The AP reports that Texas executed Robert Jean Hudson tonight.

The 45-year-old was the 18th Texas inmate put to death this year in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state. He was the 423rd person executed in Texas since 1982.

He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. CST Thursday.

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Join the “Abolish the Death Penalty Project” on Amazee.com and help us win the Amazee Bucket membership contest. We could win up to $5,000 to use against the death penalty. The project with the most members by Jan 22 wins. If we win, we plan to use one-half of any prize money we win to help needy families of people on death row travel to visit their loved ones on death row. We will use the other half of the prize money to fight against the death penalty.

First go to the project page, then you have to click on “join project” on the right hand side, then click on “register”. Then to qualify as one of the members who count towards the contest, you have to upload a picture or avatar of yourself.

We were all moved by the family members who spoke at the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston, so we were thinking of how we could help them. We all know that the death penalty is reserved for the poor. There are no rich people on death row. We will use one half of any prize money we get through this contest to help family members visit their loved ones on death row. Many families have a hard time making ends meet and the extra cost of traveling long distances to visit their loved ones on death row is a great financial burden. Some of the people on death row have young children who rarely get to visit them. The other half would be used for activities during the upcoming Texas legislative session from Jan to May 2009, such as a big anti-death penalty rally at the capitol and other projects to persuade people to support abolishing the death penalty.

The Houston Chronicle:

Attorneys for Texas death row inmate Robert Jean Hudson don’t deny he killed ex-girlfriend Edith Kendrick in a rage nearly a decade ago at her Dallas-area apartment but questioned whether he should be put to death Thursday evening for what they said was not a deliberate act.

“While Ms. Kendrick’s murder was brutal, it was a crime of passion,” Maurie Levin, a University of Texas law professor, wrote in an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the punishment. “Mr. Hudson did not attempt to flee, did not resist arrest, immediately confessed to the crime, and expressed his remorse and sorrow in that statement and during the months that followed.”

Hudson, 45, would be the 18th Texas inmate executed this year in the nation’s most active death penalty state. Two other executions scheduled for this week in Texas were stopped by the courts.

“Something came over me and I lost control which caused this,” Hudson, who declined to speak with reporters as his scheduled execution in Huntsville neared, told police after his arrest. “I loved Edith… I am sorry for what has happened and have told the truth about the incident.”

Sign a petition for Robert Hudson

Facebook Group for Hudson

To send the Governor of Texas an email denouncing this execution, go to:
http://governor.state.tx.us/contact

You can also call and leave him a voice message:

Telephone numbers for Governor Rick Perry of Texas

* Citizen’s Opinion Hotline [for Texas callers] :
(800) 252-9600
* Information and Referral and Opinion Hotline [for Austin, Texas and out-of-state callers] :
(512) 463-1782
* Office of the Governor Main Switchboard [office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST] :
(512) 463-2000
* Citizen’s Assistance Telecommunications Device
If you are using a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD),
call 711 to reach Relay Texas

* Office of the Governor Fax:
(512) 463-1849

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Join the “Abolish the Death Penalty Project” on Amazee.com and help us win the Amazee Bucket membership contest. We could win up to $5,000 to use against the death penalty. The project with the most members by Jan 22 wins. If we win, we plan to use one-half of any prize money we win to help needy families of people on death row travel to visit their loved ones on death row. We will use the other half of the prize money to fight against the death penalty.

You have to click on “join project” on the right hand side, then click on “register”. Then to qualify as one of the members who count towards the contest, you have to upload a picture or avatar of yourself.

We were all moved by the family members who spoke at the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston, so we were thinking of how we could help them. We all know that the death penalty is reserved for the poor. There are no rich people on death row. We will use one half of any prize money we get through this contest to help family members visit their loved ones on death row. Many families have a hard time making ends meet and the extra cost of traveling long distances to visit their loved ones on death row is a great financial burden. Some of the people on death row have young children who rarely get to visit them. The other half would be used for activities during the upcoming Texas legislative session from Jan to May 2009, such as a big anti-death penalty rally at the capitol and other projects to persuade people to support abolishing the death penalty.

President-elect Obama today chose Eric Holder as his pick for U.S. Attorney General. He would become the first African-American to head the Justice Department, according to Newsweek.

In an interview with the New York Times in 1997, Holder separated his personal opposition to the death penalty from his professional responsibilities:

Mr Hatch questioned Mr. Holder about his views on the death penalty in general and in particular about a case in which Mr. Holder initially did not seek the death penalty for someone who was accused of killing a District of Columbia police officer.

