Back in action: On-Going: Texas: Abusing science to kill people? Dallas News story asks whether Texas will follow the scientific standards set by the U.S. Supreme Court and protect intellectually disabled people from getting the death penalty..."Texas, which leads the nation in death row executions, is one of nine states with the death penalty that hasn’t passed a law outlining rules to protect people with intellectual disabilities from being executed. Without a law, the state’s courts had to come up with their own system. But last year, the Supreme Court declared the method violated the Constitution because it relies on nonclinical and unscientific standards to determine who was intellectually disabled."
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Texas is at the center of this issue as attorneys for
death row inmate Bobby Moore are seeking review from the U.S. Supreme
Court for a second time. In 1980, Moore shot James McCarble, a
73-year-old grocery clerk during a botched robbery in Houston. After he
was sentenced to death, his attorneys’ appeals hinged on Moore being
severely intellectually disabled. Last year, the Supreme Court
sent Moore’s case back to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, with a
sharp rebuke that said the state’s practice was medically outdated and
relied on misinformed stereotypes to characterize people with
intellectual disabilities. In June, despite pleas from the prosecution
to change Moore’s sentence to life in prison, the Texas appeals court
upheld the death sentence for Moore. Moore’s attorney has since
petitioned the Supreme Court to vacate the Texas court’s ruling. “This
gives added impetus for the Legislature to do something,” said Jordan
Steiker, a University of Texas law professor and co-director of the
school’s Capital Punishment Center. “They should pass a statute that
over protects, rather than under protects and makes it hard to make a
mistake.”
STORY: "Will Texas lawmakers penalty?, by Texas government
reporter Rebecca Allen, published by The Dallas News on December 31,
2019.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Medical
experts say Bobby Moore, who has been on death row for 36 years, is
intellectually disabled. On one test, he recorded an IQ score of 59."
GIST: "Fueled by a U.S. Supreme Court decision
chastising Texas for how it determines intellectual disability in death
penalty cases, criminal justice advocates say the time has come for the
state's legislators to pass a bill that aligns with federal law. Texas,
which leads the nation in death row executions, is one of nine
states with the death penalty that hasn’t passed a law outlining rules
to protect people with intellectual disabilities from being executed.
Without
a law, the state’s courts had to come up with their own system. But
last year, the Supreme Court declared the method violated the
Constitution because it relies on nonclinical and unscientific standards
to determine who was intellectually disabled. “It’s
embarrassing that Texas has had to have the U.S. Supreme Court send
back cases to us telling us we’re not using medically informed criteria
when applying the death penalty to a very vulnerable population,” said
state Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat. “We have to tackle that. The
Supreme Court has told us we have to make this change.” Moody,
chairman of the House Criminal Jurisprudence committee, said he expects
lawmakers to take up the issue this year, though legislation has not yet
been filed. Last year, House Speaker Joe Straus directed the committee
to study the issue and report back to the House. Moody said the
committee has drafted a report, and he expects it to recommend how to
apply the death penalty to both people with intellectual disabilities
and severe mental disorders. In 2001, the Legislature passed a law
banning the execution of intellectually disabled people, but Gov. Rick
Perry vetoed it a year before the Supreme Court’s Atkins vs. Virginia
ruling, which declared the practice unconstitutional. Perry said at the
time that the law was unnecessary because judicial safeguards were in
place. Texas is at the center of this issue as attorneys for
death row inmate Bobby Moore are seeking review from the U.S. Supreme
Court for a second time. In 1980, Moore shot James McCarble, a
73-year-old grocery clerk during a botched robbery in Houston. After he
was sentenced to death, his attorneys’ appeals hinged on Moore being
severely intellectually disabled. Last year, the Supreme Court
sent Moore’s case back to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, with a
sharp rebuke that said the state’s practice was medically outdated and
relied on misinformed stereotypes to characterize people with
intellectual disabilities. In June, despite pleas from the prosecution
to change Moore’s sentence to life in prison, the Texas appeals court
upheld the death sentence for Moore. Moore’s attorney has since
petitioned the Supreme Court to vacate the Texas court’s ruling. “This
gives added impetus for the Legislature to do something,” said Jordan
Steiker, a University of Texas law professor and co-director of the
school’s Capital Punishment Center. “They should pass a statute that
over protects, rather than under protects and makes it hard to make a
mistake.” He said without a state statute that appropriately
protects people with intellectual disabilities, Texas will continue to
find itself entangled in expensive and embarrassing litigation. Texas
judges also say they want the Legislature to pass a law, taking the
burden off the courts. “The No. 1 area that needs attention and that has
needed attention
for over a decade is intellectual disabilities,” Judge Elsa Alcala, who
sits on the Court of Criminal Appeals, said during a hearing of Moody’s
committee in March. “My court has had various judges repeatedly tell the
Legislature, ‘Please write a law we can apply.’ ” Alcala and two
other judges forcefully dissented in a 67-page rebuke when the court
ruled 5-3 to uphold Moore’s death penalty sentence. “Most judges will
tell you that we are not law writers. That’s what you do,” she told the
House committee members. The legislative session begins Jan. 8."
Two Blogs Now: The Charles Smith Blog; The Selfless Warriors Blog: I created the Charles Smith Blog in 2007 after I retired from The Toronto Star to permit me to keep digging into the story of the flawed pathologist and the harm he had done to so many innocent parents and caregivers, and to Ontario’s criminal justice system. Since then it has taken new directions, including examinations of other flawed pathologists, flawed pathology, and flawed science and technology which has marred the quality of justice in courtrooms around the world. The heart of the Blog is my approach to following cases which raise issues in all of these areas - especially those involving the death penalty. I have dedicated 'The Selfless Warrior Blog’ (soon to appear) to those exceptional individuals who have been ripped out of their ordinary lives by their inability to stand by in the face of a glaring miscarriage of justice. They are my ’Selfless Warriors.’ Enjoy!
