Do just the good people have dignity?

Late last week, President Obama ordered a review of the specifics as to how the death penalty is administered at the state level. This came in response to the sad episode in which Clayton Lockett, convicted for the horrific murder of Stephanie Neiman, died of an apparent heart attack shortly after a botched lethal injection.

The administration’s step is a good one, but it’s hardly bold or brave. While the president called Americans to consider “difficult and profound questions” about capital punishment in this country, the relevant issues around how we put people to death don’t seem too tough to me. Should executions be drawn out and excruciatingly painful? Should they be inequitably applied? Should they occasionally kill people wrongly convicted of crimes?

No. God have mercy on us, no.