Post by CCADP on Aug 27, 2005 20:34:34 GMT -5
Texas Juries Get an Option to the Death Penalty
LAST UPDATE: 8/27/2005 5:47:25 PM
This story is available on your cell phone at mobile.woai.com.
AUSTIN (AP) - The law for punishing capital murderers in the nation's No. 1 death penalty state is about to change as Texas juries get the option of sentencing defendants to life in prison without parole.
Whether the new law will mean fewer executions remains unknown, though some death penalty opponents say it will. Attorneys aren't so sure. Texas has executed 12 inmates so far this year, and 348 since the state resumed the death penalty in 1982.
"Texas is still going to get a lot of death sentences," said Keith Hampton, legislative chair of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
The life without parole law is one of hundreds of new laws taking effect Thursday following the spring legislative session. Others include reforms to child protective services, limits on lawsuits stemming from asbestos- and silica-related illnesses and a requirement that unmarried girls under age 18 get parental consent for abortions.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed the parental consent bill because it gives parents the right to decide whether their daughter should receive an abortion, just as they must consent to her getting a tattoo or an aspirin at school, Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
"The governor believes it's a significant step in the effort to create a culture of life by protecting those who can't protective themselves and by giving voice to the voiceless," Walt said, referring to the unborn.
Abortion rights advocates say the law is unnecessary, since the state already requires abortion providers to notify a parent before a girl receives an abortion.
"We would have rather seen the Legislature focus on preventing teen pregnancy rather than make this change from notice to consent," said Sarah Wheat, executive director of NARAL Pro-choice Texas.
Some new laws took effect over the summer.
One made it more difficult to buy cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine, which can be used in illegal methamphetamine production. Buyers must provide identification, and pharmacies must keep the medicine behind the counter and a sales record for two years of products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine.
Another new law bans someone from having conversations over the Internet with a minor or someone believed to be a minor with the intent of meeting a child for sexual activity. Before, a predator had to show up at an arranged meeting place to be charged. Now, a predator can be prosecuted for the Internet conversation that sets up a meeting.
"It really helps us widen the net on child predators," said Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association.
The life without parole bill gained momentum in the final days of the legislative session after years of political bickering.
Until now, jurors in Texas capital murder cases had two sentencing options: execution by lethal injection or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. The new law takes away any chance of parole.
"I'm very pleased that we're at this point," said Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, who kept pushing the legislation. "I think the winners here, and, I hate to say it, it's bittersweet, are the families of victims. They're going to have some kind of closure."
The new sentencing option will let victims' families and jurors know that a capital murderer sentenced to prison for life won't ever be released, Lucio said.
Among the 38 states with the death penalty, Texas, New Mexico and Alaska were the only ones without the life without parole option, Lucio said.
The Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association sought to keep life in prison with the possibility of parole as a possible sentence.
"Give jurors all of the options. Give judges all of the options," Hampton said.
Lucio originally wanted to keep the parole option but relented to win enough support for passage of the bill.
The Texas District and County Attorneys Association didn't take a stand on the proposal because prosecutors had differing views. Those opinions sometimes depended on whether the prosecutor was from a small community where death penalty cases are rare, or a large city with numerous capital murder cases.
"Most prosecutors would tell you there really wasn't a reason to make a change," Kepple said.
Perhaps the biggest change from the law may come in plea bargaining, Hampton said. He suggested that prosecutors may opt against costly capital murder trials that seek the death penalty if they can offer pleas that ensure life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Associated Press
LAST UPDATE: 8/27/2005 5:47:25 PM
This story is available on your cell phone at mobile.woai.com.
AUSTIN (AP) - The law for punishing capital murderers in the nation's No. 1 death penalty state is about to change as Texas juries get the option of sentencing defendants to life in prison without parole.
Whether the new law will mean fewer executions remains unknown, though some death penalty opponents say it will. Attorneys aren't so sure. Texas has executed 12 inmates so far this year, and 348 since the state resumed the death penalty in 1982.
"Texas is still going to get a lot of death sentences," said Keith Hampton, legislative chair of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
The life without parole law is one of hundreds of new laws taking effect Thursday following the spring legislative session. Others include reforms to child protective services, limits on lawsuits stemming from asbestos- and silica-related illnesses and a requirement that unmarried girls under age 18 get parental consent for abortions.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed the parental consent bill because it gives parents the right to decide whether their daughter should receive an abortion, just as they must consent to her getting a tattoo or an aspirin at school, Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
"The governor believes it's a significant step in the effort to create a culture of life by protecting those who can't protective themselves and by giving voice to the voiceless," Walt said, referring to the unborn.
Abortion rights advocates say the law is unnecessary, since the state already requires abortion providers to notify a parent before a girl receives an abortion.
"We would have rather seen the Legislature focus on preventing teen pregnancy rather than make this change from notice to consent," said Sarah Wheat, executive director of NARAL Pro-choice Texas.
Some new laws took effect over the summer.
One made it more difficult to buy cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine, which can be used in illegal methamphetamine production. Buyers must provide identification, and pharmacies must keep the medicine behind the counter and a sales record for two years of products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine.
Another new law bans someone from having conversations over the Internet with a minor or someone believed to be a minor with the intent of meeting a child for sexual activity. Before, a predator had to show up at an arranged meeting place to be charged. Now, a predator can be prosecuted for the Internet conversation that sets up a meeting.
"It really helps us widen the net on child predators," said Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association.
The life without parole bill gained momentum in the final days of the legislative session after years of political bickering.
Until now, jurors in Texas capital murder cases had two sentencing options: execution by lethal injection or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. The new law takes away any chance of parole.
"I'm very pleased that we're at this point," said Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, who kept pushing the legislation. "I think the winners here, and, I hate to say it, it's bittersweet, are the families of victims. They're going to have some kind of closure."
The new sentencing option will let victims' families and jurors know that a capital murderer sentenced to prison for life won't ever be released, Lucio said.
Among the 38 states with the death penalty, Texas, New Mexico and Alaska were the only ones without the life without parole option, Lucio said.
The Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association sought to keep life in prison with the possibility of parole as a possible sentence.
"Give jurors all of the options. Give judges all of the options," Hampton said.
Lucio originally wanted to keep the parole option but relented to win enough support for passage of the bill.
The Texas District and County Attorneys Association didn't take a stand on the proposal because prosecutors had differing views. Those opinions sometimes depended on whether the prosecutor was from a small community where death penalty cases are rare, or a large city with numerous capital murder cases.
"Most prosecutors would tell you there really wasn't a reason to make a change," Kepple said.
Perhaps the biggest change from the law may come in plea bargaining, Hampton said. He suggested that prosecutors may opt against costly capital murder trials that seek the death penalty if they can offer pleas that ensure life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Associated Press