[PAA-Discuss] New report: Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015
Juli3 at aol.com
Juli3 at aol.com
Wed Dec 16 14:01:39 EST 2015
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18153&qid=1061627) Today the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
released its annual report, _Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015: The Year
in Review_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18178&qid=1061627) . It includes detailed information on new death
sentences, executions, legislative developments, and other issues impacting
our state’s death penalty system.
Read the press release below and go online to read the _full report_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18178&qid=1
061627) .
At the end of this email you'll find _ideas_
(mip://0e36e568/default.html#actions) for sharing the report on social media and with key stakeholders
in Texas. You'll find information about several high-use counties _here_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18179&qid
=1061627) .
Thank you for your support and commitment to ending the death penalty in
Texas. I hope you find this year's report informative and inspiring.
Towards justice,
Kristin Houlé, TCADP Executive Director
____________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
CONTACT: Kristin Houlé, Executive Director
512-552-5948 (cell); 512-441-1808 (office)
khoule at tcadp.org
Death sentences in Texas drop to lowest level on record
Juries reject the death penalty in more cases than they impose it
(Austin, Texas) — This year, jurors in Texas imposed the fewest new death
sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state’s revised capital
punishment statute in 1976. According to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the
Death Penalty’s (TCADP) new report, _Texas Death Penalty Developments in
2015: The Year in Review_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18178&qid=1061627) , juries newly condemned three
individuals to death. They rejected the death penalty in four other trials. The
first death sentence of the year was not imposed until October 7, 2015.
"The death penalty landscape has shifted dramatically in Texas over the
last 15 years, mirroring national trends. Texas has gone from a peak of 48
new death sentences in 1999 to the fewest sentences on record,” said Kristin
Houlé, TCADP Executive Director.
Use of the death penalty remains geographically isolated. Just eight
counties – 3% of the 254 counties in Texas – account for 70% of new death
sentences since 2011. This is the first year that jurors in Harris, Dallas,
and Tarrant Counties were not responsible for any new death sentences,
however. These three counties, along with Bexar County, account for half of the
death sentences imposed in the state of Texas since 1974.
Notably, this also is the first year that an African-American defendant
did not face the death penalty in Texas. Over the last five years, nearly
60% of all new death sentences in Texas have been imposed on
African-Americans.
Of the three men sentenced to death this year, one is white, one is
Asian, and one is Hispanic. All of their cases involved a single white murder
victim.
Death-qualified juries rejected the death penalty in four other capital
murder trials this year, including two in Nueces County. Three of the four
cases involved multiple murder victims; all four defendants are Hispanic.
They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
While the State of Texas mirrors declining sentencing trends nationwide
and has executed fewer people in recent years, it remains the nation's most
active death penalty state. This year, Texas accounted for almost half of
all U.S. executions, putting 13 people to death. More information on
national death penalty developments is available at
_http://www.http://www.<WBR>deathhttp://www._
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18168&qid=1060672) .
Several of the men executed in Texas this year were barely legal adults at
the time of the crime. Others were executed despite evidence of their
intellectual disabilities or severe mental illness. In one particularly
troubling case, the state put Lester Bower, Jr. to death 31 years after his
conviction and in spite of compelling evidence of his innocence. He was the
oldest person executed by the State of Texas.
Of the 13 men put to death this year, six were Hispanic, four were
African-American, and three were white.
Nearly as many individuals who were scheduled for execution this year
received reprieves. Eight stays of execution came from the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals (CCA), the state’s highest criminal court. In four other
cases, state district judges withdrew execution dates.
“The cases of individuals scheduled for execution this year illustrate
the deep flaws that continue to plague our state’s capital punishment system,”
said Kathryn Kase, Executive Director of the Texas Defender Service. “
These cases do not reflect the current death penalty landscape but rather
death penalty practices from a different era.”
During the 84th Texas Legislature, lawmakers considered numerous bills
related to capital punishment. Several critical bills aimed at improving the
fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system were signed into law
by Governor Greg Abbott, including bills establishing an innocence
commission to examine cases of wrongful conviction, increasing access to
post-conviction DNA testing, and overhauling the grand jury system. In addition,
lawmakers unanimously passed legislation requiring notice of the scheduling
of an execution date and the issuance of execution warrants.
