On May 8, two men were executed for raping a woman in Saudi Arabia. The rapists were beheaded in public with a sword, as is the Saudi custom. They were the 12th and 13th individuals to lay their heads on the chopping block so far this year.
The justice system in Texas is falling behind. They’ve only killed 11 people so far this year. Last year the number executed reached only a paltry 17. The Saudis whacked 81 in comparison. But fear not! ‘Tis an election year. Gov. Rick Perry, Dubya’s former lieutenant, is trying hard to set things right. Seven men are set to die this month alone. Seven more will feel that final prick of the needle by the end of July.
An explanation for the comparatively tiny number killed last year on death row, as cited in a New York Times article, is the “rhythms of the appeals process.” It seems the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed a “handful” of cases last year while considering whether or not inmates have the right to “competent council” during habeas corpus appeals. They decided that, while defendants have the right to a lawyer, they don’t necessarily have the right to a competent one. So the slaughterhouse, err, death row facility in Livingston (right next to the soccer fields where I used to play away games) is chugging along at full speed once again.
So, by the end of July, 25 men will have died in Livingston. That’s 25 men in a little over half a year. Only 17 died during the whole of 2001. The difference here is a little more than a “handful.” During 2000, Dubya’s last year in office, 40 people got the needle. The next most execution-happy state was Oklahoma, with 11.
The only thing I can determine from this gob of information is that Texans want a hard-assed mo-fo in the governor’s mansion, and, so far, Perry is coming across as soft on crime. The solution is obvious, and it appears to have already been set
in motion.
Here’s where the moral dilemma arises for me. I don’t have a problem killing people who deserve killing. The opening paragraph offends me not in the slightest. The Saudi system of beheading is quick, efficient and cheap, three things the American criminal justice system most certainly is not. Furthermore, rape is a crime so base that any perpetrators, in my opinion, forfeit their humanity and the rights that go with it.
No, my problem is the fact that the number of people being executed in Texas magically goes up in an election year. Surely crime didn’t actually go up, at least not in those proportions.
Criminals don’t change their behavior based on who’s governor. No, there must have been a conscious decision within the administration to step up the rate of execution, to appear tough like George. Texans like toughness.
And now for my tirade. No one’s life should depend on the whims of a politician, especially not a Republican one. While some crimes are definitely worth dying for, like forced child-molestation or murder in some especially cruel or unusual way, giving the government the power to kill its own citizens is just plain irresponsible on the part of the public. These people are influenced by so many factors not related to the good of the community (or state or nation, as the case may be) that there is no way they should ever be entrusted with such a high power. The very fact that the rate of executions fluctuates depending on the political climate is testament to this.
I’ll leave you with one last factoid. Gov. Anne Richards, Perry’s and Bush’s democratic predecessor (and a grand old lady), signed off on only three executions in 1996. That was her election year. In 1997, the number of dead reached 37.
Columnist Aaron Rorick can be reached at [email protected]
Nothing is certain but death in Texas
Daily Emerald
May 20, 2002
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