Stage Four

Texas Executions Halted
By Angela K. Brown

Forty-two people have been executed this year in the United States. Twenty-six of those have been in Texas. Over half are Texas executions, but things seem to be slowly done in the lone star state. In the recent months Governor Perry has reprieved one execution and now two more have been halted due to different challenges. One is Allen Bridges from Sherman, who was scheduled for execution on November 6 but now his attorneys are claiming he is mentally retarded. He was found guilty for shooting a woman in the throat and stealing her purse, jewelry, and car in 1997. He has stated himself he was high on drugs at the time and I believe his current claim of mental retardation is sad and pathetic. The other is Dale Devon Scheanette from Fort Worth whose November 27 execution has been halted awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of lethal injection. He was found guilty of killing two women in their bathtubs at the same apartment complex and for five rapes. The Supreme Court is reviewing this because an attorney claims that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution. Texas’ lethal injection process uses three drugs to sedate, relax, and kill. For people who have committed such violent crimes such as multiple rapes and murders, that choice of death is much nicer than the ones they inflicted on others. With these two executions halted and others in other states, the U.S. is going towards the lowest number of executions since the mid-1990s. I guess this is good, knowing that the crime rate may be slowing down. As for those who have already committed crimes and are awaiting their end, they are lucky to have a few more days.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Executions_Halted.html