Governor Rick Perry and His Texas Death Machine Are In Big Trouble

When criminals are about to be caught, they try to hide their wrongdoing.  When drug dealers hear the police sirens, they dump the stash in the alley or flush it down the toilet.  When the Nazi officers in the concentration camps heard the allied forces approaching, they destroyed — and in many cases murdered — the evidence.  There’s something about the light of day when it shines its truth upon you. 

And when a Texas state commission started looking into a report that a faulty arson investigation apparently put an innocent man to death, Gov. Rick Perry replaced the commission and called the dead man a monster.

Because that’s what Southern hick town justice is all about.

Cameron Todd Willingham is now a free man, but unfortunately it took death to release him from the confines of his prison bars.  He was executed on February 17, 2004 for the 1991 arson deaths of his three children.  Gov. Perry refused to grant him a 30-day stay, despite questions about his guilt.  According to a bogus forensics report, Willingham’s house was intentionally burned down. 

In 2005, Texas instituted a forensic science commission to investigate mistakes and wrongdoing by forensic scientists.  Baltimore fire expert Craig Beyler, who was hired by this commission to look into the Willingham case, concluded that there were no scientific grounds to characterize the fire as an act of arson.  As The New Yorker reported, Beyler said the approach of the arson investigator in the case denied rational reasoning, was based on “folklore and mysticism rather than science,” and violated “not only the standards of today but even of the time period.”  This, in a state whose fire investigators typically had a high school diploma, and unlike other states, no requisite experience and no specialized training or qualifications. 

So, the Texas commission was reviewing Beyler’s report, and Gov. Perry, running for reelection, eliminated the members of the commission before they could issue their findings.  Pure politics.  After all, we don’t want people going around and talking about the execution of innocent people.

Meanwhile, Judge Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, that state’s highest criminal court, could find herself in deep trouble.  The State Commission on Judicial Conduct initiated impeachment proceedings against Keller for incompetence, violating her duties as a judge and casting public discredit on the court.  For a state such as Texas — with such abysmal standards of integrity in its criminal “justice” system — you must wonder what she did to stand out among the crowd.

Keller refused to keep the court open after 5pm when she knew Michael Richard, a death row inmate, sought a last-minute appeal challenging the constitutionality of his punishment of lethal injection. The inmate was unable to file an appeal and was executed.  Also, Keller rejected a new trial for Roy Criner, a mentally retarded man convicted of rape and murder, even though DNA evidence showed that he did not rape the victim. “We can't give new trials to everyone who establishes, after conviction, that they might be innocent,” Judge Keller said. “We would have no finality in the criminal justice system, and finality is important. When witnesses testify, and when jurors return a verdict, they need to know that they can't come back later and change their minds.”

Keller was unrepentant, and Perry said the execution of Willingham was appropriate based on the "totality of the issues”.  Ex-governor Mark White suggests that Texas might have to do away with the death penalty altogether, given that it does not deter crime and is unfairly administered, with a risk of executing the innocent.  Bad habits are hard to break, and with 423 executions since 1974, including 152 under Gov. George W. Bush, Texas has the most voracious appetite for capital punishment.  But perhaps the Willingham case is what is needed to end the barbaric practice.

My take on this subject is that the death penalty never was intended to be fair, as it is a holdover from Jim Crow lynching.  Capital punishment was an effort to transplant lynchmob justice into the courtroom and make lynching official, if not respectable.  A broken system that was designed to be broken — just clean it up and no one will notice, they thought.  Guilt or innocence is of little concern here, as finality reigns supreme.  And Judge Keller essentially said as much.  It is no accident that the states of the former Confederacy— the states with the most violent racial history, a deep legacy of extrajudicial terror and killings— have been among the most enthusiastic executioners.  Interestingly, those states also seem to have the lowest educational and health standards.  Typically, the inmates on death row are people of color, and poor white folk like Mr. Willingham, those who lack resources and are unable to afford the best justice money can buy.  We will never know how many people have been wrongfully executed.  But Cameron Todd Willingham certainly would not have been the first.  And perhaps we will never know how many opportunistic individuals have built their political careers on the corpses of the executed, whether guilty or innocent.

Rick Perry and Sharon Keller now have ethical clouds hanging over their heads.  They utilized death as a political tool, but now, ironically, the death machine that helped bolster their careers could be their undoing.  Yet, both are appropriate spokespersons for the death penalty.  They have helped perpetuate an inherently unjust, incompetent and capricious system that legalized the lynchmob.

Cross-posted from BlackCommentator.com.

David A. Love is an Editorial Board member of BlackCommentator.com, and a contributor to the Progressive Media Project and theGrio. He is a writer and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His blog is davidalove.com.

 

Follow David A. Love on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidalove

Comments

[John Garner]

What a tragedy. This is one of the reasons I too opposed the death penalty. It's too easy for a pandering politician to just ignore little things like evidence too satisfy his right wing nut base. If someone truely is innocent then at least they can be released and redressed. I can't complain about TX though, I live in PA, where 2 judges sentenced kids to a year in jail for stealing change out of cars. They had a deal with the people running the prison and made millions by shutting down the old county junvinile hall as "unsafe".

[Geoffreys]

Thank you for highlighting this story.

I've lived in Texas for the past 25 years. It often seems nothing moves forward on eliminating the death penalty and overturning wrongful convictions. Then, something seems to change overnight - and a nice political scandal is a nice way to go ... I hope Governor Perry and Judge Keller's problems continue to highlight the horrible problems in our state and that this set of scandals stick around.

