Saturday, March 7, 2009

If A Judge Improperly Speeds Up An Execution, Is That More Than Misconduct?

Readers of this blog know I am a death penalty opponent.

My views were influenced by months of national reporting for a series on capital punishment I wrote for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 1995, including witnessing an execution in Texas - - the first of many authorized by the then-new Texas Governor, George W. Bush.

The cause of death on an executed Texas prisoner's death certificate is listed as homicide, by the way.

So does the revelation that a top Texas judge who willfully ignored a prisoner's last-minute appeal mean she should be charged with more than judicial misconduct?

Like homicide, or a count of party to a crime?

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