Texas Remains Adamant in Face of Protests: Executes Another Murderer Tonight

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LanceOregon

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Tonight's execution in Texas was quite a bit different than the one that took place on Tuesday.

When convicted child rapist/murderer Jose Medellin was executed Tuesday night, he apologized for having caused so much pain to the families of the two young girls that died. He also told the relatives that were present that he hoped that his death would allow them to bring closure to their pain, and help them heal.

Tonight's execution, though, was in very stark contrast to that. When convicted Honduras National Heliberto Chi was given time to say his last words, he totally ignored the two sons of the man he murdered that were present to witness his death. Instead, he prayed to God and said this:

"May God forgive them. Receive my spirit Lord."

As with the execution of Medellin, Chi's execution tonight has brought forth more political protests against the way that Texas administers its death penalty law, and does not recognize international law.

Here is a report about the official protest made tonight by the government of Honduras:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5931505.html

And here is more news coverage:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/us/08brfs-HONDURANMANI_BRF.html?ref=us

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/08/america/NA-US-Texas-Execution.php

According to latest reports, Texas is planning to execute a total of 15 convicted murderers over the next three months.

I wonder why no other states are yet showing the same courage that Texas is in proceeding with executions? For there are many other states with long backlogs of death row inmates. And since the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that lethal injection is not "cruel and unusual" punishment, there is no longer any blockade for executions to be taking place.

Yet, Texas appears to be the only state now taking the lead in bringing back the death sentence.

Why aren't officials in other states doing the same???

I guess that a different mindset must exist in Texas.

.
 
Sometimes being closer to the problem helps you to understand it better.
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If you mean being closer to Mexico, then BALONEY.

According to latest reports, Texas is planning to execute a total of 15 convicted murderers over the next three months.

I wonder why no other states are yet showing the same courage that Texas is in proceeding with executions? For there are many other states with long backlogs of death row inmates. And since the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that lethal injection is not "cruel and unusual" punishment, there is no longer any blockade for executions to be taking place.
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Courage? Not really. We are just working through the law more appropriately. We still drag our feet on executions quite a bit, but less so than other states.

It is really nothing new. Texas has been a leader in executions for a LONG time, especially since many states stopped or slowed executions in 1976.

http://www.infoplease.com/toptens/deathpenalty.html


Rank / State / Since 1930 / Since 1976
1. Texas 676 / 379
2. Georgia 405 / 39
3. New York 329 / 0
4. California 306 / 13
5. N Carolina 306 / 43
6. Florida 234 / 64
7. S Carolina 198 / 36
8. Ohio 196 / 24
9. Virginia 190 / 98
10. Alabama 170 / 35
Note: Table denotes executions under civil authority; military authorities carried out an additional 160 executions, 1930–97. Note: In 1972 the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment, as it was then administered, was “cruel and unusual” and therefore unconstitutional. On July 1, 1976, however, the Court overturned the ruling by a 7–2 decision, and capital punishment was reinstated.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Death Penalty Information Center. Web: www.deathpenaltyinfo.org.
 
Being the state leader in executions isn't something to be proud of.

To be honest I want to know where they are getting the people who actually are administrating them.

I could kill someone if they attacked me, I could kill them if they attacked someone I knew, I could kill someone in allot of different scenarios but I couldn't kill someone strapped down to a table.
 
People need to stop breaking the laws in TX. I have quite a bit of thoughts on this and I had a whole big page written out but thought twice and deleted it.

Lessons learned: Don't enter into the country illegally. Don't rob stores. Don't kill people. Follow the laws. Make right decisions - I know "right" decisions are not the most popular or financially advantageous. Do it anyway.


And TX is still not an OC state.
 
You need to remember that the majority of people in some states do not favor the death penalty, so it is not just a matter of states not showing courage. It is a matter of there being true societal objections and unresolved issues.

I personally favor the death penalty but I can understand how some people can be reluctant to enforce the death penalty in light of the failings of the modern legal system.
 
Being the state leader in executions isn't something to be proud of.
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Yes, it is. We take administration of the law fairly seriously.

To be honest I want to know where they are getting the people who actually are administrating them.
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More people serious about the law.

I could kill someone if they attacked me, I could kill them if they attacked someone I knew, I could kill someone in allot of different scenarios but I couldn't kill someone strapped down to a table.
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Well then it is good that you are not a prison administrator in Texas, isn't it.

Simply put, there are very real ramifications for breaking the law, getting caught and convicted.

Texas is not a state of bleeding hearts.

While Texas may execute the most, it isn't the state with the most on death row. It is third behind California and Florida.http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=188
 
Putting people to ..

...death is a complex legal problem with no easy social solutions except in a small fraction of cases.

The legal process here in Texas is a long drawn out affair with many twist, turns, stops, starts and fits of frustration on just about everyones part. The list of inmates waiting for their day is very very long. There is one guy who has been on death row since 1975.

