Posted on 09/08/2011 10:28:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Rick Perry says he doesn't lose sleep over the possibility that his state has executed an innocent man.
At Wednesday night's Republican Presidential debate in California, moderator Brian Williams noted to Perry that his state "has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times."
As Williams tried to continue asking his question, the crowd broke into applause, prompting Williams to pause.
The moderator then continued: "Have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?"
Perry responded, "no, sir."
"I've never struggled with that at all," he said. "The state of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place of which -- when someone commits the most heinous of crimes against our citizens, they get a fair hearing, they go through an appellate process, they go up to the Supreme Court of the United States, if that's required."
Continued Perry: "But in the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is, you will be executed."
In July, the execution of Mexican national Humberto Leal in Texas caused controversy because Leal was not informed he could reach out to the Mexican government for legal help. There was also a lack of DNA evidence in the case.
After Perry answered, Williams followed up by noting the audience reaction to his question, asking Perry: "What do you make of that dynamic that just happened here, the mention of the execution of 234 people drew applause?"
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
“Other states are trying to abolish the death penalty. In my state, we put in an express lane.”
He is crass as they come, but OMG, when he hits, it’s out of the park.
Harry Truman was crass too, and danged if people didn’t like it.
i liked perry’s rebuttal of liberal tripe.
too bad the pubie party doesn’t have the brains to no let msdnc run a debate.
I’d like to know if Governor Perry is losing sleep over the damage done to our country by the permanent political class.
I heard he, Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy and coming to San Antonio next month.
I really should look into going, if I can.
As we say here, poor Brian Williams was in the back of the line when God handed out brains. Perry slapped him down every time and Williams kept coming back for more.
With references to the “Blue Comedy Tour” guys and your remark about Brian Williams, Foxworthy brings up phrases that Southern people use.
The one I think of in regards to Williams is, “Well, bless his heart.”
The observation would come after a Yankee would try to milk a bull.
Translation: “He’s one stupid SOB.”
T
Brian Williams, please present any documentation you have that Texas has executed an innocent under Perry.
RE: please present any documentation you have that Texas has executed an innocent under Perry.
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Here is something presented by a left-wing site : MOTHER JONES:
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/what-rick-perry-wasnt-asked-about-death-penalty
EXCERPT:
When, in 2004, new advances in arson science seemed to prove that death row inmate Cameron Todd Willingham had not, in fact, murdered his three children via arson, Perry denied a stay of execution.
And when the Texas Forensic Science Commission, after taking the unprecedented step of reexamining the case, seemed on the verge of posthumously exonerating Willingham, Perry took the also unprecedented step of replacing three members of the commission. Just like that. Last year, meanwhile, when Texas Monthly helped spring an innocent man, Anthony Graves, from death, Perry pointed to the case as proof that the system works. Which is trueif your definition of a functioning criminal justice system is one in which courts wrongly sentence an innocent man to death, only for an intrepid journalist to swoop in and, after countless hours of work, help secure his release.
Then let Williams bring it.
LOL, good one. We southern women use that a lot when speaking of other women in a fake nice way as in “well, bless her heart, she can’t help she got her daddy’s big nose.”
Perry should have finished his response with this question to Brian Williams: “Have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that all 54 million babies murdered since Roe v. Wade were innocent, did not get a trial, and had no right of appeal?”
Somewhere in Texas right now, a person saved by DNA evidence from death row hears his phone ringing.
LOVED Perry’s response.
I’ve read here at F.R. that Perry, as governor, has very little power to issue stays, like needing the permission of the parole board or something like that. So why should he lose sleep? If that’s correct, at least he didn’t use it to try to weasel out of the question.
Someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
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