Courageous Texan judge declares death penalty unconstitutional

A Texas judge in a county that sends more inmates to death row than any other in the nation has done the unspeakable. 

In a pre-trial motion of a capital murder case Judge Fine courageously ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional and said ‘it is safe to assume we execute innocent people.’

Fine said that judges are 'gatekeepers of society’s standard for decency and fairness'.

“Are you willing to have your brother, your father, your mother be the sacrificial lamb, to be the innocent person executed so that we can have a death penalty, so that we can execute those who are deserving of the death penalty?” he said. “I don’t think society’s mindset is that way now.”

The motion was one of many submitted by defence attorney Bob Loper and Casey Kieran arguing that Texas’s death penalty was unconstitutional for their client, John Edward Green Jr.

They argued and Fine agreed that the law providing for the procedures surrounding instructions to a jury in the Texas Code of Criminal procedures violate the 8th and 14th amendments to the U.S. constitution prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment and guaranteeing the right of due process. Loper and Keirnan assert that, “the system that determines who should die in Texas is truly broken.”

Fine immediately came under fire from Texas’s Attorney General Greg Bott and Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos. Gov. Rick Perry condemned the decision, saying he supports the death penalty as do the majority of people in Texas. Due to the heavy onslaught of criticism Fine was forced to take back his ruling and schedule a hearing for next month to hear evidence on the issues.

The death penalty in Texas still applies in an arbitrary, unpredictable and discriminatory manner. Most people who end up on death row in Texas are unable to afford a good defence lawyer. Linda Carty faces execution in a matter of months for this very reason.

Linda's court-appointed lawyer was Jerry Guerinot, whose incompetence has already led to twenty of his clients ending up on death row, more than any other defence lawyer in the US.

Guerinot's catalogue of serious failings in Linda's case includes: failure to meet Linda until immediately before the trial, failure to inform Linda or her husband of their rights; failure to spot obvious flaws and inconsistencies in the prosecution case; failure to interview witnesses; and failure to investigate key mitigating evidence.

Time is running now running out for Linda we hope that the state of Texas does not fail her.