Requiring good lawyers for the indigent is imperative if Texas is to continue to impose the death penalty. This bill goes a long way toward helping ensure that. The bill has passed the Senate and a House committee, but it is waiting to be scheduled for a vote by the full House. It deserves to be law. Allowing some compassion in the system.
Some states prohibit the execution of people for crimes committed in their youth.
Since 1991, Texas has executed seven people who were under age 18 when they committed capital offenses. Although youths need to be held accountable for their actions, the justice system should not take their lives. A bill by Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, makes this change. A separate bill by Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, would permit a death sentence for a crime committed by a youth only if the youth was deemed sufficiently mature to understand the consequences of his action. This bill risks opening up the death penalty to those even younger and clouds the legal proceedings, given that the trial usually occurs long after the crime.