The Call for a Moratorium in Texas
A growing number of groups and individuals in Texas, including many religious groups, are calling on the Legislature to take steps toward a death penalty moratorium. Because of Texas' unique constitutional issues, achieving a moratorium in Texas would likely be at least a two step process. To realize a moratorium in Texas, lawmakers must first designate an individual who is legally able to call a moratorium.
Unlike in many other states, Texas' "post-reconstruction" constitution strictly limites the power of the Governor's authority to intervene in criminal cases. Teh Governor many not commute sentences or grat clemency without the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Most legal experts agree that a Texas governor would probably face a legal challge is he or she were to call a moratorium on executions.
If a moratorium were declared in Texas, all executions would be suspended for a period of time. The period could be as long as specified, or coule be open-ended as in the case of the Illinois moratorium. During the moratorium, Death Row prisoners would remain under the sentence of death while Texas' application of the death penalty is examined.
In the 77th legislature, moratorium proposals were favorably recommended by the House and Senate committees. None of the measures received floor consideration, but legislative observers were surprised at the progress and support the bills received.
During Illinois' moratorium, a panel of legal experts studied Illinois' capital punishment system and recommeded an 85 specific improvements, from police investigative procedures through clemency rules. Even so, the Commission acknowledged that innocent people might still be sentenced to death.
The American Bar Assosciation, which does not have a postion on the death penaly per se, has called for a moratorium on exectuions by jurisdictions with a death penalty. A primary reason for the organization's stance is the lack of standards to ensure competent representation of persons charged with capital crimes.
A moratorium would provide an opportunity to air many concerns, but lawmakers would expect the moratorium review to focus on application of the death penalty. Relgious groups can certainly support reforming the system, but many people of faith see the death penalty as inherently unreformable. These Texans should support a moratorium as an opportunity to look at the ethical issues of capital punishment.
Becuase a moratorium would not necessarily result in the eventual abolition of the death penalty in Texas, some people of faith are reluctant to support a call for a moratorium, wishing instead to cling to a purely abolitionist stance. However, there appears to be virtially no support for abolition in the Texas Legislature, so purists are unlikely to see any legislative gains from their efforts.
