The longest serving Judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Lawrence “Larry” Meyers, has announced he is seeking re-election in 2010. The Court has been called a national laughingstock by one of its other members because of the actions of Sharon Keller and that was years before Keller made it even more of a laughingstock by closing the court in 2007 and refusing to accept a legal appeal from a person about to be executed. Currently there are no Democrats serving on the Court of Criminal Appeals, but we hope the Democrats persuade a strong candidate to run in 2010. It does not serve justice to have every member of any court to be all from the same political party.

Despite the poor reputation of the Court of Criminal Appeals, Meyers said in his press release, “I am seeking re-election to the Court to continue to be an objective voice and ensure that we maintain our reputation for delivering fair and just opinions,” said Meyers in announcing his candidacy for re-election.

In 2004, Texas Monthly’s Mike Hall wrote in his article “And Justice for Some” about the CCA, “over the past ten years, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has disregarded exculpatory DNA evidence, threats of torture, bad lawyering, and in some cases, all common sense to uphold convictions in keeping with its tough-on-crime philosophy. Why should toughness steamroll fairness?”

Meyers is not the judge who unethically closed the court to a person on the day of his execution. That was Sharon Keller. But the upcoming trial on Sharon Keller in August may expose some of the behind the scenes operations of the Court that may not be helpful for any incumbent judges seeking re-election.

Unfortunately, Keller is not up for re-election in 2010. If she had to face the voters now, she would probably lose. She may be removed before her term expires after her trial on misconduct charges. Even though Keller’s name will not be on the ballot in 2010, she may become an issue in the re-election campaigns of any CCA incumbents who are on the ballot. The Court of Criminal Appeals needs some fresh faces to restore integrity to the court. The question is will the Democrats run a strong candidate for the Court. Even if the Democrats find a strong candidate for the Court, that candidate will need the help of a strong Democratic candidate for governor because most CCA elections reflect the outcomes of the gubernatorial race. In 2010, a strong Democratic CCA candidate could win even if the Democratic gubernatorial candidate loses, as long as the governor’s race is not a blowout.

Bob Ray Sanders devotes his Sunday column to the 200th execution under Governor Rick Perry. Here are a few excerpts:

Last Tuesday, as the state of Texas prepared to execute Terry Lee Hankins, people gathered in several U.S. cities and on two continents to mark a milestone in Rick Perry’s tenure as governor.

Hankins, by no means a sympathetic character because of his gruesome crimes, became the 200th person to be executed in Texas since Perry has been in office. He was the 16th to be put to death by the state this year.

To mark the occasion, anti-death penalty protests were held in Huntsville; Austin; Houston; Albuquerque, N.M.; Paris; and Leipzig, Germany (TMN Note: Montreal, Canada and Brussels, Belgium too)

Texas is notorious throughout the world for the number of executions it carries out each year, raising fears that the state has made mistakes and that innocent people likely have been killed in the death chamber.

He also mentioned one of the speakers at the Huntsville protest that came down from Nacogdoches.

One of the speakers at the Huntsville protest last week was Jerry Williams, a sociology professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, whose sister was beaten to death on Mother’s Day morning in 1985. Her assailant was given life in prison, but was released on parole after serving 15 years in prison.

"I hated him," Williams said. "I wanted to see him die. I wanted to see him suffer in prison. And I thought justice would be done only in that way. But what I realized over time was that my hate really diminished me. It damaged me and did nothing for him."

To watch a YouTube video of Williams speaking in Huntsville, click here.

He also reports on a report from Amnesty that said:

Texas, where about seven percent of the U.S. population resides, and where fewer than 10 percent of murders occur, has accounted for 37 percent of the country’s executions since 1977, and 41 percent since 2001, when Governor Perry came into office."

It went on to point out, "There were 152 executions in Texas during the nearly six years of the [George W.] Bush governorship (1995-2000). Now looming is the 200th execution during Rick Perry’s term in office. The combined total of more than 350 executions in Texas under these two governors represents 30 percent of the national total since executions resumed in the USA in 1977. Virginia is ranked second to Texas in executions. In 30 years, Virginia has killed 103 people in its death chamber, half the number put to death in Texas in eight. This is geographic bias on a grand scale.

He ends with:

"How many of the 200 people executed under Perry’s watch were innocent?" asked Scott Cobb, president of Texas Moratorium Network, which helped organize the protests. "Perry could have taken a large step to reduce the risk of executing an innocent person if he had supported a moratorium on executions. Now, he may have to answer for the execution of Todd Willingham, who most likely was innocent of the arson/murders for which he was executed in 2004."

Below are a few videos from the Huntsville protest.

Find more photos like this on Protest Texas Governor Rick Perry’s 200th Execution

One of the protests of the 200th execution under Governor Rick Perry was held in Montreal, Canada on June 2, 2009. Below is some video of the “die-in”. The event was held by the DP Coordination Team of Amnesty International Canada Francophone and was organized by Charles Perroud, who in a message to us said that it was “A VIBRANT success last night, with even the more ‘popular media’, the ones never there to cover our events, coming in throngs!! Real strong coverage to say the least”.

“Die-In” 200e exécution au Texas sous Rick Perry – Amnistie internationale (1)

“Die-In” 200e exécution au Texas sous Rick Perry – Amnistie internationale (2)

“Die-In” 200e exécution au Texas sous Rick Perry – Amnistie internationale (3)

“Die-In” 200e exécution au Texas sous Rick Perry – Amnistie internationale (4)

“Die-In” 200e exécution au Texas sous Rick Perry – Amnistie internationale (5)

We received a message today about a couple of people who went to the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium to protest the 200th execution under Texas Governor Rick Perry. They went to the Embassy and

“stood in front of the Embassy with one big banner (Texas, stop executions!) and a smaller one (Gov. Perry = serial killer = tonight 200th victim). Unfortunately after less than half an hour, four policemen came. They said they were sent by the Embassy to remove us. They confiscated our banners (before we had any chance to take pictures) and they copied our ID’s. We’ll get a fine.

“But the most important of this story is that the Embassy saw our banners for sure and didn’t like our message in such a way that they sent the police over to remove us!! So nevertheless, we got our message out and they received it!!”

Congratulations to our courageous friends in Belgium. Shame on the U.S. Embassy in Brussels. Maybe they have not yet received the news that George W. Bush is no longer president of the U.S. and we the people do not appreciate this type of behavior.

Here is the address of the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, in case anyone wants to write them and complain to them about calling the police on peaceful protesters. You can mention in your letters, that the embassy should invite the protesters back to participate in a panel discussion or other event that allows the people of Brussels to learn about the United States’ use of the death penalty.

Wayne J. Bush
Chargé d’Affaires, a.i.
Embassy of the United States of America
Regentlaan 27 Boulevard du Régent, B-1000 Brussels
Belgium

Phone: (32-2) 508-2111
Fax: (32-2) 511-2725