Yeah! Save that taxpayer money!

Yesterday, the fine State of Texas executed a man who most certainly 'had it coming'.  Lawrence Russell Brewer, convicted of the 1998 dragging death of James Boyd Jr, had his sentence carried out yesterday(FINALLY). 

Before receiving his lethal injection(too good for him) Mr. Brewer, as is traditional, had a By Request last meal, and Adam Richman, of Man V. Food would be proud.  The condemned had the following dinner order: 

two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pint of ice cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts.

 Man, you swap out the fried okra for mozzarella sticks, and that sounds A-okay. 

The kicker is, Lawrence Brewer didn't eat any of it.  Now...I'm not sure if this was a case of 'let's stick it to the man one more time, and run up the food bill' or, he just got to the moment of truth and decided he couldn't eat.  Having never been on death row, I can't envision how pending execution would effect my appetite.  I would like to think I would have choked down a few bites of chicken fried steak though...finish strong, like my boss always says.


During some of the...less exciting times I have had in my life, I remember sitting around and playing the 'What would your last meal, be?' game.  We used to limit ourselves to one of every course, unlike what is allowed by the generous Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  Or rather, what used to be allowed by the generous Texas Department of Criminal Justice, because after hearing about the extreme(and budget busting) amount of food provided for the late Mr. Brewer, State Senator John Whitmire, Chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee wrote a letter to the Executive Director of the Department of Criminal Justice, that basically said, 'Either You Knock That Shit Off, or I Will'.

Seeing the writing on the wall, the Department of Criminal Justice said that from this point on, the Condemed would receive the same meal as the other inmates. 

Bravo for the Senator, for taking a stand over this.  His reason was succinct, and spot on:  'Mr. Byrd didn't get to choose his last meal.  The whole deal is so illogical'. 

I agree, even if this IS going to cost me a way of passing time in the future...just glad I'm not the NEXT guy...he may have been thinking about his last meal for YEARS, and now he's going to get salisbury steak or nutri-loaf. 

Remind me not to commit a capital crime in Texas...