Miracles do happen. The Houston Chronicle reports that a state district judge has done the unthinkable: declared the death penalty unconstitutional. Texas – the capital of capital cases and executions – now finds itself channeling the likes of California and other “blue” states that have wrangled with the constitutionality of the death penalty and found it to be cruel and unusual.
Perhaps the the biggest import of the decision is that Judge Kevin Fine emphasized that one can assume that innocent people have been executed (an allusion to the Cameron Todd Willingham case, perhaps?). In his decision Judge Fine posed the rhetorical question: ”Are you willing to have your brother, your father, your mother be the sacrificial lamb, to be the innocent person executed so that we can have a death penalty so that we can execute those who are deserving of the death penalty?…I don’t think society’s mindset is that way now.”
Predictably, the response from the Texas Attorney General was swift, labeling the decision as “an act of unabashed judicial activism.” Texas legal scholars and lawyers doubt the decision will withstand appellate review.
The case itself is unremarkable in the realm of death penalty cases. John Edward Green, Jr. alleged shot and killed a Houston woman and her sister in 2008. Despite Judge Fine’s reference to innocence, this case does not appear to be one where the defendant alleges he is actually innocent of the crime. Instead, Green’s lawyers argued that Texas law related to jury instructions in death cases violates the United States Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
The decision itself is groundbreaking, but soon will be buried under the Texas dirt once the appellate courts get a hold of it.
Having tasked myself with the unenviable job of writing out a ton of holiday cards, I thought back to the days of yore (ok, last year) when sent my bit of cheer via the neutered firm holiday card. You know the one - with the serene winter setting on the front that wishes Seasons Greetings. I even admit that I sent said card to my family (?!), who won’t let me live that one down.