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Another Troubling Dallas Case

By standdown

That's the title of Bob Ray Sanders' latest Fort Worth Star-Telegram column.  LINKThe case of Carlton Akee Turner, who is scheduled for the Texas death chamber Thursday evening, presents the state and its noble citizens a whole set of conundrums: What really should be done with troubled youths who commit horrible crimes? Do we truly care about the feelings of the victims? families and how they view "closure"? How should our highest criminal court deal with cases from Dallas County particularly, with its history of racism, terribly flawed investigations and what some see as true "criminal" prosecution tactics of the recent past? At what point do the people of Texas say "enough is enough" when it comes to capital punishment, even for those who committed a crime, as Turner most certainly did?And:Maurie Levin, an attorney with the UT law school?s Capital Punishment Clinic, argues in the petition and a supplement that Turner?s sentence should be commuted to life on two grounds: Dallas County?s history (including in this case) of excluding black people from juries in capital cases, and the fact that relatives of his dead parents ? also members of his family ? don?t want him executed...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on July 07, 2008 (boomark / email).