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
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Stage Three
Freed After 14 Years
Posted by: Charles Kuffner
I could not even begin to imagine what it must feel like to wait 14 years in prison to have corrected DNA evidence prove your innocence and finally be freed. That was the case for Ronald Taylor, who was imprisoned for 14 years based on an error done by the HPD (Houston Police Department) Crime Lab. He is the third man to be wrongfully found guilty due to HPD’s inaccurate work. After 2 years of independent investigation a final report states the HPD serology division to have “among the most troubling and problematic work.” About 180 cases of serology work had “major issues” and need review. I found this to be very upsetting. Innocent people are being put behind bars because personnel are poorly trained and making mistakes. These crime labs should have excellent serologist and not be doing poorly on audits. HPD’s crime lab problems have come to light and errors have been found in other analyses. It does not surprise me that there is now a doubt on other convictions and in Houston’s local justice system. So what are they doing about this now? Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project, feels the Ronald Taylor case has brought the need for a systematic review. Scheck proposed to form a panel of lawyers to review cases. The panel has yet to be formed but Charles Kuffner and I both agree that it is time they start this. Innocent people are patiently waiting and hoping there innocence will be proven so no more of their life will be taken away from them.
October 4, 2007 post from : http://offthekuff.com/mt/
Posted by: Charles Kuffner
I could not even begin to imagine what it must feel like to wait 14 years in prison to have corrected DNA evidence prove your innocence and finally be freed. That was the case for Ronald Taylor, who was imprisoned for 14 years based on an error done by the HPD (Houston Police Department) Crime Lab. He is the third man to be wrongfully found guilty due to HPD’s inaccurate work. After 2 years of independent investigation a final report states the HPD serology division to have “among the most troubling and problematic work.” About 180 cases of serology work had “major issues” and need review. I found this to be very upsetting. Innocent people are being put behind bars because personnel are poorly trained and making mistakes. These crime labs should have excellent serologist and not be doing poorly on audits. HPD’s crime lab problems have come to light and errors have been found in other analyses. It does not surprise me that there is now a doubt on other convictions and in Houston’s local justice system. So what are they doing about this now? Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project, feels the Ronald Taylor case has brought the need for a systematic review. Scheck proposed to form a panel of lawyers to review cases. The panel has yet to be formed but Charles Kuffner and I both agree that it is time they start this. Innocent people are patiently waiting and hoping there innocence will be proven so no more of their life will be taken away from them.
October 4, 2007 post from : http://offthekuff.com/mt/
Stage Two
Let Teens Work at Polls
By: W. Gardner Selby
Roger Williams, who recently stepped down as Secretary of State, proposed that those under the legal voting age of 18 should be allowed to work as election clerks in Texas. Currently Texas requires election clerks to be qualified voters, but Williams would like to see that change. He believes getting 16 and 17 year olds involved in the voting process early will lead to a greater voter turn out in young adults for Texas. In the 2004 presidential election, Texas ranked 46th nationally for voters between the ages of 18 and 29. In the 2007 legislative session, Sen. Robert Duncan proposed allowing students 16 or older to be election clerks. This cleared the Senate but did not make it to the House before the session was over. The current Secretary of State, Phil Wilson, is “yielding” on the issue. Many others have spoken up about this and I believe in time the proposal will go through. It is a good way to get youth interested in government early so later when they are of age to get involved, they will!
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/10/05/1005elections.html
By: W. Gardner Selby
Roger Williams, who recently stepped down as Secretary of State, proposed that those under the legal voting age of 18 should be allowed to work as election clerks in Texas. Currently Texas requires election clerks to be qualified voters, but Williams would like to see that change. He believes getting 16 and 17 year olds involved in the voting process early will lead to a greater voter turn out in young adults for Texas. In the 2004 presidential election, Texas ranked 46th nationally for voters between the ages of 18 and 29. In the 2007 legislative session, Sen. Robert Duncan proposed allowing students 16 or older to be election clerks. This cleared the Senate but did not make it to the House before the session was over. The current Secretary of State, Phil Wilson, is “yielding” on the issue. Many others have spoken up about this and I believe in time the proposal will go through. It is a good way to get youth interested in government early so later when they are of age to get involved, they will!
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/10/05/1005elections.html
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