Dallas DA Craig Watkins first got our attention a couple years ago with his DNA project. These new scandals can only help to further raise awareness.

[S1m0n]

"But Perry is fiercely defending those findings. He strongly believes Willingham intentionally set his Corsicana home on fire in December 1991 to kill his three daughters.

"Willingham was a monster. This was a guy who murdered his three children, who tried to beat his wife into abortion," he said."

~~

The creepiest thing about this story is Perry's claim that Willingham must be guilty because he pushed his wife to get an abortion.



cited from http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/Perry_Willingham_Was_a_Monster

[tucsoncindy]

I'm glad you addressed this case in Texas. I'm of the belief that the death penality should be
abolished. Your article drove the point home. Thanks David Love..keep us posted.

[David A. Love - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you. Will do.

[zendem1]

"My take on this subject is that the death penalty never was intended to be fair, as it is a holdover from Jim Crow lynching. Capital punishment was an effort to transplant lynchmob justice into the courtroom and make lynching official, if not respectable. A broken system that was designed to be broken — just clean it up and no one will notice, they thought."
Excellent article David. Well done, sir.

[David A. Love - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for reading!

[ECT]

I am glad that I live in Canada where...we have a " No Execution Law. " Many so- called criminals have been proven to be innocent and set free...som­e after too many unfortunate years in jail.

I look forward to the day...when intelligent USA citizens of all States say " No More Executions in ANY STATE."

[Emerald1943]

Hey ECT! I promise...­.I'm not stalking you! :-)

I hope I live to see the day this barbaric practice is ended in this country, as it has been in most civilized nations around the world!

The Willingham case gave me nightmares. Governor Perry should be impeached and that judge should be replaced. How do these people sleep at night??

[ECT]

Emerald

Ha, Ha your first sentence gave me a great chuckle...­.thanks.

I personally believe that eventually USA will abolish that barbaric practise.

The Willingham's case had me in tears. I too hope Gov. Perry gets what should be coming to him....tim­e in jail.

[Smithn]

I spent many summers camping & fishing in Canada during the sixties. We came to refer to Canadians as "the Children of the Gods". My lost love would be glad to know you all didn't change. Stay warm.

[ECT]

Smithn

So happy to know you spent many summers camping & fishing in Canada...t­hanks. We love having our USA friends visit with us. I too have spend many summers in USA visiting, my many American born relatives.

Sorry to hear about your lost love, she must have been a wonderful women.

No staying warm during our harsh winters...­especially since I'm not a snow bunny.

[missblack920]

It's easy to have that opinion initially until you have something horrible happen to your loved one. Dealing with families of victims from DWI fatalities , Sexual Assaults, Murders ETC makes you a little hardened to emphasizing with the assailant. I know that innocent people have been convicted and I believe that is something that MUST be fixed. I guess what I'm saying is there needs to be a fool proof method, but so long as it's man made it will have flaws.

[ECT]

missblack9­20...

Thanks for responding.

I have had something horrible happen to a loved one....it is heartwrenching.

As for becoming hardened..­.that is a mistake because you then cannot remain objective. This is my field so ....I can understand where you are coming from.

I agree as long as it is man made...we will have flaws unfortunatly.

[Sarah Moore]

You're right that it's hard to imagine what it feels like to have a loved one hurt by someone who is either cruel or careless or both. But that is precisely why someone in that position should not be making life and death decisions. They are not objective, and can't possibly be expected to be rational or reasonable about justice.

There is a difference between emphathizing with the assailant and knowing that killing that person isn't really justice. You can hate the criminal, hate what they did, and still know that killing someone is wrong. Especially when it is poorly disguised as acceptable simply by virtue of being legal.

Really, what is the difference between Judge Sharon Kellor making the decision based on her political aspirations, or the killer making his (or her) decision based on whatever it was that motivated them? How can one possibly be considered justice while the other is murder? And that's assuming the person being executed was actually guilty. God help us all when they are innocent.

I would be the last person to ask if the killer of my loved one should be killed in return. Vengeance is not the same thing as justice, as much as sometimes we wish it were.

[Jane]

All you say about capital punishment being an extension of lynching makes perfect sense and is clearly true. I so wish the rest of us had let the Confederacy go. It is the source of so much poison in this country.

[Welib]

This makes me sick. Where is the justice for a man whose was murdered by the state after he lost his children in a fire? Isn't anyone going to have these people charged? GAWD! Texas what's wrong with you?

[David A. Love - Huffpost Blogger]

What amazes me is that Gov. Perry, rather than owning up to his mistakes, calls the man a monster. Innocent dead people obviously can't defend themselves Thanks for reading!

[motoGpifupleez]

Admission of an error, ANY error in the process that sent an innocent man to their death brings down the system. And if there's ONE system they love in Texas, it's their "Death Panels".
Anyone involved in the execution of an innocent defendant should be tried, at the very least, for Manslaughter. If they willfully ignored evidence that proved innocence, Murder.
Texas has the most willfully aggressive "kill 'em" mentality in America. If any state wants to travel that path, they should make ALL efforts to remove doubt concerning guilt, including DNA testing at states expense of EVERY defendant.
You can "boo hoo" about "giving criminals more rights than victims" all you want. If it were YOU on the receiving end of "Texas style" justice as an innocent player, I'll bet you'd be singing a different tune.

[propitiousmoment]

well said.

[David A. Love - Huffpost Blogger]

So true. Many people refuse to challenge unjust institutions because they assume that only "those" people are affected. As the poem goes, "First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist.­.."