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State judge in Texas declares the state's death penalty unconstitutional based on innocence concerns

By Douglas A. Berman

The Houston Chronicle has this new piece, which is headlined "Judge declares death penalty unconstitutional," reporting on a remarkable new development in the operation of the death penalty in Texas. Here are the basics: A Houston judge on Thursday granted a pretrial motion declaring the death penalty unconstitutional, saying he believes innocent people have been executed. ?Based on the moratorium (on the death penalty) in Illinois, the Innocence Project and more than 200 people being exonerated nationwide, it can only be concluded that innocent people have been executed,? state District Judge Kevin Fine said. ?It's safe to assume we execute innocent people.? Fine said trial level judges are gatekeepers of society's standard for decency and fairness...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).