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The Effect of the Death Penalty in Texas

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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.

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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

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