Capital Punishment

One of the top arguments for the continued use of Capital Punishment is, they say it is a crime deterrent. Even this pro-death argument is losing it's teeth. Texas is the capital punishment leader in the USA, if not the world!

Now if capital punishment is such a deterrent, why has Houston had such a surge in violent crime in 2001? Murders and rapes alone went up by an amazing 16%!! Overall crime went up 8%!! Houston's hike in crime, by far, out paces the national average. It has been obvious in the past few years that all the pro death arguments fail to justify the barbaric use of capital punishment.

As I read the newspapers, I've realized that capital punishment is nothing more than a political tool. It can make or break a political career. A fine example would be President George W. Bush. In the four years he was Governor of Texas, he had NO PROBLEMS with signing death warrants to execute the mentally retarded. Why? Because that is what it takes to be the Governor of Texas. In fact, in Bush's last year as Governor of Texas, he allowed the execution of two mentally retarded prisoners. Oliver Cruz and John Satterwhite.

Rick Perry, present day Governor of Texas, vetoed a bill last years to stop the executions of the mentally retarded. Now last year, 2001, Bush said, and this is a quote, "We should NEVER execute anybody who is mentally retarded."

So President Bush is a perfect example of a politician using capital punishment as a mere "tool" to advance his political career. He is WILLING TO KILL, OR NOT KILL to enhance his political standing. Yes, he murders mentally retarded prisoners one year and states it is not right to execute the mentally retarded the next year! He does whatever is "politically correct" at the moment.

To kill a person for political gain is wrong. I believe we can all agree on that. To many questionables in this Texas Killing Machine to deny that Innocent life has been taken and will be taken again.

Keeping the struggle alive,

Richard M. Cartwright