Amnesty International USA Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009

Amnesty International Calls Spate of Texas Executions ‘Shameful and Reckless’

Contact: Wende Gozan, 212-633-4247, wgozan@aiusa.org or Brian Evans, 202-544-0200 x496, bevans@aiusa.org

(Washington) -- As Texas prepares to execute 14 men in fewer than three months, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) called on the state to halt this spate of executions, describing it as being out of step with current capital punishment trends.

The first execution, of Curtis Moore, is scheduled to take place tomorrow, while the 14th execution is planned for April 7. The spate of executions brings Texas Governor Rick Perry close to his 200th execution since taking office in 2000. No other U.S. governor in recent history has overseen so many executions during his or her time in office; in fact, no other state has executed more than 102 people since the death penalty resumed in 1977.

“At a time when the country -- including Texas -- is opening its eyes to the problems that plague capital punishment, Governor Perry has chosen to remain blind to its flaws, further tarnishing Texas’ human rights reputation,” said Larry Cox, executive director of AIUSA. “As evidence of capital punishment's flaws mounts, and as its popularity declines, it is time for Governor Perry and other Texas leaders to seriously consider bringing the death penalty in Texas to an end."

Texas courts handed down only 11 death sentences in 2008, the lowest number since 1977 (there were also 11 in 2006). Almost a decade ago, in 1999, that figure reached a staggering 48. Of the 11 handed down last year, not one was in Harris County, a county that by itself is responsible for more than 100 executions.

Since 1977, nine death row inmates have been exonerated in Texas, the third highest number in the nation. It is believed that at least five men who were executed in Texas may actually have been innocent. And Dallas County leads the nation in DNA exonerations, with 19, a distinction that reveals a deeply flawed criminal justice system. Texas justice is riddled with errors, including shoddy representation for the poor and people of color. Of the 14 to be executed in the coming months only one, Larry Ray Swearingen, is white.

“Most Texans know the car is out of control, but Rick Perry won’t put on the brakes,” said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, director of AIUSA’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. “At a time when responsible caution is the rule elsewhere, Texas continues its shameful and reckless lurch in the wrong direction. Texas leaders need to get serious and get out of the business of killing.”

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries who campaign for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

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For more information, please visit www.amnestyusa.org.

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