”I am not a proponent of the death penalty, but I will enforce the law as this Congress gives it to us,” Mr. Holder said.

Mr. Holder said that at first he had not thought the crime met the legal conditions for the death penalty. But he said he changed his mind after a conversation with Attorney General Janet Reno. ”I hope that the committee would feel very assured that even with those statutes that have death penalty provisions will be fully enforced by me,” he said.

Holder also said in 2000 that he was “personally and professionally disturbed by the [racial] disparity,” which showed that “minorities are overrepresented” on federal death rows.

Janet Reno, Attorney General for 8 years under Bill Clinton, was also personally opposed to the death penalty, although she sought the death penalty in some prosecutions.

In an interview with Jim Leherer, Reno explained her position:

JANET RENO: I was personally opposed to the death penalty, and yet I think I have probably asked for the death penalty more than most people in the United States.

JIM LEHRER: Was that difficult for you to do?

JANET RENO: I had concluded when I was the prosecutor that I would vote against the death penalty if I were in the legislature but that I could ask for it when I was satisfied as to guilt and to the proper application of the penalty.

Given that there is more recognition today about the problems with the death penalty and the risk of executing innocent people, we expect that any attorney general under Obama would support significant reform of the federal death penalty and increased support for states that need federal support for reforms at the state-level, such as increased funding for innocence programs.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on Sunday, Nov 16, that Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins is personally opposed to the death penalty. Although he is personally opposed, he says that his professional duties require him to authorize death penalty prosecutions in some cases. We hope that other DAs in Texas will follow Watkins’ example, including the incoming DA in Travis County.

From the Star-Telegram:

Why are you opposed to capital punishment?

I’m a human being, and as a human being, I will not kill anybody. I don’t want to use my position to take a life, even though you may go out and do a heinous crime. I may be even worse than you because I have the full weight of the government behind me. For me to use the full weight of the government to do the same thing that you did, is that justifiable?

We just agreed to seek the death penalty against a guy that raped a 3-year-old girl and strangled her and left her under a bed. When I see that, the human side of me says, “Yeah, that guy should be killed.” But then the government is the supreme being, right? You’re in a supreme position. You’re higher than human existence and you should carry yourself as such.

Given your feelings, when your office seeks the death penalty, do you personally sign off on that?

Professionally that’s something I have to do . . . for the citizens I represent.  . . . It’s the law and I have to implement it. I can’t let my personal views get in the way of what the public wants.

Will your feelings about the death penalty ever affect the policy of your office?

I would like to think that I have the courage to stand up and say no [to capital punishment]. But I’m not at that point. I don’t know if I ever will be. It’s so early in my career as DA. I don’t have any seniority. I don’t have any credibility.  . . . That might be a fight that I should fight, but at this point it’s too early.

Do decisions on capital cases cause you any sleepless nights?

All the time. Not just the ones that I make the decision on. Every time I read in the newspaper that someone is going to the death chamber, I don’t sleep.  . . . They just did one last week with one of the Texas Seven. I pay attention to that. That’s something I struggle with, even though the person did something really bad.

Are you concerned your position on capital punishment will hurt you politically?

I think it will, obviously. I can foresee the attacks that will come my way. But at the end of the day, the public wants honesty and openness. The fact that I am publicly trying to come to a conclusion on this is good for the system, and it’s good for politics. I don’t think politicians are honest enough.

From the AP:

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Houston man who participated in a notorious death row escape attempt a decade ago won a reprieve to keep him from the Texas death chamber Tuesday for the fatal shooting of a woman during an abduction.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued the stay of execution for convicted killer Eric Dewayne Cathey, 37, about 4 1/2 hours before he was scheduled for lethal injection.

Cathey had insisted he wasn’t involved in the slaying of 20-year-old Christina Castillo, who was grabbed outside her Houston apartment complex, blindfolded and tied up with duct tape, then shot and dumped in a field. Prosecutors said Cathey was the gunman among several men involved in the 1995 abduction because they believed Castillo’s boyfriend was a drug dealer and hoped to get information from her to steal his drugs and money.

Attorneys filed appeals late Monday contending they had evidence of Cathey was mentally retarded and ineligible for execution under U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

“I was surprised, but I’m happy with that,” Cathey’s lawyer, Kevin Dunn, said. He said the reprieve would give attorneys time to develop additional information to support their mental retardation claim.