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| 28 sentences commuted to life in Texas after ruling |
| By Houston Chronicle |
| Published: 06/27/2005 |
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Death penalty opponents rejoiced and victims' families mourned Wednesday as Texas Gov. Rick Perry followed a U.S. Supreme Court order to commute the death sentences of Texas' juvenile offenders to life in prison. Three months after the high court ruling, Perry announced he had commuted the sentences of 28 death row inmates, including a dozen from Harris County, who were 17 at the time they committed their crimes. One of the Harris County prisoners listed by Perry's office was reported to be 17 in news accounts at the time of the 1985 murder for which he was sentenced. But the birth date provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site would have made Jimmy Jackson 18 at the time of his crime. ''While these individuals were convicted by juries of brutal murders and sentenced to die for their heinous crimes, I have no choice but to commute these sentences to life in prison as a result of the Supreme Court ruling," Perry said in a press release. The governor remained concerned the commutations would cause more suffering for victims' families, spokeswoman Kathy Walt said. Perry signed a bill last week that gave juries the option of sentencing capital murderers to life without the possibility of parole, but that new law isn't retroactive, so the 28 will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years in prison. The governor's office was preparing paperwork that would allow the Texas prison system to transfer the inmates to new facilities. Once the paperwork is received, the inmates likely will be moved from death row in Livingston to a unit in Huntsville where they will be evaluated to decide where they will be confined next, said Michelle Lyons, a TDCJ spokeswoman. |
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