Will Texas Execute a Man for Being Black?

yahoo ^ | Takepart.com

[Morgana]

Duane Buck is guilty of murder. Of that, there is no question. In 1995 he shot and killed his then-girlfriend as well as her male companion in her Houston, Texas, apartment. Not surprisingly, in execution-prone Texas, Buck was sentenced to the death penalty for his crime.

What seems on the surface to be an open-and-shut murder conviction, however, has become one of the most racially explosive cases of the past several decades—unveiling evidence of systemic racial discrimination in Texas’s criminal justice system.

The problem with Buck’s case is this: During the penalty phase of the trial, Harris County prosecutors benefitted from the testimony of controversial psychologist Walter Quijano.

Asked in open court if “the race factor, black” increased Buck’s risk of reoffending, Quijano answered “yes.” The so-called expert went on to testify that being either African American or Latino “increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons.”

[deport]

From the article and will play or should play I suspect a determinant in the outcome of this process...

snip
....For a while, the state of Texas appeared to agree with Swarns. In 2000, then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn reviewed seven cases where Quijano had presented racially biased expert testimony—including Buck’s–and determined that all were in need of resentencing.

Six of those cases were indeed resentenced. Buck’s was the only one that was not. His execution could be scheduled to take place at any moment, and Texas authorities have shown no signs of backing down and living up to Cornyn’s promise....
end snip

Buck doesn't have scheduled execution date at this time. He had one back in Sept. 2011 and was granted a stay at that time.

[envisio]

I am making a semi-educated guess as to the ethnicity and related agenda of the author of this article.

It is also my conclussion that this author makes money writing about racial relations.

Therefore, racism MUST remain in order for this author to make money.

How does the author make racism remain? Find it EVERYWHERE. If that is not possible, then manufacture it out of thin air.

Just like Jesse and them. RACISM = JOB SRECURITY

[deport]

The Author;

http://www.takepart.com/author/matthew-fleischer

[envisio]

I stand corrected...

[MaxMax]

Race is not the crime here, Murder is. And asking trick questions is not grounds for exoneration.

[Night Hides Not]

This may sound harsh, but I always enjoy driving through Huntsville on our way to Houston or Galveston.

1. Seeing the statue of Sam Houston.

2. Seeing the building that houses The Big Dripper.

[Tau Food]

If it was a mistake to have considered his race a factor in the past, that may have been a mistake. The question now is, should the mistake be repeated by considering his race again?

It's time to stop using race in this case. No more talk about race. Just execute him.

[B4Ranch]

I have no problem with killing him. At least he was convicted of a crime. We kill babies for a whole lot less.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I’m against the death penalty anyway because it is not cost effective. These criminals should just be put someplace and forgotten.

Pleasant fantasy but in real life they kill again. Yes, being behind bars does not somehow magically stop them from killing. All it does is make it harder for their victims to escape them

[Mike Darancette]

Pleasant fantasy but in real life they kill again.

Probably kill someone equally deserving.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Or not.

Remember the delightful bunch that broke out in Texas a few years ago?

The dead tend not to break out and go on rampages.