Texas has a problem that is larger than all but one or two other states. We have a great influx of central and south American illegals, some of which are hardened career criminals engaged in nasty behavior. Drug and arms trafficking along with human slavery is rampant and out of control. There is a general disregard for the respect of other's property and lives. There are now generations of people with no regard for moral judgment or know the difference between right and wrong.

All of these problems are a direct consequence of bad national and state government over the last fifty or so years. Politicians, judges and the law crowd have convoluted and conspired to manipulate the system for profit and power. Yes, that includes big business too. We now have the dog chasing it's tail in a never ending cycle of greed.

Both sides of the criminal issue are spinning out of control. It's all about money and power and the meager death sentences which are carried out is part and parcel of this all encompassing criminal industry.

It is a spectacular growth industry and there is just a small tidbit of justice meted out occasionally to remind everyone ... it's just business.
 
Sometimes being closer to the problem helps you to understand it better.__________________
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Exactly, how does someone in DC sitting in an office understand or care of
the problems on the border,truly they (wealthy and powerful) live in a glass
bubble.


Texas has a problem that is larger than all but one or two other states. We have a great influx of central and south American illegals, some of which are hardened career criminals engaged in nasty behavior. Drug and arms trafficking along with human slavery is rampant and out of control. There is a general disregard for the respect of other's property and lives. There are now generations of people with no regard for moral judgment or know the difference between right and wrong.
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You nailed it, Texas is fast becoming California like in many respects all of the
southwest is on the front lines of the slave and drug trade, make no mistake
it is a war and I believe it will get worse before its over.
 
To be honest I want to know where they are getting the people who actually are administrating them.
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I think the "guilt" (such as it will be... different for each person) of putting a death row inmate to death is distributed across as many people as humanly possible.

So many people have such a small role to play in it, that they don't feel very badly about it.

The judge sentences the convict.

The guards walk the convict to the death chamber.

The nurse, orderly or doctor prepares the patient on the table (in lethal injection).

Lethal injection is prepped intravenously, but rigged to a timer so that no one person has to really "pull the trigger."

The warden supervises the entire process and holds it accountable to himself.

The governor can stop it at any time.

With firing lines (not done anymore), some shooters are given blanks. This way each of the shooters can fool their conscience into thinking "I didn't really shoot him... I had a blank."

Are electric chairs rigged to timers, or does someone manually pull a switch? Is it only one person, or is it several people on dummy switches too?

Gas chambers? Who turns on the poison gas? A timer or people?

Any state still hanging folks? How's that done?

The death sentence is a nasty thing... but then again, so is raping and murdering teenaged girls. I think those two acts belong together.
 
there are states that still execute by hanging (Deleware and New Hampshire and maybe Wyoming) and firing squad (Utah) IIRC Kalifornia still uses gas chamber.
 
I would take the job of "lethal injector"... I would even agree to do it on the piece work pay scale! Do the crime, go to trial, exhaust your appeals... Come rest on the table... And I would try to get that silly alcohol swabbin' rule squashed...
Brent
 
All modern forms of execution are far to just for the crimes these people are committing. Except for hanging, if they wouldn't just drop the person. Maybe just let them choke to death. There are all sorts of fun and interesting ways of justice. Either way, they are just as dead.

We've become a society of bleeding hearts. The evil man gets more rights than the victim. Prison is used as a storage unit, rather than a rehabilitation tool. The ammount of money that tax payers bleed out of calloused hands to sustain the scum, is outrageous. Especially when the scum doesn't even belong here in the first place. If the new president wants to reall help the ecomomy, and stop wasting tax dollars, they will secure our southern border with a big wall and a sign that states "Tresspassers will be shot, Survivors will be shot again".

I think that it was Texas that put in a exerpt about if 3 people witnessed you kill someone and sufficent evidence, you get to ride in the express lane to the execution room. I think that rape, especially the rape of a minor should be added to the automatic death sentence. Also, do away with life sentences. I've never understood giving someone life with no chance of parole. It's a waste of money. If they did something that bad, go ahead and send them to their maker. If a 20 year old man is sentenced to life without parole, and lives to be 60. Thats approxamately 1.6 Million dollars to keep them alive. WOW. For every 100 inmates doing a year in prison, that is 4 million dollars per year.

Any body know the percentage of the inmates that aren't even US citizens?
 
I thought the rule was "If a witness saw the crime..." you go to the front of the express line. AS YOU SHOULD!!!
Brent
 
"IIRC Kalifornia still uses gas chamber."

California has both gas chamber and lethal injection. The condemned gets to make the choice, and if he doesn't choose, he gets lethal injection.

Tim
 
I'm in favor of the death penalty, but I sure would like the Texas bureaucrates to man up and let us open carry. It sure would help in the comfort area.:)
 
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