It’s been an eventful week for Texas death penalty cases. On Tuesday, June 20, Kimberly McCarthy’s attorney filed an appeal to the Dallas trial court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in an attempt to stop her execution, which is scheduled to occur next Wednesday, June 26. If it proceeds, it will be the […]
Duane Buck
Must-see powerful new video: “A Broken Promise in Texas: Race, the Death Penalty and the Duane Buck Case”
Racial bias has no place in the administration of justice – tell that to Harris County, Texas. Duane Buck, sentenced to death in Harris County in 1997, may soon be at risk of execution despite the fact that his death sentence is the clear product of racial discrimination. A powerful new video — narrated by former Texas […]
May 2013 Alert: Texas House Committee Considers Repeal of the Death Penalty, the Spring Newsletter, and Events Around Texas
We are grateful to everyone who contacted the members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee last month to urge hearings on House Bills 1703, 2458, and 2614, and to the intrepid members of the TCADP Lobby Corps who stayed with us at the Capitol until midnight on Monday. Please make one more call (or email) to the Committee members this week to thank them for conducting fair and open hearings on HB 1703 and HB 2458 and urge their support for repealing the death penalty in Texas.
Texas House Committee Considers Racial Justice Act
On April 16, 2013, the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee considered House Bill 2458, which seeks to prohibit the imposition of a death sentence or execution under any judgment that was sought or obtained on the basis of race. TCADP Executive Director Kristin Houlé testified in support of the bill in front of the committee, as […]
April 2013 Alert: 5 Scheduled Executions, Legislative Session Mid-Point, Conference Videos and New Voices on the Death Penalty
TCADP’s April 2013 Alert includes an update on the Texas legislative session, scheduled executions, and the case of Duane Buck; it also features new voices on the death penalty, including a former District Attorney of Montague County and Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty.
More than 100 Prominent Leaders Call for New Sentencing Hearing for Duane Buck
Today, over 100 prominent individuals from Texas and throughout the country, including civil rights leaders, elected officials, former prosecutors and judges, past and present ABA presidents, and clergy representing seven faith denominations, released a statement urging the Harris County District Attorney to provide a new, fair sentencing hearing for Texas death row inmate Duane Buck. […]
New Study Finds Significant Racial Bias in Harris County’s Death Penalty System
New research released today in an appeal filed by Texas death row inmate Duane Buck shows that at the time of Mr. Buck’s case, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office was over three times more likely to seek the death penalty against African American defendants like Mr. Buck. The research also shows that Harris County juries were […]
TCADP 2011 Annual Report: Texas Carries Out Fewest Executions Since 1996
Today, December 15, 2011, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) released its annual report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2011: The Year in Review. According to the report, executions in Texas dropped to the lowest number since 1996 and death sentences remained at a historic low level this year.