Houston Chronicle By The Editorial Board Dec. 22, 2018
Pride in our state’s exceptional history and traditions related to the Old West may help explain Texans’ clinging to some practices that should be consigned to the state’s past. That includes the death penalty, which continues to be carried out more frequently in Texas than anywhere else in America.
In fact, this year Texas reversed course from the national trend it had been following and executed 13 people; which was more than the 12 executions that occurred in the rest of the United States. Seven people were put to death in Texas in both 2016 and 2017.
After nearly 18 years in prison and numerous appeals, Joseph Garcia was executed Dec. 4 at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. Garcia was one of the “Texas Seven†inmates convicted of murder in the Christmas Eve 2000 slaying of a North Texas police officer during their escape attempt.
With 224 inmates currently on death row in Texas, a 25-year low, more executions appear certain to follow Garcia’s. Less certain is what those executions will accomplish other than removing those executed from society — a goal that could be achieved just as well and less expensively by life sentences.
The cost leading to an execution, including appeals and incarceration, easily exceeds $1 million; compared with less than $700,000 to keep an inmate in prison for 40 years.
Of course, money isn’t the most important reason for Texas to reconsider capital punishment. With DNA testing and other improved evidence collection methods, it is now indisputable that sometimes the wrong person is sentenced to death.
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Texas-shouldn-t-be-proud-that-it-s-become-13482190.php