lulu
03-16-2003, 10:16 AM
here is one that really pi____ me off.!!!!!!!!
Most also believe innocent people have been put to death, poll shows
By JAMES KIMBERLY
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
The recent flurry of news about capital punishment has not swayed the opinions of Texans, who remain committed to the death penalty, even if it means executing innocent people in the process.
A recent Scripps Howard Texas Poll found 76 percent of Texans said they support the death penalty. Sixty-nine percent of the poll respondents also said they believe the state has executed innocent people.
The poll results baffled even the most ardent death penalty supporters.
"That's hard for me to fathom," said Dianne Clements, president of Justice for All, a victim's rights organization that supports the death penalty.
Clements questioned whether Texans really believe innocent people have been executed.
"If I believed we executed an innocent inmate, I couldn't support the death penalty. It doesn't make any sense," Clements said.
The Scripps Howard Data Center polled 1,000 Texans by telephone during February, at a time when capital punishment was very much in the news.
Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, had just granted clemency to all 167 people on death row, saying the system was "arbitrary and capricious and therefore immoral." There also were stories about Maryland declaring a moratorium on executions to study its system, 12 states creating commissions to study capital punishment and the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last year that executing the mentally retarded was unconstitutional.
In Texas, the Houston Chronicle and other newspapers were reporting on the problems the Houston Police Department crime lab had processing DNA and other physical evidence.
The death penalty was very much in the news last week as Texas prepared to execute its 300th person since 1982. But the execution of Delma Banks Jr., 44, was halted Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court to give the court time to decide whether it will consider his appeal, which raises allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and poor defense representation.
Clements said she believes all the negative attention focused on the death penalty has affected Texans' attitudes. A 1988 poll found 86 percent of Texans supported the death penalty.
David Atwood of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said he was not surprised by the findings of the recent poll.
"We've had people say executing an innocent person is the price of doing business," Atwood said.
The Scripps Howard poll, which had a margin of error of 3 percentage points, also found that 60 percent of Texans support the state law allowing 17-year-olds who commit capital murder to get the death penalty. Fifty-eight percent are opposed to executing the mentally retarded.
Seventy-two percent of respondents said state law should be changed so that capital murderers could be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Currently, the only alternative to a death sentence is a sentence of life with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said he hopes the results of the public opinion poll will send a message to his fellow lawmakers that Texans are open to changing current state law.
"I think what (the poll) shows is strong support for continuing to look at the system and pass meaningful reforms to try and protect the integrity of the criminal justice system," Ellis said.
Most also believe innocent people have been put to death, poll shows
By JAMES KIMBERLY
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
The recent flurry of news about capital punishment has not swayed the opinions of Texans, who remain committed to the death penalty, even if it means executing innocent people in the process.
A recent Scripps Howard Texas Poll found 76 percent of Texans said they support the death penalty. Sixty-nine percent of the poll respondents also said they believe the state has executed innocent people.
The poll results baffled even the most ardent death penalty supporters.
"That's hard for me to fathom," said Dianne Clements, president of Justice for All, a victim's rights organization that supports the death penalty.
Clements questioned whether Texans really believe innocent people have been executed.
"If I believed we executed an innocent inmate, I couldn't support the death penalty. It doesn't make any sense," Clements said.
The Scripps Howard Data Center polled 1,000 Texans by telephone during February, at a time when capital punishment was very much in the news.
Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, had just granted clemency to all 167 people on death row, saying the system was "arbitrary and capricious and therefore immoral." There also were stories about Maryland declaring a moratorium on executions to study its system, 12 states creating commissions to study capital punishment and the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last year that executing the mentally retarded was unconstitutional.
In Texas, the Houston Chronicle and other newspapers were reporting on the problems the Houston Police Department crime lab had processing DNA and other physical evidence.
The death penalty was very much in the news last week as Texas prepared to execute its 300th person since 1982. But the execution of Delma Banks Jr., 44, was halted Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court to give the court time to decide whether it will consider his appeal, which raises allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and poor defense representation.
Clements said she believes all the negative attention focused on the death penalty has affected Texans' attitudes. A 1988 poll found 86 percent of Texans supported the death penalty.
David Atwood of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said he was not surprised by the findings of the recent poll.
"We've had people say executing an innocent person is the price of doing business," Atwood said.
The Scripps Howard poll, which had a margin of error of 3 percentage points, also found that 60 percent of Texans support the state law allowing 17-year-olds who commit capital murder to get the death penalty. Fifty-eight percent are opposed to executing the mentally retarded.
Seventy-two percent of respondents said state law should be changed so that capital murderers could be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Currently, the only alternative to a death sentence is a sentence of life with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said he hopes the results of the public opinion poll will send a message to his fellow lawmakers that Texans are open to changing current state law.
"I think what (the poll) shows is strong support for continuing to look at the system and pass meaningful reforms to try and protect the integrity of the criminal justice system," Ellis said.