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| Texas Retooling Criminal Justice in Wake of Furor |
| By New York Times |
| Published: 06/11/2001 |
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Texas, which leads the nation in executions and endured withering criticism of its death penalty system during the presidential campaign last year, is poised to make significant changes in its criminal justice laws and so, supporters of the overhaul say, create a fairer system of capital punishment. The Legislature, which concluded its session this week, passed a measure addressing a central complaint about Texas criminal justice: that indigent defendants are too often given bad lawyers to handle their cases. The lawmakers also approved legislation providing for DNA testing for many criminal defendants and prisoners, as well as a bill to increase payments to people wrongfully imprisoned. Gov. Rick Perry has signed the DNA bill and is expected to sign the two others. But Mr. Perry has not yet decided what he will do on perhaps the most controversial measure, a bill that would make Texas the 14th state to ban the execution of mentally retarded prisoners. Prosecutors are urging a veto, while supporters note that a similar bill has passed the Florida Legislature and is backed by Gov. Jeb Bush. While most of the changes cover a broad range of criminal defendants and not solely those charged with capital crimes, many lawmakers were motivated largely by the intense negative attention focused on the state's death penalty during the presidential campaign of Gov. George W. Bush. The flurry in passage of criminal justice legislation, while falling short of what many death penalty opponents had hoped for, is in marked contrast to activity the last time the biennial Legislature met, in 1999, when Mr. Bush's presidential aspirations hung over every vote. Mr. Bush, who during the campaign last year steadfastly defended the Texas capital punishment system, vetoed a bill as governor that was similar to the one passed this year on legal representation for the poor, and also spoke against a failed 1999 bill that would have forbidden execution of the retarded. Texas carried out a record 40 executions last year. But some experts believe that improving the quality of legal defense for the poor - to say nothing of DNA testing, which has already resulted in some prisoners' release from death rows across the country - could reduce the number of death sentences in Texas. 'Just having someone to really tell your story at the time of sentencing and not doing just a perfunctory job does seem to help,' said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, in Washington, which opposes execution. 'The indigent-defense system seems to be a key factor, and if the reforms that Texas passed make a meaningful difference in the way cases are handled there, then I think it will result in fewer death sentences.' A newfound willingness of legislators to consider such changes became apparent when bills to impose a two-year moratorium on executions passed committees in both houses, before eventually dying. Such bills had never even been given a committee hearing in the past. In addition, Mr. Perry asked that lawmakers place the DNA bill on an emergency fast track, and signed it shortly after it was passed. In response to questions about the Legislature's new direction, Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, said it was not relevant to Mr. Bush's own record as governor. 'Those are issues for the current Legislature and the current governor in Texas to address,' he said. 'When the president was governor, his views were very clear.' |
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