The Effect of the Death Penalty in Texas
Introduction
A lot of heat and controversy surrounds capital punishment in today’s society. The death penalty was built into the Texas justice system in 1835 and has retained most of its strength compared to the rest of the states. The famous motto “Don’t Mess with Texas” stands true when concerning the death penalty; In Kenneth William’s article, “Texas: Tough on Murderers or on Fairness?.” Williams states, “No one promotes this message [Don’t Mess with Texas] more than Texas prosecutors with their use of the death penalty. While the nation as a whole has become somewhat ambivalent about capital punishment, Texas prosecutors continue to seek death sentences on a regular basis, and the state
…show more content…
They randomly selected address throughout Texas and sent them a questionnaire filled with questions such as, “Do you support the death penalty?”,-“Should there be a waiting period to ensure an innocent life is not taken?”, and “Do you have confidence in the death penalty system?” Their research found that the majority of Texans still support the death penalty, yet they have little confidence in the system. The subjects surveyed expressed concern with the due process in which it is administered to inmates.
Alternative Research
However, In Morgan Reynolds online article, “Fair and Effective in Texas” on the Heartland Institute website, she states that she believes the death penalty in Texas does serve as a deterrent. She states that in Texas the death penalty is saved for the worst criminals who are truly deserving. She says that crime rates in Texas have fallen nearly sixty percent since the state started using the sentence for selective crimes in the 1990’s. She also states that if there is no death penalty than what value you are putting on the life of the victim. On the website Waco Trib, Tommy Witherspoon writes in his article “Pursuit of death penalty slows in McLennan County, Texas”, that the amount of inmates being sentences to death row is dwindling each year in Texas because of the new law enacting the option of life without parole. Life without parole is becoming popular
The article, ‘Judge: Cop Killer Brandon Daniel competent can dismiss lawyers’ published in July of 2015, talks about Daniel’s case—overall punishment. This article is about a twenty-six year old man, Brandon Daniel, who murdered an Austin, Texas police officer. The police officer, Jaime Padron, received a call involving shoplifting at a Wal-Mart in the north side of town. Both, Brandon Daniel and Padron were wrestling on the floor when the officer was shot dead. In this situation, this murder is considered capital murder. When an individual is sentenced with capital murder, they are sentenced execution or in other words the death penalty. Texas is known for having the highest number of death penalties since 1976. However in this case,
I think Texas needs to discriminate certain behaviors. Many people spent so many years in prison waiting to be executed. I think the government needs to reduce the waiting period for only those people who they are sure that they committed the crime and needs to be executed. Most of the time it’s unfair because those people spend their years waiting and enjoying in prison while the family members are still waiting for justice. It’s unfair that sometimes the family members don’t even witness the justice because they die before the person who committed the crime is executed. The Texas government also needs to reduce jail length for people arrested because of possession of drugs. The government needs to punish them, instead of putting them in
Despite its firm stance on severe criminal penalties, Texas has the 12th highest crime rate in the nation. There have been debates and arguments about whether the capital punishment is a deterrent for crime, but there are
This criminal code is one of the most sophisticated in the country and has become a model for other states to follow. But research studies conducted to compare effects of the death penalty nationwide have shown some conflicting results. Comparison studies done to show homicide rates of retentionist and abolitionist jurisdictions from 1999 to 2001 (Sorenson & Pilgrim) have shown that death penalty states tend to have a higher murder rate than abolitionist states. This result creates the argument of the overall deterrent effect of execution. Texas is still in the top 20 of states with the highest homicide rate even though it is the highest in death penalty executions. “If the death penalty were a deterrent, the argument goes, then Texas should be located among those states with the lowest homicide rates” (Sorenson & Pilgrim, P. 25).
During the 1920s to the 1950s, most Texans had viewed capital punishment as a just punishment for any horrific act to teach others not commit the same crimes but instead got most innocent African and Mexican Americans convicted and sentence to death. Most Texans had a sense of a strong sense of moral character, which they believe an immoral act deserves a punishment based on the nature of the crime. For example, Most Texans believed that people who committed crimes like murder and rape deserved severe punishment for their actions. Due to the fact that crimes such as rape and murder are the highest intolerable acts of all. For instance, murder involved a person taking another person’s life which too many Texans deserved the ultimate punishment,
-Cost, like previously mentioned above it cost allot, not just financially but physically and emotionally for all those involved. The trials, the appeals and don’t forget the heightened security on death row, commuting all death sentences to life in prison would save hundred of millions of dollars per year Texas.
