The case of Duane Buck has cast a national spotlight on race and the Texas death penalty for the past month, for good reason: his death sentence is the unconstitutional product of racial discrimination. He was condemned to death after his own trial attorneys inexplicably introduced testimony from a psychologist who stated that Mr. Buck was more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is Black. His case, Buck v. Stephens, is now on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Category: racial bias
Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of Texas death sentenced prisoner, Duane Buck. Mr. Buck is seeking a new, fair sentencing hearing, free of racial bias. At his capital sentencing, Mr. Buck’s trial attorneys presented an expert who testified that Mr. Buck would be more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is Black.
Ray Jasper and Anthony Doyle, both African American, are scheduled to be executed in the next two weeks for murders they committed as 18-year-old youths. Their cases exemplify the arbitrariness of the death penalty, as the U.S. Supreme Court has banned this punishment for juvenile offenders under the age of 18. Ray Jasper is scheduled […]
Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Duane Buck’s appeal for a new, fair sentencing hearing free from racial bias. With today’s decision, Texas has once again reneged on the clear and unequivocal promise made by former Texas Attorney General (now U.S. Senator) John Cornyn that Mr. Buck would not face execution based on […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
*Update* State District Judge Larry Mitchell has ordered a modification of Kimberly McCarthy’s execution date to June 26, 2013. This comes after Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins agreed with a motion by McCarthy’s attorney to move the date based on pending legislation that may limit the application of the death penalty.