Opinion

America Has Stopped Being a Civilized Nation

On Thursday morning, The Knoxville News Sentinel published a front-page story by Matt Lakin about the imminent execution of Billy Ray Irick. The inmate had been on death row since 1986, a year after he confessed to raping and murdering a 7-year-old child left in his care. The little girl was named Paula Dyer. She called her murderer “Uncle Bill.” The print headline read, “Paula Dyer’s last day on Earth.”

Thursday was Billy Ray Irick’s last day on Earth. His execution was the first in Tennessee since 2009.

The physical evidence against him was incontrovertible, and no one is questioning his guilt. But there are big questions about whether Tennessee should have executed him. As Nashville Scene’s Steven Hale has reported in depth, Mr. Irick apparently suffered from severe mental illness. He spent much of his childhood in a home for abused and troubled children. He told people the devil was giving him orders. He chased another little girl down the street with a machete.