THE wider body of civilised society holds no truck for that great abomination, the death penalty.
Yet In seeking due process of justice there remain places in this world where authorities still embrace the ultimate punishmemt - death by execution.
None more so than the United States where capital crimes see their denouement by gross, inhuman eye-for-an-eye final deliverance at the hands of the corporate executioner.
It is a bloody, gruesome process : death by the hanging rope, the firing squad, the guillotine, the gas chamber and now the lethal injection.
In his graphic, compelling reflection of this societal scourge Ian Woods gives a focused, defining and extraordinary account of a seemingly innocent man facing the executioner for a murder he did
not commit.
Mr Woods is a career journalist, often seen on our television news screens. His "beat" is diverse, his work impressive.
Here, In a masterclass of investigative journalism - he prefers to see his work as broad strokes of reportage -Woods allows us to be totally absorbed into a conspiracy of inefficiency, indifference, manipulation and moral bias that surrounds an alleged contracted killing almost 20 years ago.
Richard Glossip has waited in a prison cell in the United Staes not knowing when or how or will be killed by order of his country.
He has been found guilty of the murder of a motel worker who was bludgeoned to death.
Richard Glossip had not wielded the weapon but his accusers say he persuaded Justin Sneed to do the killing.
He has faced several trials and has been in and out of Death Row.
Mr Woods told me this week that while Oklahoma continues to mark time on the death penalty, Glossip remains on Death Row.
This is a many faceted narrative that embraces the concept of crime and the ultimate punishment.
Not only about the de facto nature
of execution but also the efficacy and humane nature of the death tools - in this case the drugs to be a for lethal injection as punishment.
It embraces friendship of an unusual of order,tenacity and commitment.
This is writing akin to that of a novelist but with reporting skills and journalistic acumen of highest order.
Yet It must also be a reporter's dilemma: when you become part of the story you seek to address
Talking to a man about to be executed must be the most focused, awesome challenge for a journalist (knowingly sharing another's expected terminal moments).
Mr Woods handles this in a sensitive but probing approach,
I would not be happy with due process as practiced in the Oklahoma system.
It seems a denial of a defendant's
fair trial: Incompetent counsel (how was this allowed; no forensic evidence connecting Glossip to the killing scene.
We are left with an aftertaste of justice not fully seen to be done by shielding jurors from relevant facts.
The author posits that putting someone to death for persuading someone else to commit murder is not unique but unusual.
Did he in fact have greater accountability than the actual killer who escaped the ultimate punishment?
We must reflect on the comment of the New York Times:
"Capital punishment is arbitrary, racist,and meted out to those without the resources to defend themselves.
.....this case is yet another reminder that the death penalty - in addition to being immoral and ineffective - has already taken innocent lives and as long as it exists it is likely to take more".