Texas is the state with the highest number of people executed. Many people including citizens and organizations have tried in vain to make Texas government abolish the capital punishment. To understand this issue better, it is necessary to know what is the capital felony, in what cases it is applied and what are the methods of execution. According to the "Tarlton Law Library: Jamail Center for Legal Research," capital felony is defined as, “is one in which an individual "intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual under special circumstances.” For example, “murder of a public safety officer or firefighter in the line of duty, murder during the commission of specified felonies (kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated rape, arson), murder for remuneration, multiple murders, murder during prison escape, murder of a correctional officer, murder of a judge, murder by a state prison inmate who is serving a life sentence for any of five offenses; [or] murder of an individual under six years of age.” Among the methods used for execution are: hanging, electric chair and lethal injection. Is the death penalty a fair punishment? Well, in my opinion, the capital punishment should not exist because it has been questioned that many of the executed are innocent people.
Death penalty in Texas should be abolished to avoid executing innocent people. Few weeks ago, Texas was the center of the national news due to the execution of Cameron Todd Willinfgham. The article called “Trial by Fire,” published by The New Yorker on September 7, 2009, talks about Cameron Todd Willinfgham who was accused of set fire to his home causing the death of his three children (one baby and one toddler). The facts occurred on December 23, 1991 in Corsicana, Texas. The article gives a touching description of the events occurred on that day. It describes how desperate Mr. Willinfgham was trying to save his children, but more importantly, the article describes the process of the original investigation of the fire. The investigation was leaded by a certified arson investigator, Douglas Fogg who had more than 20 years of experience and by a deputy marshal named Manuel Vasquez, who had investigated more than 1200 fires. Base on Fogg and Vasquez's investigation, Cameron Todd Willinfgham, was executed by lethal injection on 2004. As it is explained in the next paragraph, this investigation was found to be wrong. There is no evidence that proves Mr. Willinfgham’s responsibility.
Besides of the investigations that show that Cameron Todd Willinfgham was innocent, also there are governmental actions that make people to question the execution of Mr. Willinfgham. AccTexas Capital Punishmentording to an article called, “Capital punishment: From Arson to Politics” published on October 22, 2009, the Texas governor decision of substitute the commissioner that was investigating the fire was replace. Is that a coincidence or was intentionally? To many people, the governor is trying to cover a mistake. According to the article, “investigators testified that based on the burn patterns in the house, the fire had been arson. Mr Willingham was quickly convicted and sentenced to death.” The article also mentions that Governor Rick Perry was informed by that “the 1991 investigation was based on bad science and that there was no proof of arson.” Moreover than six other investigators got the same conclusion including Craig Beyler, who had been hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC), whttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grannho said that the original investigation concluded, “nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire investigation.” In the article, it is also mentioned that Governor Perry replaced the whole body of commissioners just few days before the hiring which generated suspicion about if Mr. Perry wanted to hide something. To many people, Texas governor wanted to avoid a scandal about the state of Texas executing an innocent.
In conclusion, Texas death penalty should not exist because it has been demonstrated that innocent people can be executed such as Cameron Todd Willinfgham. This case is a clear evidence to abolish the capital punishment. Now, it is late for Mr. Willinfgham, who said before dying, “The only statement I want to make is that I am an innocent man—convicted of a crime I did not commit.”
Death penalty in Texas should be abolished to avoid executing innocent people. Few weeks ago, Texas was the center of the national news due to the execution of Cameron Todd Willinfgham. The article called “Trial by Fire,” published by The New Yorker on September 7, 2009, talks about Cameron Todd Willinfgham who was accused of set fire to his home causing the death of his three children (one baby and one toddler). The facts occurred on December 23, 1991 in Corsicana, Texas. The article gives a touching description of the events occurred on that day. It describes how desperate Mr. Willinfgham was trying to save his children, but more importantly, the article describes the process of the original investigation of the fire. The investigation was leaded by a certified arson investigator, Douglas Fogg who had more than 20 years of experience and by a deputy marshal named Manuel Vasquez, who had investigated more than 1200 fires. Base on Fogg and Vasquez's investigation, Cameron Todd Willinfgham, was executed by lethal injection on 2004. As it is explained in the next paragraph, this investigation was found to be wrong. There is no evidence that proves Mr. Willinfgham’s responsibility.
Besides of the investigations that show that Cameron Todd Willinfgham was innocent, also there are governmental actions that make people to question the execution of Mr. Willinfgham. AccTexas Capital Punishmentording to an article called, “Capital punishment: From Arson to Politics” published on October 22, 2009, the Texas governor decision of substitute the commissioner that was investigating the fire was replace. Is that a coincidence or was intentionally? To many people, the governor is trying to cover a mistake. According to the article, “investigators testified that based on the burn patterns in the house, the fire had been arson. Mr Willingham was quickly convicted and sentenced to death.” The article also mentions that Governor Rick Perry was informed by that “the 1991 investigation was based on bad science and that there was no proof of arson.” Moreover than six other investigators got the same conclusion including Craig Beyler, who had been hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC), whttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grannho said that the original investigation concluded, “nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire investigation.” In the article, it is also mentioned that Governor Perry replaced the whole body of commissioners just few days before the hiring which generated suspicion about if Mr. Perry wanted to hide something. To many people, Texas governor wanted to avoid a scandal about the state of Texas executing an innocent.
In conclusion, Texas death penalty should not exist because it has been demonstrated that innocent people can be executed such as Cameron Todd Willinfgham. This case is a clear evidence to abolish the capital punishment. Now, it is late for Mr. Willinfgham, who said before dying, “The only statement I want to make is that I am an innocent man—convicted of a crime I did not commit.”
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