That's the title of a Dallas Morning News editorial on Craig Watkins withdrawal of an execution date last week. It is reprinted in the Odessa American.
It’s a welcome surprise when the justice system gives deference to the political system on the sensitive subject of capital punishment. Doubt should not linger when the finality of the death penalty is in play.
Case in point is a decision to postpone the execution of convicted killer Kimberly McCarthy this week until after the Legislature’s session, allowing for the possibility that a bill could pass and affect the case’s outcome. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins agreed to that request from McCarthy’s attorney, and the deal was sealed by a state district judge.
And:
Watkins maintains that the prosecutor in McCarthy’s case used no unconstitutional methods to strike blacks from the jury pool. He says her death sentence was not a function of race, considering that jurors decided it after hearing evidence that McCarthy had killed and robbed two other elderly women — both black.
At the same time, Watkins says, it’s naive to think that embedded racial attitudes don’t affect justice in Texas, and for that reason he supports passage of a so-called Racial Justice Act that would give defendants extra protection against bias in death cases. Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has filed such a measure (SB 1270), and Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, has filed a companion (HB 2614).
Today's Dallas Morning News notes a bill being heard today, "Texas House committee looks at death penalty for killing a DA." It's by Christy Hoppe.
A bill being heard by the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Tuesday has taken on new meaning after the murder of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia.
The measure calls for the death penalty as a punishment option for anyone convicted of killing a district attorney over the perfomance of his or her duty.
The bill, as written here, was filed before the McLelland killings, and it wouldn’t apply in this case because that crime was committed before the bill, if it passes, would become law.
Earlier coverage of the Kimberly McCarthy case, Dallas DA Craig Watkins, and the murder of the Kaufman County District Attorney, at the links. Related posts are in the Texas Legislature categoy index.
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