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5 years ago  ::  May 29, 2008 - 10:46AM #1
Beautiful_Dreamer
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I don't mean to start a flame war, so the host can watch/remove this if need be.

I was reading in www.religioustolerance.org about the death penalty in the US, and several of the sections on that part of the website talk about which states have executed the most people. http://www.religioustolerance.org/execut3.htm.   They present this in a factual sort of way, not a judgemental way. However, it seems that, from what they say, Texas has consistently been the state with the highest number/rate of executions. What's more, it seems that a great number were signed/carried out under the governorship of George W. Bush. The other states that rank fairly high are also somewhat Southern: Virginia, Missouri, Florida, Oklahoma.

Is there a reason for this? I am especially interested in ideas as to why Texas seems to have so many more executions than anyone else.  Is there some sort of mentality that is unique to Texans (or the other states mentioned)?  Just curious, I just thought that was strange.
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5 years ago  ::  Jun 02, 2008 - 8:27AM #2
bubbysmommy
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[COLOR="Teal"]In my own opinion, the South has always been a little more about quick justice than about just justice. I am in favor of the DP in certain cases, but I too agree that it is being used entirely too often when the guilt of the condemned is still in question. While there is a time for swift justice, there must be a place for taking the time to make darned sure the person you are convicting is absolutely guilty. I fear that most of our Southern States do not do this.
Again, this is just my own opinion.[/COLOR]
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5 years ago  ::  Jun 04, 2008 - 1:43AM #3
Thaklaar1
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In my opinion, a large factor is the highly partisan judiciary here in Texas.  It creates an incentive for judges to be "the toughest" rather than the most just.
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5 years ago  ::  Jun 12, 2008 - 10:20AM #4
bubbysmommy
bubbysmommy
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[QUOTE=Thaklaar1;542398]In my opinion, a large factor is the highly partisan judiciary here in Texas.  It creates an incentive for judges to be "the toughest" rather than the most just.[/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]That is truly sad. It should always be about fairness. When dealing with the DP we need to make darned sure that the right person is convicted. There simply must be overwhelming evidence as to the person's guilt.[/COLOR]
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5 years ago  ::  Jul 06, 2008 - 3:57AM #5
BethK
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I think you'll find in most if not all that justice was complete.  People don't get stuck on death row one day and die the next.  Most have been there for 20+ years and have already exhausted all of their legal options - or pleaded guilty.
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5 years ago  ::  Jul 06, 2008 - 3:21PM #6
newsjunkie
newsjunkie
Posts: 5,567
[QUOTE=BethK;607144]I think you'll find in most if not all that justice was complete.  People don't get stuck on death row one day and die the next.  Most have been there for 20+ years and have already exhausted all of their legal options - or pleaded guilty.[/QUOTE]

According to this page from the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice, http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drowfacts.htm
the time spent on TX death row prior to execution ranged from less than a year to 24 years. Average length of time spent on TX death row is 10.3 years.

According to this 2005 article http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c … BQMUO1.DTL
the average length of time spent on death row for 3 states is:

California: 16 to 17 years

Florida: 11.8 years

Texas: 10.4 years.

In the early 1990s, the TX legislature required certain death penalty appeals to be submitted at the same time in order to speed up executions. Of course that increases the chances that innocent people will be executed.
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5 years ago  ::  Jul 06, 2008 - 3:23PM #7
newsjunkie
newsjunkie
Posts: 5,567
[QUOTE=Beautiful_Dreamer;530794]I don't mean to start a flame war, so the host can watch/remove this if need be.

I was reading in www.religioustolerance.org about the death penalty in the US, and several of the sections on that part of the website talk about which states have executed the most people. http://www.religioustolerance.org/execut3.htm.   They present this in a factual sort of way, not a judgemental way. However, it seems that, from what they say, Texas has consistently been the state with the highest number/rate of executions. What's more, it seems that a great number were signed/carried out under the governorship of George W. Bush. The other states that rank fairly high are also somewhat Southern: Virginia, Missouri, Florida, Oklahoma.

Is there a reason for this? I am especially interested in ideas as to why Texas seems to have so many more executions than anyone else.  Is there some sort of mentality that is unique to Texans (or the other states mentioned)?  Just curious, I just thought that was strange.[/QUOTE]

You might find this article, titled "Why is Texas #1 in Executions?" interesting:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline … texas.html
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5 years ago  ::  Jul 07, 2008 - 5:26PM #8
pIrish
pIrish
Posts: 181
Demographics?

Isn't there a higher concentration of conservatives and Evangelical/Baptist Christians in that area?

If that's the case, I wouldn't be too surprised by those numbers considering those groups tend to be a bit more pro-death penalty than many other groups.
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