There have been many different types of forms used when it comes to punishing the accused offender. In the past the punishment methods used ranged anything from stoning to death, to setting someone alive on fire, hanging, or the beheading of someone, alongside with the attaching of the offender’s arms and legs to four separate horses, or oxen only to be pulled apart. In all these barbaric and inhuman acts by our standards today, were performed within the towns square so that the community and visitors would be able to witness these executions.
Death Penalty in Texas According to Wikipedia, since the death penalty was re-instituted in the United States with the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision, Texas has executed more inmates than any other state. Since 1982, 537 people have been executed in Texas. All executions occur at the Huntsville Unit. [1] Death Penalty is when someone is punished for a harsh crime they have committed including murder and rape.
Texas Capital Punishment is not as reasonable as one might assume. It is not reasonable since there have been many innocent individuals who have been executed. One might wonder how an innocent individual is given Capital Punishment, and through out the Trial he or she is found guilty and hurl for execution. Many facing Capital Punishment are underprivileged individuals who cannot afford a private lawyer, in which he or she relies on the State of Texas to appoint an attorney for them (Byrd & Price, 2008). Much of the time, the appointed lawyers are overloaded with cases, don’t have time to review the case before trial, and don’t have trial experience required for a capital punishment case (Byrd & Price, 2008). According to the Death penalty
The first person to ever get execution in the state of texas was in november of 1819. When this was first put into effect they executed offenders by hanging them. Until 1923 ,they began using the electric chair to execute murderers. In the 1970’s that’s when they began using the lethal injections. In the beginning of the death penalty people were only executed for murder and stealing. But now you don’t have to commit a murder to get put on a death row sentence. Although most people who are on death row have committed a murder. Some of the felons who have been on death row have committed a crime such as several rapes, assault and battery, and attempted sexually batter.
More than eight inmates have been put to death in 2015. In fact, in the department of criminal justice in Texas have already
The death penalty is the punishment of execution. The death penalty was authorized by 32 states, the Federal Government, and the U.S. Military. Throughout the years, the method of the death penalty has changed. Not only has the way it is performed been altered, but also the way our presidential candidates view the death penalty. For example, when George Bush was governor of Texas in the 1990s, he approved executions. He sent some to death who might have been innocent. Death sentences in Texas have dropped nearly 80% since 1999. In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a form of execution. Lethal injection is the primary method used. On December 2, 1982, Charles Brooks became the first person executed by lethal injection in Texas. Besides the deadly injection, the electric chair nicknamed "Old Sparky," was also an execution method. Texas, along with Louisiana, Ohio, and Illinois used the electric chair. The electric chair was in use from 1924 until 1964. Old Sparky was said to have taken 361 prisoners life's (TexasTribune).
In this paper, the authors examine how the death penalty argument has changed in the last 25 years in the United States. They examine six specific issues: deterrence, incapacitation, caprice and bias, cost innocence and retribution; and how public opinion has change regarding these issues. They argue that social science research is changing the way Americans view the death penalty and suggest that Americans are moving toward an eventual abolition of the death penalty.
For anyone living in Texas, it is common to hear about convicted criminals being sentenced to death. Is justice being served? When someone has committed a heinous murder, justice must prevail. But that ideal becomes harder to achieve as we scale the moral high ground and look all around, from behind the jail cell bars to the crushed life of the murdered victim.
An issue that has continually created tension in today's society is whether the death penalty serves as a justified and valid form of punishment. Whenever the word "death penalty" comes up, extremists from both sides start yelling out their arguments. One side says deterrence, the other side says there's a potential of executing an innocent man; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says execution is murder. Crime is an evident part of society, and everyone is aware that something must be done about it. Most people know the threat of crime to their lives, but the question lies in the methods and action in which it should be dealt with. In several parts of