Duane Buck: Texas; Video exposes racial discrimination in Texas death penalty system; Public asked to join in call for a new, fair sentencing hearing for Duane Buck; (A psychologist had testified that Mr. Buck posed a future danger because he is black!)

RELEASE:  "Shocking new video exposes racial discrimination in Texas death penalty system: Duane Buck facing execution after prosecutor argued he was more dangerous because he was black," posted by the National Association for Advancement of the Coloured People (NAACP), on June 10, 2013.

GIST:   "Everyone who sees this powerful video will come away from it with the alarming realization that if Duane Buck can be sentenced to death - and possibly executed -- based on racial stereotypes, then our criminal justice system is broken not just for Mr. Buck, but for all of us," said Christina Swarns, Mr. Buck's attorney and Director of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.'s Criminal Justice Project.  "A properly functioning criminal justice system does not condone the flagrant exploitation of racial fears and stereotypes to secure a death sentence.  It cannot countenance a racially biased and unfair execution." Former Texas Governor Mark White, who oversaw the executions of 19 individuals, narrates the video and urges citizens to take action: “It’s unfair to have someone on death row if they are not supposed to be there … Don’t wait until it is too late … Join me and more than 100 civil rights leaders, clergy, former prosecutors, and judges in calling for a new and fair sentencing hearing for Mr. Buck. Tell Texas to keep its promise.”  Over 50,000 people from Texas and around the country have signed a petition calling on Texas officials to grant Mr. Buck a new sentencing hearing. The newly released video exposes the injustice of Duane Buck’s case and encourages support for the petition for a new, fair sentencing at: https://www.change.org/petitions/sentenced-to-death-because-he-is-black-grant-duane-buck-a-new-hearing As the video shows, at Mr. Buck’s 1997 capital sentencing hearing in Harris County, the trial prosecutor elicited testimony from a psychologist that Mr. Buck posed a future danger because he is black. The prosecutor relied on this testimony in arguing in favor of a death sentence. The jury then found Mr. Buck would be a future danger and sentenced him to death.  Three years after Mr. Buck’s capital trial, in 2000, then-Texas Attorney General (now U.S. Senator) John Cornyn identified seven cases, including Mr. Buck’s, in which the State of Texas impermissibly relied on testimony linking race and dangerousness to secure a death sentence. The Attorney General promised to support new sentencing hearings for the seven identified defendants and kept its promise as to six of them. But Texas reneged on its promise to Mr. Buck and is now aggressively pursuing his execution. “It is virtually unprecedented for a state official to confess error in a capital case. And in this situation, [the Attorney General] confessed error in six capital cases,” said Kathryn Kase, Executive Director of Texas Defender Service, in the video.  Mr. Buck’s life was saved by the U.S. Supreme Court before his September 2011 scheduled execution. Two U.S. Supreme Court justices agreed that Mr. Buck’s death sentence requires review because “our criminal justice system should not tolerate” a death sentence “marred by racial overtones.” “When we apply the death penalty and we seek criminal sentences, we have to do so in a color-blind manner. Allowing this kind of racial testimony in any capital sentence proceeding undermines the entire justice process,” said Kate Black, Mr. Buck’s attorney, in the video."

The entire post can be found at:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?account_id=hlevy15%40gmail.com#inbox/13f2ee46f51e0b5f?compose=new

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site. 

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.