The chamber has passed legislation in recent sessions eliminating the death penalty in cases of severe mental illness, but hardline conservatives are pushing back. Texas txlege deathpenalty HumanRights
, D-Dallas, tentatively passed Wednesday on an 84-61 vote. But a final vote scheduled for Thursday was postponed until next week without a reason given on the floor.
In recent months, high-profile cases of schizophrenic prisoners facing execution have focused renewed attention on Texas’ long-standing habit of sentencing people with mental illnesses to death. U.S. Supreme Court precedent prohibits states from executing people who don’t have a “rational understanding” of why the state plans to kill them, but it does not specifically ban killing those with severe mental illness, as it does those with intellectual disabilities. And as is documented in nearly 30 years of attempting to execute Panetti, the state of Texas still seeks to carry out death sentences of the severely mentally ill.
If jurors decide a defendant qualifies as severely mentally ill, and the person is convicted of capital murder, the judge would impose an automatic sentence of life without parole. Otherwise, a separate sentencing hearing would be held to decide on either a sentence of life or death, as is typical in Texas death penalty trials.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Texas Eats: Loaded Mexican Hot Dogs, Bordertown Birria, and Texas BBQThis week on Texas Eats, David Elder takes us to Barbecue Station, a classic Texas BBQ joint near the airport in San Antonio.
Weiterlesen »
TEXAS: THE ISSUE IS House Foreign Affairs Chaiman Michael McCaul on China, Border, Ukraine and AfghanistanTexas Congressman and Chairman Michael McCaul shared his thoughts on the Biden administration's pulling out of Afghanistan, as well as his take on immigration, and the continued aid and support to Ukraine in this edition of Texas: The Issue Is.
Weiterlesen »
Editorial: Bishop Evans Act must be retroactiveThe “Bishop Evans Act” will provide death benefits for Texas Guard troops who die while on state orders, but it wouldn’t apply to loved ones of Bishop Evans.
Weiterlesen »
Missing Texas boy lived in filthy shed with ‘death altar’: reportA missing Texas boy who was the subject of an Amber Alert nearly a week ago had been living in a filthy shack that included an altar to death, according to media reports.
Weiterlesen »
Texas Supreme Court rules in Houston, firefighters' battle over pay, benefits, bargaining rightsThe Texas Supreme Court has issued a major ruling in the six-year legal battle between the City of Houston and its firefighters over pay, benefits and bargaining rights.
Weiterlesen »
Texas man sentenced to prison for 45-minute crime spree that involved bank robbery, restaurant slayingA Corpus Christi man who admitted to robbing a bank, killing a coworker at a P.F. Chang’s restaurant and shooting another person during a crime spree has been sentenced to prison.
Weiterlesen »