a tabletop game at WonderCon

• March 25, 2023

Amid the hustle of hordes of cosplayers and comic book fans spilling into the Anaheim Convention Center for the first day of WonderCon on Friday, March 24 to pick up exclusive merchandise, get in the front rows of panel discussions or to get books and artwork signed by their favorite artists, there was a bit of calm as small groups hit up the CMON booth in the center of all the action to play tabletop games.

With all of the colorful costumes and the sights and sounds of a bustling convention surrounding them, WonderCon attendees were able to hunker down and play the new Marvel Zombies: A Zombicide Game.

“We love it,” said Geoff Skinner, senior vice president of U.S. operations at CMON as he stood inside the large booth and guests played games around him. “We were able to come back to WonderCon for the first time last year since the pandemic. We had the Marvel United game that had just come out and until then we hadn’t been interacting one-on-one with people and by far the most rewarding thing was seeing like a 10-year-old come play for the first time. It was fun to watch them take the time to learn and these games have a ton of strategy and they can pretend to be their favorite characters, too. Watching people come, sit down, play and try it out and later say that it was one of their favorite things of the convention; that’s one of my favorite things from these weekends.”

Marvel Zombies is the company’s latest game and is based on the five-issue limited series of graphic novels published in 2005-2006 that were written by “The Walking Dead” graphic novel series creator Robert Kirkman along with art by Sean Phillips and covers by Arthur Suydam.

CMON, which has released dozens of these types of games, used a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising $500,000 to create the new tabletop game. They were stunned when in just 16 days they received more than $9 million in pledges with more than 28,500 backers earlier this year. The basic version of the game is available now at most retailers for about $34.99, however expanded and deluxe packs that were available to those that participated in the Kickstarter campaign started at $130, but included additional pawns, which were hand-sculpted and put into molds instead of being 3-D printed, and limited edition character pawns. Those more exclusive sets will be shipped soon and are expected to be fully out to all the Kickstarter backers by June.

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“It was absolutely amazing,” Skinner said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for the fans that came out to support us. We had such a big first day; within the first three hours we did $3 million and it broke all of our internal records and we weren’t prepared for that. We hoped people would come out and like it, but just the amount that came, it was tough to keep up.”

Skinner said the interest in tabletop and board games has steadily increased since the early ’00s.

“Before the pandemic, I knew more people than ever that had game nights,” he said. “That could have been Cards Against Humanity, Zombicide or Catan, which is really popular and influential. But I think the match that was placed on the gasoline came when people were at home because of the pandemic and they were in their pods or with their families and they didn’t want to sit around inside. Even with as much binge-worthy TV as there was, you can only watch so much TV. It wasn’t just the uptick in the amount of people playing games again, it was also the acceptance of different types of games and people looking for different experiences.”

Those who attended WonderCon were among the first to be able to see all the exclusive pieces to the Marvel Zombies game, which in the more exclusive versions is for up to six players. Skinner said the game designers took cues directly from the comic book series, but there are a few things that set this game apart from similar games on the market.

“We made the zombies our playable characters as opposed to our normal Zombicide,” he said. “In most other games, you’re a survivor and trying to outrun, gun down or feed the zombies in some way. In this, you are zombie Hulk and you are zombie Iron Man. You’re playing against other heroes who have not been zombified and Spider-Man can swing in and try to defeat you and the non-zombie heroes can be your nemesis. You try to stave off hunger because in the comics, the whole point was every time they ate, they’d revert to normal and regret what they did, but they’d get real hungry again and they couldn’t help it.”

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The game is mission based and there are multiple objectives available in the included booklet where you have to find ways to flee waves of SHIELD agents that are coming for you or you have to eat a hero, Skinner explains.

“It offers a lot of different game play depending on the mission you want to play so a lot of times you can sit down at the table and play something you’ve never played before out of the same box,” he added.

CMON also had two other games for fans to try out including new board games based on Scooby-Doo! and Stranger Things. These games were also available to guests in the the general gaming area of the convention, which featured dozens of new tabletop games.

WonderCon 2023

When: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, March 25; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, March 26

Where: Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim

Tickets: Badges are $35-$55 for adults; $18-$23 for kids ages 13-17, seniors ages 60 and older and active military at comic-con.org/wca.

​ Orange County Register 

Max Muncy, J.D. Martinez hit home runs as Dodgers tie Brewers

• March 25, 2023

THE GAME: Max Muncy and J.D. Martinez hit home runs as the Dodgers played to a 6-6 tie with the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday afternoon at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.

PITCHING REPORT: In his final tuneup before starting on Opening Day, Julio Urias allowed three runs in his five innings, two on back-to-back home runs by Josh VanMeter and Mike Brosseau. He gave up eight hits, walked three and struck out only one. … Alex Vesia and Caleb Ferguson combined to allow two runs in the sixth inning. … Evan Phillips and Shelby Miller each pitched a 1-2-3 inning.

HITTING REPORT: Muncy was 2 for 3 with a double to go with his home run. Martinez had a walk and his home run in three times up. … Trayce Thompson had a walk and an RBI double. … Hunter Feduccia has been one of the Dodgers’ best hitters this spring. The young catcher had a double in the eighth inning Friday and is 8 for 20 (.400) with three doubles, a triple, a home run and nine RBIs in Cactus League games.

UP NEXT: Royals (RHP Zack Greinke) vs. Dodgers (RHP Dustin May) at Camelback Ranch, Saturday, 12:05 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

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​ Orange County Register 

Scientists surprised four California sea otters died from strain of a parasite that could impact humans

• March 25, 2023

Four sea otters in California have died from a rare strain of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite that scientists said could pose a risk to human health.

Researchers called the finding a “complete surprise” because this strain of T. gondii had never been reported in any aquatic animal or in coastal California. Their study, led by researchers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and University of California, Davis, was published this week in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

“Since Toxoplasma can infect any warm-blooded animal, it could also potentially cause disease in animals and humans that share the same environment or food resources, including mussels, clams, oysters, and crabs that are consumed raw or undercooked,” Melissa Miller, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife researcher and author of the paper, said in news release.

The four sea otters stranded from 2020 to 2022, and each had an “unusual and severe” condition called steatitis, or inflammation of body fat. Toxoplasmosis is common in sea otters, and it’s known that it can be deadly, the researchers wrote, but this strain of T. gondii was able to rapidly kill apparently healthy adult otters.

No cases have been reported in humans, but researchers called the otters “important sentinels” of the circulating strain, which could be a risk to people eating seafood or ingesting contaminated water.

“Because this parasite can infect humans and other animals, we want others to be aware of our findings, quickly recognize cases if they encounter them and take precautions to prevent infection,” Miller said. “We encourage others to take extra precautions if they observe inflamed systemic fat deposits in sea otters or other marine wildlife.”

Most people infected with T. gondii have no symptoms and aren’t aware of their infection, but severe toxoplasmosis can cause damage to the brain, eyes and other organs, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy and can lead to significant health problems after birth. People at higher risk for severe infection are infants born to mothers who were infected during or shortly before pregnancy and people with weakened immune systems.

To prevent any toxoplasmosis infection, the CDC recommends typical food safety practices such as cooking foods to a high internal temperature, rinsing fruits and vegetables and washing utensils.

Cat feces is known to contain high levels of the parasite, so the CDC urges people to keep pet cats inside, change the litter box every day — before the parasite becomes infectious — and wash hands well.

In the study, the researchers said more work is needed to investigate habitat or climate change factors that may have led to the spread of the rare strain in otters, and to examine whether other aquatic wildlife are infected.

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​ Orange County Register