Thanks to Judge Kevin Fine in Houston for ruling that the Texas death penalty is unconstitutional. In 2004, New York courts ruled that the New York death penalty law was unconstitutional and the New York legislature did not pass a new death penalty law, so in New York the death penalty was abolished by such a ruling. 

From the Houston Chronicle:

A Houston judge this afternoon declared the death penalty unconstitutional in a pretrial hearing in response to a motion from defense lawyers.

State District Judge Kevin Fine’s ruling is unlikely to withstand appellate review.
Fine granted a motion from defense attorney Bob Loper to declare Texas’ death penalty unconstitutional.

From the Houston Press:

Fine was hearing motions Thursday from accused killer John Green’s attorneys, and unpredictably granted a motion asking the court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional. Green is suspected of shooting a woman in 2008 and could be executed if found guilty.

“In every capital murder case,” Green’s attorney, Casey Kiernan, tells Hair Balls, “lawyers always ask the court to rule that the death penalty is unconstitutional. And this time the judge did it. I don’t know that this has ever happened before in Harris County. It may be the bravest decision I’ve ever seen a judge make in more than 30 years as a defense lawyer.”

and

Kiernan says the next move belongs to the prosecution. DA Pat Lykos will have to decide whether to appeal Fine’s ruling. Phone calls to the DA’s office have so far gone unreturned. Kiernan says he plans on meeting with prosecutors tomorrow to plot out the next steps.
Though it is doubtful that Fine’s ruling would pass muster upon appeal, Kiernan is hopeful.
“What the judge is saying is that the system is broken in the state of Texas,” says Kiernan. “And he really made a point of saying that more than 200 people have been exonerated. We won a big battle here today.” 

Updated: DA Pat Lykos has issued her statement.

Words are inadequate to describe the Office’s disappointment and dismay with this ruling; sadly it will delay justice for the victims and their families. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and other appellate courts have consistently rejected the same issues raised in the Green case.

The decision of whether to seek the death penalty is a solemn and profound responsibility. After a deliberative and thoughtful process this Office reached the conclusion to prosecute Mr. Green for the horrific capital murder he committed and to ask the jury to assess the death penalty. We respectfully, but vigorously disagree with the trial judge’s ruling, as it has no basis in law or in fact. We will pursue all remedies.

The Department of Public Safety may have to put extra security around the artwork in the Texas capitol. Borris Miles is so far winning back his state rep seat in Houston by 11 votes, so unless there is a recount he has won. He lost his bid for re-election in 2008. He is the “art critic” who took down two paintings from our death penalty art show in the capitol in 2007. Actually, he is a progressive who supports a moratorium on executions, he is just not so smart about art. Maybe he has learned his lesson after losing his re-election bid in 2008 that he can’t just go around taking other peoples’ property and putting it in his office.

Al Edwards – Incumbent DEM 5,020 49.94%

Borris L. Miles DEM 5,031 50.05%

Total Votes Cast 4,803 10,051 Precincts Reported 43 of 43 Precincts 100.00%

From the Los Angeles Times in 2007:

As he walked with his young children through the Texas Capitol in Austin this week, state Rep. Borris Miles stopped short in front of an unfamiliar painting: It showed a black man hanging from a tree by a rope — part of an art exhibit organized by a group opposed to the death penalty.

Miles scanned the other images and spotted a black-and-white rendering of a man tied to an electric chair. “Doing God’s Work,” read the title.

“I was shocked. It was appalling,” said Miles, a Houston Democrat. The legislator, who is African American, immediately took down both pieces, placed them in his office and directed his staff to find out who was responsible for the display.

“I’m not an art critic or an art hater, but I can’t think of any circumstance where hanging this type of art would be appropriate. It’s offensive,” Miles said. “It has no place at the Capitol.”

The artwork, some by prisoners on death row, is part of an exhibit organized by the Texas Moratorium Network, which advocates a two-year moratorium on the death penalty. The show was intended to “engage the public and get them to discuss death penalty issues,” president Scott Cobb said. “From that perspective, we’re grateful to [Miles] for taking it down, because now it’s wall-to-wall people wanting to see what the controversy is about.”

The State Preservation Board schedules exhibits at the Capitol that serve a “public purpose” and are sponsored by an elected official, spokeswoman Julie Fields said. “We look at this as a free-speech issue. We don’t police content,” she said.

Miles wants the panel — made of up of five elected officials and one private citizen — to amend the “process for selecting exhibits…. We need procedures for what goes on display.” Cobb said he’ll meet with Miles — who supports a moratorium on executions — before the exhibit closes on Saturday. “I’ll ask him to talk to the preservation board first if a piece of art offends him in the future,” Cobb said. “We would like that a precedent is not set that anybody can go around taking down things at the Capitol that they object to. He probably overreacted.”

Below is one of the art works that Miles illegally took down and put in his office.

March 2, 2010 – On a day that Texans went to the polls to vote, Texas executed the 450th person since 1982 and the 211th person since Governor Rick Perry took office in 2000.

From the Houston Chronicle:

A Dallas-area man convicted of fatally shooting a newlywed Brazilian engineer whose wife was also killed in an attack nearly a decade ago was executed Tuesday evening in the nation’s busiest death penalty state.

Michael Sigala, 32, was condemned to death for the August 2000 fatal shooting of Kleber Santos, 28, who was killed along with his wife at their apartment in Plano, a suburb of Dallas. Sigala also was charged with the wife’s slaying but was not tried.

Sigala is the third prisoner in Texas to be put to death by lethal injection this year and the first of four scheduled to die this month in the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to review his case. No new appeals were filed before his execution.

Sigala was on probation for robbery and allowed for the day to leave a Dallas-area substance abuse treatment center he was staying at in order to look for a job when the slayings happened.

During his final statement, Sigala asked for forgiveness from the slain couple’s relatives who attended the execution.

“I have no reason for why I did it,” Sigala said. “I don’t understand why I did it. I hope that you can live the rest of your lives without hate.”

As the drugs took effect, he snored at least once and then gasped. Nine minutes later, at 6:20 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead.

Attend the Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break in Austin March 15-19, 2010.

Join us March 15-19, 2010 in Austin, Texas for the award-winning Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break.

Special guests will be six innocent death row exoneress: Shujaa Graham, Curtis McCarty, Ron Keine, Derrick Jamison, Perry Cobb and Juan Melendez. They are attending alternative spring break to speak with participants about how innocent people can end up on death row. Altogether, the six exonerees attending the alternative spring break spent a total of about 65 years on death row for crimes they did not commit.

It’s free, except for a $25 housing fee for those who need us to arrange housing for you. We will house you in a shared room with other spring breakers in either a hotel or dorm. You are responsible for your travel, food and other expenses, but the program and most of the housing costs are on us. The $25 housing fee is all you pay. Register here.

Today is election day in Texas and there is also an execution scheduled in Texas today. Rick Perry is seeking re-election as Governor. He is running today in the Republican primary against two main Republican challengers. There is also an election in the Democratic primary. Today’s execution will be the 450th execution in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s. It will be the 211th execution in Texas since Perry became governor in 2000. The name of the person scheduled for execution today is Michael Sigala. Please call Perry at (512) 463-1782 or email the governor and state your opposition to the death penalty and urge him to support a moratorium on executions.

If you live in Texas, there is an election today, so go vote for the candidates of your choice. Then go back to your voting location at 7:15 pm for the precinct convention and take an anti-death penalty resolution.