Saddam Hussein was sentenced to die by hanging today. I would love to volunteer my city and its gallows to carry out the execution. We have a history of hanging murderers and rapists with style and panache.

But of course we were blessed to have Judge Isaac C. Parker appointed to serve (in a Republican administration) when Fort Smith was called Hell on the Border.

Right across the Arkansas River from Fort Smith was Indian Territory where outlaws ruled.

In 1875 there existed in the United States a wild and largely untamed land where outlaws ruled. This vast region was known as the Indian Territory and was located in the area which is now the state of Oklahoma. This territory was populated by a mixture of cattle thieves, horse thieves, prostitutes, desperados, whiskey peddlers and numerous unsavory characters who sought refuge in a region free of “White Man’s Court” and without laws which could be used to extradite them for trial.

The only court with jurisdiction over the Indian Territory was the U. S. Court for the Western District of Arkansas located in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith was situated on the border of Western Arkansas and Indian Territory. To this court came Judge Issac Parker who was named to replace a corrupt judge at Fort Smith in May of 1875. A severe and able Federal Judge, Issac Parker was nicknamed “The Hanging Judge” because of the many men he sent to the gallows.

View of Fort Smith, Circa 1853.

To build a real Democracy in Iraq the judicial process must bring justice to the Iraqi people and that requires tough measures… By giving Saddam Hussein the death penalty for his many crimes against humanity, the Iraq judicial system has taken an important first step.