Posted on 08/23/2011 11:41:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry brings to the presidential race a law-and-order credential that none of his competitors can match — even if they wanted to.
In his nearly 11 years as chief executive, Perry, now running for the GOP presidential nomination, has overseen more executions than any governor in modern history: 234 and counting. That’s more than the combined total in next two states — Oklahoma and Virginia — since the death penalty was restored 35 years ago.
The number is partly explained by sheer longevity at the helm of a huge state that has mastered the complicated legal maze of carrying out capital punishment.
But Perry has hardly shrunk from the task.
As the 2012 presidential race unfolds, Perry’s record will inevitably become part of the debate in a country where the number of death sentences handed down continues to fall, and some states are renouncing executions. Polls show that capital punishment remains both popular and controversial. And although all of Perry’s main competitors, including President Obama, support the death penalty, Perry’s role stands out.
He vetoed a bill that would have spared the mentally retarded and sharply criticized a Supreme Court ruling that juveniles were not eligible for death. He has found during his tenure only one inmate on Texas’s crowded death row he thought should receive the lesser sentence of life in prison.
And Perry’s role in the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham — who supporters said should have been at least temporarily spared when experts warned that faulty forensic science led to his conviction — is still the subject of investigation in Texas.
Perry has been unapologetic.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Exactly. The State should “Go Green”.
Think of all the electricity Texas could save by using an all natural - organically grown - earth friendly rope to hang the bastids with.
Yep. On our Death Row, you can see the line move.
we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1,
I’m very partial to the Judge Parker method. You get an economic boost from the crowds coming to see the hanging, plus you get the ACLU all worked up into a frenzy with all the hymn singing before the grand finale. How can it get any better than that?
Thanks /s. Some of us are still trying to forget.
Back in 2008 we said that there were two kinds of voters. Those who remembered the Carter misadministration and those who were going to find out what it was like.
Now there’s a use for hemp that I can support!
IF the boneheads at the washington compost would look at the criminal record details of the people who were executed they would have a different view.
The monsters that are executed are permantly rehabilitated.
As Ron White says, “We’re putting in an express lane”.
In Texas, that’s known as a resume enhancer. ...
Tell your lefty friends that in the matter of capital punishment, Perry is “pro-choice” - and these executions are merely the choice of the good people of Texas.
Either that, or simply call these executions “late-term” abortions - as these human lives are no longer wanted - whats the big deal?
/s
Perry sound better all the time.
Don’t MESS WITH TEXAS!
A lot of those executions took place “on Obama’s watch”.
That makes them Obama’s fault, doesn’t it?
(By Washington Post logic, of course it does.)
Texas, historically, has a very high murder rate, even with the death penalty.
Was referring to acutal citizens. I’ll bet you’re including illegal aliens in your analysis...
Good on Mr Perry!
The same as life without parole...
Well, there was that one coyote...
They say this like it’s a bad thing.
From the standpoint of innocent Americans there is no such thing as “life without parole.” How many times have we seen “life without parole” turn into a lesser sentence...? It happens all the time. Judges have a very poor history of modifying a death sentence after it’s been carried out.
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