Post by jj on Jun 23, 2005 7:00:14 GMT -5
I know this probably needs to go into news articles, but I would like the opinions of what others think on this. Perry only followed what the supreme court ruled, but do you think the supreme court ruling was correct on how to look at juveniles or was their ruling political.
June 23, 2005, 1:00AM
Perry spares juvenile killers
28 sentences commuted to life in prison following a Supreme Court ruling in March
By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN - Death penalty opponents rejoiced and victims' families mourned Wednesday as Gov. Rick Perry followed a U.S. Supreme Court order to commute the death sentences of Texas' juvenile offenders to life in prison.
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Three months after the high court ruling, Perry announced he had commuted the sentences of 28 death row inmates, including a dozen from Harris County, who were 17 at the time they committed their crimes.
One of the Harris County prisoners listed by Perry's office was reported to be 17 in news accounts at the time of the 1985 murder for which he was sentenced. But the birth date provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site would have made Jimmy Jackson 18 at the time of his crime.
''While these individuals were convicted by juries of brutal murders and sentenced to die for their heinous crimes, I have no choice but to commute these sentences to life in prison as a result of the Supreme Court ruling," Perry said in a press release.
The governor remained concerned the commutations would cause more suffering for victims' families, spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
''They now know that they have to face the possibility that these criminals who murdered their loved ones could some day walk the streets again," Walt said.
Perry's action was expected, but that did not make it any easier for Adolfo Peña, whose 14-year-old daughter Elizabeth was gang raped and murdered in June 1993. The commutations fell in the same week as the anniversary of Elizabeth Peña's murder and what would have been her 28th birthday, her father said.
"I don't know of any other grown man who wakes up everyday and cries," said Adolfo Peña. "At the very least, these animals deserve to be in jail for the rest of their lives. I don't even have that."
Perry signed a bill last week that gave juries the option of sentencing capital murderers to life without the possibility of parole, but that new law isn't retroactive, so the 28 will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years in prison.
''We all knew it was coming," said Dianne Clements, president of victims rights group Justice for All. ''We fought the good fight. The governor had no choice, honestly, regardless of how horrific and premeditated and intentional these murders were."
Bill Green, of Conroe, said the commutation of the sentence of his son's killer ended his hope of finding peace.
Michael Lopez was convicted of killing Green's son, 25-year-old Harris County constable Micheal Eakin, during a 1998 traffic stop on a Houston toll road.
''The healing process would have begun when Lopez was dead," Green said. ''We have been cheated out of that little bit of closure that we would have gotten."
Morris Moon, an attorney who defended two of the juveniles convicted in Harris County, praised Perry for acting.
''I'm glad it's finally happened. I'm glad that Texas has finally recognized that they have to follow a Supreme Court ruling," Moon said.
Moon, a staff attorney with the Texas Defender Service, represented Johnnie Bernal and Nanon McKewn Williams.
Moon said he expects it will be difficult at first for his clients to transition from death row, where they've essentially lived in solitary confinement 23 hours a day for the past five years, to a unit where they can interact with other inmates.
Williams' mother had mixed emotions when told late Wednesday that her son would soon leave death row.
"A mother having to face her son being executed is a horrendous thing," said Lee Bolton, a nurse who lives in Los Angeles. "At least if he has life he can keep on fighting to try to prove his innocence."
The governor's office was preparing paperwork that would allow the Texas prison system to transfer the inmates.
Once the paperwork is received, the inmates likely will be moved from death row in Livingston to a unit in Huntsville where they will be evaluated to decide where they will be confined next, said Michelle Lyons, a TDCJ spokeswoman.
Lyons said prison officials will review inmates' educational background, vocational skills, family history, medical histories and other factors in choosing new units. The process could take up to 45 days, she said.
Chronicle reporter Zeke Minaya contributed to this report from Houston.
lisa.falkenberg@chron.com
June 23, 2005, 1:00AM
Perry spares juvenile killers
28 sentences commuted to life in prison following a Supreme Court ruling in March
By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN - Death penalty opponents rejoiced and victims' families mourned Wednesday as Gov. Rick Perry followed a U.S. Supreme Court order to commute the death sentences of Texas' juvenile offenders to life in prison.
ADVERTISEMENT
Three months after the high court ruling, Perry announced he had commuted the sentences of 28 death row inmates, including a dozen from Harris County, who were 17 at the time they committed their crimes.
One of the Harris County prisoners listed by Perry's office was reported to be 17 in news accounts at the time of the 1985 murder for which he was sentenced. But the birth date provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site would have made Jimmy Jackson 18 at the time of his crime.
''While these individuals were convicted by juries of brutal murders and sentenced to die for their heinous crimes, I have no choice but to commute these sentences to life in prison as a result of the Supreme Court ruling," Perry said in a press release.
The governor remained concerned the commutations would cause more suffering for victims' families, spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
''They now know that they have to face the possibility that these criminals who murdered their loved ones could some day walk the streets again," Walt said.
Perry's action was expected, but that did not make it any easier for Adolfo Peña, whose 14-year-old daughter Elizabeth was gang raped and murdered in June 1993. The commutations fell in the same week as the anniversary of Elizabeth Peña's murder and what would have been her 28th birthday, her father said.
"I don't know of any other grown man who wakes up everyday and cries," said Adolfo Peña. "At the very least, these animals deserve to be in jail for the rest of their lives. I don't even have that."
Perry signed a bill last week that gave juries the option of sentencing capital murderers to life without the possibility of parole, but that new law isn't retroactive, so the 28 will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years in prison.
''We all knew it was coming," said Dianne Clements, president of victims rights group Justice for All. ''We fought the good fight. The governor had no choice, honestly, regardless of how horrific and premeditated and intentional these murders were."
Bill Green, of Conroe, said the commutation of the sentence of his son's killer ended his hope of finding peace.
Michael Lopez was convicted of killing Green's son, 25-year-old Harris County constable Micheal Eakin, during a 1998 traffic stop on a Houston toll road.
''The healing process would have begun when Lopez was dead," Green said. ''We have been cheated out of that little bit of closure that we would have gotten."
Morris Moon, an attorney who defended two of the juveniles convicted in Harris County, praised Perry for acting.
''I'm glad it's finally happened. I'm glad that Texas has finally recognized that they have to follow a Supreme Court ruling," Moon said.
Moon, a staff attorney with the Texas Defender Service, represented Johnnie Bernal and Nanon McKewn Williams.
Moon said he expects it will be difficult at first for his clients to transition from death row, where they've essentially lived in solitary confinement 23 hours a day for the past five years, to a unit where they can interact with other inmates.
Williams' mother had mixed emotions when told late Wednesday that her son would soon leave death row.
"A mother having to face her son being executed is a horrendous thing," said Lee Bolton, a nurse who lives in Los Angeles. "At least if he has life he can keep on fighting to try to prove his innocence."
The governor's office was preparing paperwork that would allow the Texas prison system to transfer the inmates.
Once the paperwork is received, the inmates likely will be moved from death row in Livingston to a unit in Huntsville where they will be evaluated to decide where they will be confined next, said Michelle Lyons, a TDCJ spokeswoman.
Lyons said prison officials will review inmates' educational background, vocational skills, family history, medical histories and other factors in choosing new units. The process could take up to 45 days, she said.
Chronicle reporter Zeke Minaya contributed to this report from Houston.
lisa.falkenberg@chron.com
