Death Penalty May Be Ruled Unconstitutional In Texas

[cal04]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/01/death-penalty-may-be-rule_n_790705.html

At a hearing scheduled for Monday, December 6, a district court in Texas will decide whether the death penalty is unconstitutional in the state based on the disproportionately high risk of wrongful convictions in Texas. This is the first time in the state's history that a court will examine the problem of innocent people being executed in a Texas capital trial.

John Edward Green, Jr., the defendant in Texas v. Green, is charged in the fatal shooting of a 34-year-old Houston woman during a 2008 robbery. According to legal documents obtained by HuffPost, Green's defense attorneys will be arguing on Monday that a number of factors in Texas's legal system increase the risk of wrongful executions there, including a lack of safeguards to protect against mistaken eyewitness identification, faulty forensic evidence, incompetent lawyers at the appellate level, failures to guard against false confessions and a history of racial discrimination in jury selection.

The death penalty in Texas came under fire earlier this month when a DNA test conducted on a single hair undermined the evidence that convicted a Texas man of capital murder over ten years ago. The hair had been the only piece of evidence linking Claude Jones to the crime scene, but the new test results revealed that the hair likely belonged to the murder victim instead of Jones.

Maurie Levin, a law professor at the University of Texas and an expert on capital punishment, said she would not be surprised if Judge Kevin Fine ruled the death penalty to be unconstitutional in Texas on Monday.

[ceile]

1. One can hope....n/t

[struggle4progress]

2. "The way I see it, somebody's gotta hang for this horrid crime, and it may's well be this drifter.

He don't know nobody around here, so won't nobody miss him. I ain't got time to ride forever, looking for who knows what. He's got a shifty-eyed dishonest look. Let's just string him up, go back home, and tell folk we got him. Anyway, if he was really all so innocent the way he says, why's he acting so scared?"

[charlie]

5. Hang the judge

If he likes legislatin' from the bench, he'll love swinging from the bench. That'll learn him.

States rights, 54-40 or fight, semper fi, remember the Alamo! And goooo Cowboys!

[Lisa0825]

3. Our Texas courts are stacked with Republicans at every level.

I will be completely stunned if they ruled it unconstitutional. Texas pugs love death.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Next...10th Ammendment call...

Not about the death penalty, but this is where Perry will go.

As to the DP GOOD!

[somone]

6. Perry will make it constitutional

Look at what happened to that 'We close at 5' judge - she didn't even get a reprimand. Nothing.

[LiberalFighter]

7. Wait until they execute Bush and Perry