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Killer loses his rights when convicted

When the state of Ohio brought back the death penalty, it imposed an unusual rule regarding condemned convicts' last words: Those about to be executed must write out their last words six hours before the execution. The statemement is then transcribed, and it is released by the warden after the execution takes place.

The law is intended to ensure a degree of decorum when the moment of execution arrives. The state of Ohio apparently wishes to prevent a condemned killer from causing a hysterical scene at an execution.

The ACLU is challenging the law in federal court, claiming a constitutional right for a condemned person to "say spontaneously, without government editing, what is on your mind as you stand on the brink of xecution."

But the state of Ohio does not edit such statements. It merely commits them to paper and dispassionately distributes them to the media after the event. Those who are convicted of crimes lose many of their freedoms, including the freedom to speak as and when they wish. In many states, for example, murderers are forbidden from profiting from their crimes by selling memoirs or TV rights to their stories.

While one might reasonably question the necessity or the wisdom of Ohio's law, it is difficult to see how it would violate the Constitution. A condemned killer loses nearly all of his rights, save the rights of the accused, at the moment he is convicted of murder.

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