Legislators also passed a bill that keeps secret the identity of any
persons or entities providing the drugs used in Texas executions. Officials
with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) continue to obtain and
use compounded pentobarbital from an unidentified source, raising
constitutional concerns about the quality and efficacy of these drugs, and about the
transparency of the execution process itself.
Other highlights of _Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015: The Year
in Review_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18178&qid=1061627) :
• Alfred Dewayne Brown became the 13th individual to be exonerated and
released from death row in Texas. On June 8, 2015, the Harris County
District Attorney’s Office dismissed capital murder charges against him after
determining there was insufficient evidence to support another conviction.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction last year.
• As of November 19, 2015, TDCJ counted 252 death row inmates, which
includes 6 women. This is the lowest Texas death row population since 1987.
More than one-third of these individuals were convicted in Harris County.
“Attitudes toward the death penalty are shifting as public confidence in
the criminal justice system erodes,” said Kristin Houlé. “At this
critical moment in our state’s experience with the death penalty, concerned
citizens and elected officials should take a close look at the realities of this
irreversible, arbitrary, and costly punishment and consider alternative
ways of achieving justice.”
TCADP is a statewide, grassroots advocacy organization based in Austin.
###
Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015: The Year in Review is available
online at
_http://tcadp.org/wp-content/http://tcadp.org/wp-content/http://tcadp.org/wp-content/htt_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18178&qid=1061627) . Contact report author Kristin
Houlé at _khoule at tcadp.org_
(mailto:khoule at tcadp.org?subject=2015%20Year-End%20Report) to receive a copy directly via email. See the report for
additional tables illustrating trends regarding executions and death sentences.
Maps illustrating death sentences by county are available at
_http://tcadp.org/get-informed/death-sentences-by-county/1976-2015-county-map/_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18164&qid=106162
7) and
_http://tcadp.org/get-informed/death-sentences-by-county/2011-2015-new-death-sentences/_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18165&qid=1061627) .
Information on national death penalty developments is available in a new
report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center:
_http://www.http://www.<WBR>deathhttp://www._
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18168&qid=1060672) .
____________________________________
Spread the word about this year’s death penalty developments!
Please consider engaging in one the following actions:
* Let us know about media coverage of the report in your area. Send
an email and relevant links to TCADP Communications Coordinator Vanessa
Akins at _Vanessa at tcadp.org_
(mailto:vanessa at tcadp.org?subject=2015%20Year-End%20Report) .
* Submit online comments and letters to the editor in response to
coverage of the report. Contact _Vanessa_
(mailto:vanessa at tcadp.org?subject=Letter%20to%20the%20editor) for sample letters or to share your draft
letter with us.
* Share information about the report on _Facebook_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18154&qid=1061627)
and _Twitter_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18155&qid=1061627) using the hashtag #2015TXDP (or just share and
re-tweet our posts). Here are sample tweets for you to use:
Even in Texas #deathpenalty is on its way out; #2015TXDP report from
@TCADPdotORG _http://bit.ly/1UuWl8g_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18181&qid=1061627)
#2015TXDP rpt from @TCADPdotORG: 3 death sentences, 4 jury rejections.
#deathpenalty loses ground in TX #2015TXDP _http://bit.ly/1UuWl8g_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18181&qid=1061627)
>From @TCADPdotORG: In 2015 Texas went 9 months and 6 days w/o a death
sentence #2015TXDP _http://bit.ly/1UuWl8g_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18181&qid=1061627)
Since 2011, just 8 counties in Texas account for 70% of new death
sentences #2015TXDP _http://bit.ly/1UuWl8g_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18181&qid=1061627)
* Share the report with your _State Senator and State
Representative_
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18156&qid=1061627) and with community leaders – forward the press release and
report to them.
* Join TCADP at the State Capitol in January 2016 to hand deliver
copies of the report to every member of the Texas legislature. Contact
Kristin at _khoule at tcadp.org_
(mailto:khoule at tcadp.org?subject=Year-end%20report%20delivery) to volunteer!
Thank you!
(http://tcadp.org/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18157&qid=1061627)
____________________________________
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