Houston Judge Declares Texas Death Penalty Unconstitutional; State Plans to Appeal
Thanks to Judge Kevin Fine in Houston for ruling that the Texas death penalty is unconstitutional. In 2004, New York courts ruled that the New York death penalty law was unconstitutional and the New York legislature did not pass a new death penalty law, so in New York the death penalty was abolished by such a ruling.
From the Houston Chronicle:
From the Houston Chronicle:
A Houston judge this afternoon declared the death penalty unconstitutional in a pretrial hearing in response to a motion from defense lawyers.Read the rest of this entry »
State District Judge Kevin Fine's ruling is unlikely to withstand appellate review.
Fine granted a motion from defense attorney Bob Loper to declare Texas' death penalty unconstitutional.
The Death Penalty is Dying
By Mike FarrelAs president of the board of Death Penalty Focus, an abolition organization, I find myself discussing executions a lot.
Whether to kill a person who commits a violent crime is a thorny question for some, I know, so I don't mind talking about it. Thoughtful consideration of the subject is actually a pleasure. The problem is that it's not easy to have a rational discussion about something like state killing when support for it is largely the result of emotion, fear, ignorance and the cowardice of political leaders who know better.
Read the rest of this entry »Call Texas Governor to Protest Today’s Execution, Then Go Vote if You Live in Texas
Today is election day in Texas and there is also an execution scheduled in Texas today. Rick Perry is seeking re-election as Governor. He is running today in the Republican primary against two main Republican challengers. There is also an election in the Democratic primary. Today's execution will be the 450th execution in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s. It will be the 211th execution in Texas since Perry became governor in 2000. The name of the person scheduled for execution today is Michael Sigala. Please call Perry at (512) 463-1782 or email the governor and state your opposition to the death penalty and urge him to support a moratorium on executions.
If you live in Texas, there is an election today, so go vote for the candidates of your choice. Then go back to your voting location at 7:15 pm for the precinct convention and take an anti-death penalty resolution.
Help Us Pass Moratorium and Abolition Resolutions at Party Precinct Conventions
The Texas Democratic Party and the Texas Republican Party will hold precinct conventions on Tuesday March 2 at 7:15 PM. The Democratic precinct conventions are open to anyone who votes in today's Texas Democratic primary and the Republican precinct conventions are open to anyone who votes in today's Republican primary. People attending the conventions can take resolutions to the conventions to be voted on. If the resolutions pass at the precinct conventions, they go to the county or senatorial district conventions on March 20, and if they are approved on March 20, they will go to the state convention in June for consideration. We got the Texas Democratic Party to pass a moratorium resolution at the state convention in 2004 and to include support for a moratorium in the TDP platform in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
You can read drafts of our proposed resolutions below. Feel free to use them as is, change them or write your own versions. The important thing is to take some sort of anti-death penalty resolution to your precinct convention and get it approved. We have versions for both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, so use one or the other depending if you vote Democratic or Republican.
In 2008, the resolutions committee at the Texas Democratic Party State Convention approved a resolution to abolish the death penalty, but the resolution did not get taken up by the floor of the convention before the convention adjourned. But it was a major success to get the abolition resolution approved by the committee.
Read the rest of this entry »
If you live in Texas, there is an election today, so go vote for the candidates of your choice. Then go back to your voting location at 7:15 pm for the precinct convention and take an anti-death penalty resolution.
Help Us Pass Moratorium and Abolition Resolutions at Party Precinct Conventions
The Texas Democratic Party and the Texas Republican Party will hold precinct conventions on Tuesday March 2 at 7:15 PM. The Democratic precinct conventions are open to anyone who votes in today's Texas Democratic primary and the Republican precinct conventions are open to anyone who votes in today's Republican primary. People attending the conventions can take resolutions to the conventions to be voted on. If the resolutions pass at the precinct conventions, they go to the county or senatorial district conventions on March 20, and if they are approved on March 20, they will go to the state convention in June for consideration. We got the Texas Democratic Party to pass a moratorium resolution at the state convention in 2004 and to include support for a moratorium in the TDP platform in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
You can read drafts of our proposed resolutions below. Feel free to use them as is, change them or write your own versions. The important thing is to take some sort of anti-death penalty resolution to your precinct convention and get it approved. We have versions for both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, so use one or the other depending if you vote Democratic or Republican.
In 2008, the resolutions committee at the Texas Democratic Party State Convention approved a resolution to abolish the death penalty, but the resolution did not get taken up by the floor of the convention before the convention adjourned. But it was a major success to get the abolition resolution approved by the committee.
Read the rest of this entry »
Victims families speak out against the death penalty
The following is a Dallas Morning News guest blog post by MVFHR's Susannah Sheffer about the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty.
Robert Curley
Read the rest of this entry »
Execution Watch: Michael Sigala
Execution Watch will broadcast Tuesday as Texas kills Michael Sigala. He was convicted and sentenced to death at age 22 in a trial where prosecutors suppressed testimony that he is mentally ill. The featured guest will be the legal affairs director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. If the execution is canceled, the show will be, too.
KPFT HD-2 Houston 90.1 FM, www.kpft.orgStreaming live at www.executionwatch.org, 6-7 pm CT
Spotlighting Texas's badge of shame by broadcasting during executions
Currently Scheduled Dates: www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/
RADIO PROGRAM PREVIEW
EXECUTION WATCH
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