The Law: A Sudden Rush for Blood

For the first time in nearly a decade, the U.S. witnessed the sudden rush of blood lust that comes with an impending execution. Dozens of men telephoned the Utah state prison warden, Samuel Smith, offering to join (for a fee of $175) the firing squad that would extinguish the life of Murderer Gary Mark Gilmore, 35. Reporters shouted objections when Warden Smith announced at a press conference that state law did not permit journalists to witness the execution, scheduled at 8 a.m., Nov. 15. But the most macabre aspect of the event was that...