Texas & the Death Penalty
An article in yesterday's Houston Chronicle reports on a recent death penalty poll.
Texas residents overwhelmingly favor the continued use of capital punishment, but a growing number think the criminal justice system has flaws and the state has executed innocent people, according to a new statewide poll.
The number of Texans who believe the state has executed innocent people reached 70 percent this year, compared with 65 percent in 2001.
The rising numbers of those who think the state has executed innocent people probably has much to do with the continuous scandal with the Houston Crime Labs. Even Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt is urging a hault on executions.
But the poll shows that Texans are still split on that issue: "Fifty-two percent of Texans oppose such a temporary halt to executions while 44 percent support the idea."
The article states that Texas currently has 446 death row inmates and that it is one of only seven states that have carried out executions for crimes committed at 17.
Posted by katherine at 01:31 PM
