There were two articles in today’s Chronicle, here and here. Years ago, while in law school, I interned at the DA’s office, thinking I wanted to be a prosecutor, but one thing made me change my mind. That was the attitude of too many prosecutors, that includes the DA where prosecutors get their cue. They felt that they were doing God’s work. I am not particularly religious, but I believe in a creator and certainly think that the Message that Jesus brought is one that we should all live by. But the audacity of my elevating myself to such a high level in God’s plan that I was doing God’s work was beyond any logical ability to convince me that I could work in such a place.
Maybe that attitude of being God’s hand of revenge is no longer part of the mentality of the prosecutors and the DA; only they and God know. But I do know that once a person is put to death, there is no bringing them back to life. So why are the prosecutors in such a rush to have someone executed? Only they know, but their public stance is that they want to bring closure to the families of those killed.
Despite its popularity as a justification for the death penalty, closure has no basis in psychological research, Bandes says, and there is no evidence that executions provide relief to victims’ families. In fact, research has shown that families often feel re-victimized when an execution does not bring about the closure they had hoped for.
“The most telling finding is that a number of family members feel relieved simply because they are finally free of the legal system,” Bandes writes. “As Matthew Shepherd’s parents and the Richard family (victims of the Boston Marathon bombing) understood, much of the pain comes from the capital system itself—lengthy, heart wrenching legal proceedings in which the family would be called to testify and the defendant would remain at center stage for years.”
In other research, a 2012 study comparing the wellbeing of victims’ family members in Texas, which has the death penalty, and Minnesota, which does not, found that the family members in Minnesota had “higher levels of physical, psychological, and behavioral health.” Source
Don’t think I am some bleeding heart liberal; I do believe in the Death Penalty, but only if a family member of the one killed gets to kill the person in the manner of his choosing. Or the family member decides for the state to do it. It would be the victim’s family choice.
How does the Houston Chronicle reporter manipulate his story to go after a judge who happens to be a Democrat?
1) – Well let us start with the headline that they use, Prosecutors accuse Harris County judge of taking too long in deciding death row inmate’s intellectual disability claim.
2) – The following opening in the article;
Harris County prosecutors are accusing a Democratic judge of stalling legal decisions and proceedings that could bring death row inmate Harlem Lewis closer to execution.
A recent motion lays out what prosecutors have said is a pattern of missed deadlines in Judge Natalia Cornelio’s 351st District Court. They said the delays are slowing down proceedings for Lewis and at least one other death row inmate awaiting execution.
3) – They could have started with the following, buried deep inside the story, which many people will never visit.
On top of Lewis’ case, Cornelio wrote that she has overseen 17 trials this year — several of which were for murder cases.
Cornelio, without asking for an extension, told the higher court she plans to wrap up Prevost’s case by the year’s end, records show. Then she can continue combing through hundreds of pages of court transcripts and other records related to Lewis to complete those findings by April, she wrote.
“This court has been diligently working on submitting its findings, conclusions and recommendation” on Prevost’s case, Cornelio wrote.
Elsa Alcala, a former Court of Criminal Appeals judge, reviewed documents related to Lewis’ case and noted that while prosecutors are advocating for swift movement in the cases – they’re doing so in a fashion disrespectful to the judge, she said.
So why is the Chronicle working in tandem with the DA to attack Democrats?