CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN TEXAS

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN TEXAS

The Texas court system is a complex one. It is structured with five levels; local trial courts of limited jurisdiction, county trial courts of limited jurisdiction, and state trial courts of general and special jurisdiction, state intermediate appellate courts, and state highest appellate court. In these courts, both civil and criminal laws are presided over. (Texas. Legislature. House Of Representatives. Committee On Judiciary And Civil Jurisprudence) Civil law is a disagreement between two parties or people, usually private, concerning matters such as their relationships, responsibilities, and obligations. In contrast, a criminal lawyer is one that the State alleges a violation of criminal law and is represented in court by a Prosecutor. The DefendantDefendant is represented by a criminal defense attorney or public defender. In Texas, judges are listed on the ballot alongside their parties during their selection. Support political parties to fund their campaigns. However, at times, this brings conflict of interest in the courtroom.

Crimes in Texas are categorized under Felony or Misdemeanors. A crime under felony may lead one to a fine of up to ten thousand dollars or an imprisonment period of six months to the death penalty. The accused also loses the right to vote, own a gun, hold a license, and is even denied certain occupations. A misdemeanor criminal, on the other hand, is only punished by a fine of four thousand dollars or less or imprisonment of up to one year in county jail.

Once a case has been reported, the State is held with the responsibility of conveying prove. The standard of this proves to be “guilt beyond reasonable doubt” rather than innocent.

The death penalty, also referred to as capital punishment, is applicable under a felony. It is considered only if it meets any of the following requirements;

1. The victim was a policeman or fireman or anyone in official legal duty.
2. The murder occurred while the DefendantDefendant was committing burglary, kidnapping, rape or an act of terrorism

• It was a murder for hire

1. The murder occurred during a prison break
2. The victim was working in a penal institution
3. Multiple people died

• The victim was below the age of 10 years

The death penalty remains to be a huge debate not only in Texas but also for the entire country. Some people are supporting it while others are condoning it. Arguments whether it should be maintained or be abolished remain hot topics of discussion.

The death penalty does not directly reduce crime levels. (Billy Wayne Sinclair and Sinclair) States without the death penalty have a relatively lower crime level than those with it. This punishment, therefore, is not a deterrent. This being a statistical study proves how irrelevant this kind of punishment is since punishments are supposed to reduce crime rates.

The death punishment is also extremely harsh. For the above-indicated crimes, life imprisonment without parole would be enough. It does not sound reasonable as it is the final point of someone’s life, and brings on board an over-punishment.

Many people think that the government saves money by putting the prosecuted to death rather than confining them in small rooms in jail or prison. However, the death penalty is an extremely expensive type of punishment compared to the rest. The cost of a death penalty in Texas could be equal to the incarceration of the same person for one hundred and twenty years. This only proves that the government will incur more costs to execute capital punishment while they could save by deciding to put the prosecuted in prison.

Death is final. It cannot be reversed. Once a person has been found guilty and sentenced to death, it cannot be undone. Not even in the incidence of new evidence that exonerates the DefendantDefendant. Wrongful executions have occurred in Texas in a number of high-profile cases. Since 1973, twelve have been exonerated and released from the death row. The possible reasons for the above could be; eyewitness error, government misconduct, unqualified expertise, false confession due to mental illness, and others. Carlos DeLuna was prosecuted in 1989 only for a shred of new evidence by reporters to point to Carlos Hernandez, who confessed to the crime. Gary Graham was convicted too in the 1981 robbery and shooting of Bobby Lambert outside a supermarket primarily on the evidence of one witness who said he had seen the killers face for a few seconds. However, two workers at the store bore witness that they saw the assailant’s face and that it was not Graham even though the court did not interview them. Claude Jones was found guilty and sentenced to death in a murder case of a liquor store. He was put in the scene by a strand of hair said to be his. Later on, a DNA test proved that the strand of hair was not Jone’s, but it was the victims. The case could not be reversed. The above are three examples of how the ruling by the jury can be made wrongly, but since the convicted is dead already, nothing can be done to correct the same.

The problem of racial biasness too arises from this very sentence too. The race of the DefendantDefendant being black can act as an aggravating factor. Those who kill non-Latino whites are over three times more likely to be sentenced to die than those who kill Black Americans. Those who kill non-Latino whites are over four times more likely to be sentenced to die than those who kill Latinos. It is clear that racism is evil is practiced here. There is an unfair target of the non-white population.

The act of killing a criminal defendant bears a violent and evil act. While advocating for people not to commit murder, the judicial system in Texas stands at a front point in doing the same.

Some people, however, would say, Capital punishment is the best way to prevent the criminal from escaping and doing a repeat of the crime. They would also argue that the punishment may pose a threat that may prevent future crimes or even say the punishment is in line, especially for certain heinous acts.

No matter where anyone may stand on this topic of capital punishment, it remains to sound like an unfair trial. Its nature deprives each DefendantDefendant of justice or a chance to justice. Most of them who have received this punishment remains to be wronged by the law. It does not cure us of future crimes; neither does it preach equal treatment of people regardless of their races under the law. That’s why I stand against it. It doesn’t prove quality, justice, and correction of criminals but instead inculcates injustice, racism, and pain to the beloved ones of the DefendantDefendant. It should, therefore, be abolished.

Works Cited

Billy Wayne Sinclair, and Jodie Sinclair. Capital Punishment : An Indictment by a Death-Row Survivor. New York, Arcade Pub, 2011.

John Cyril Barton. Literary Executions : Capital Punishment and American Culture, 1820-1925. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.

Texas. Legislature. House Of Representatives. Committee On Judiciary And Civil Jurisprudence. House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, Texas House of Representatives, Interim Report 2016 : A Report to the House of Representatives, 85th Texas Legislature. Austin, Texas, House Committee On Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, 2017.