Open Left

About time

Texas elects its judges on a partisan ballot.  They often run on executing more people.  It may be the most rotten system in the country, and even with the right's two pet crime-fighting projects in place (a heavily punitive judicial system and conceal and carry laws), there is no evidence that crime rates have changed at all.  

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by: Valatan @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:01:46 PM CST

While it would be great if Texas,

which has led the country in executions, could lead the country away from them.  But that seems unlikely. As long as most states have the death penalty, even though many do not apply it, the states with the most executions will probably be insulated from change.  

That said, if Democrats in heavily Democratic states could move those states to the No column, we might start to see the pace of change pick up. States like MD are enabling states like TX - but they are also easier to influence.

Support a Pennsylvania Progressive for Governor - Joe Hoeffel

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by: David Kaib @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:09:45 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Realistically, a SC decision will ultimately be the only real fix

And that case can originate anywhere.  It is deeply, deeply unlikely that the TX supreme court is going to uphold this, considering the partisan elected judges thing mentioned above.  

But lower courts disagreeing is the beginning of the basis for a SC challenge.

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by: Valatan @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:11:43 PM CST

[ Parent ]

It's unlikley that there will be a SC decision

until there is more movement at the state level. The Court almost always follows trends, rather than create them - as the history around things like segregation make clear.

The thing is, support for the death penalty is very soft, which is why I don't think a SC ruling is the only way. When given the choice between it and life imprisonment, there is an even split. (Asking people if they support it without offering an alternative gives a misleading high support number.) And that is despite the fact that both parties at the national level take support for the death penalty for granted - the numbers would get better if the Dems would begin to make arguments against it. Also, that is a national number, which suggests that things are much better in bluer states. (I have been unable to find much in the way of state data on this one way or the other, but it seems reasonable to assume that support in South, for example, is higher than in the North.)

I do agree that lower courts disagreeing is also an important step, and its not just there. A judge on the MS SC not long ago came to a similar decision - the fact that we're seeing these questions raised in these deep red states is encouraging.  The more people push back against the death penalty, the more likely it will be that more judges raise these questions.

Support a Pennsylvania Progressive for Governor - Joe Hoeffel

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by: David Kaib @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:23:52 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Also,

note that the states with the worst death penalty records are going to be the ones with the most egregious constitutional violations necessary to make the stronger case in federal court.  A case that actually overturns the death penalty is very likely to originate in Texas or in the deep south.  

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by: Valatan @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:13:19 PM CST

[ Parent ]