Perry speaks out on Supreme Court's stay of Texas death row case

Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry

/ Charlie Neibergall

ATLANTIC, Iowa -- Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, who has overseen more executions than any other governor in history , said Friday he will "respect" the Supreme Court decision to stay one of them.

Speaking to reporters at a campaign event here, the Texas governor said lawyers for the state will examine the case of Duane Buck, a convicted double murderer whose execution was halted by the Supreme Court Thursday hours before he was to receive a lethal injection. Buck's lawyers argued that the 48-year-old African American was the victim of racial prejudice because a psychologist told the jury deciding his sentence that black criminals are more likely to commit violence in the future.

"Justice will be served," Perry said, whether or not Buck ultimately is executed. "Whether or not he is guilty is not the question," said Perry. "Whether or not the jury process was tainted will be decided by the Supreme Court and we will respect that." The court said it will consider whether to hear an appeal in Buck's case.

In issuing the stay -- unusual in death penalty cases where the guilt of the convict is not in question -- the Supreme Court took a decision about Buck's fate out of Perry's hands. Buck's lawyers had also asked the governor to issue a reprieve.

Since Perry took over the governor's office 11 years ago, 234 convicts have been executed by the state of Texas. When Brian Williams, moderator of Monday's Republican presidential debate, cited that record, it drew applause from tea party supporters in the audience.

In his appearance here, as in the debate, he defended his state's use of the death penalty.

"In the state of Texas, we believe in our form of justice," he said.

[praetorian92]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_polls_for_the_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_2012

All you need to know about rick perry. He is a nobody. Next story.

[starman5409]

Is Texas part of the United States??? What's good for the rest of the country should be observed in Texas too. Apparently Texans aren't too happy with a lot of Perry's decisions, that is why we should elect him president so he can throw America into the Texan dark ages of the last 11 years.

How about that utilities fund that was supposed to help low income family's pay their utility bills??? If he's such a great governor, how come Texas has over 27 billion deficit since his installment.

If he can't even run his state "proper" how can we expect him to run the country???

[MurdochSucks]

"Since Perry took over the governor's office 11 years ago, 234 convicts have been executed by the state of Texas. When Brian Williams, moderator of Monday's Republican presidential debate, cited that record, it drew applause from tea party supporters in the audience."


Drew applause from tea party supporters? If that doesn't give you insight into the bloodthirsty, selfish nature of the tea party mindset, I don't know what will. Executioner Perry has killed 234 people in 11 years. That is 1 person every 17.2 days, or 1 person every 412 hours. I'm sure God loves that he is doing his work on Earth, as judge and executioner.

[slatep]

Perry's willingness to respect the decision of the Supreme Court really makes him so special I just have to vote for him.

NOT.!!!!!

[lucifersshadow]

Perry dismisses the science behind global warming, dispite the fact that a vast majority of scientists support it. He mistrusts science at every turn, EXCEPT when it comes to one of the biggest decisions one can make, that regarding DNA evidence against someone who could receive the death penalty. Does anyone else see a problem with that? He has succeeded in executing more people in the state of Texas than Bush. Here is a guy who has gone as far as to describe himself and Bush as "philosophical soulmates".

In 2010, Texas ranked last in the percentage of adults with high school diplomas.

[formrusmcsgt]

"In the state of Texas, we believe in our form of justice," he said.
---
Which is "execute them whether they are guilty or not".

Look at this example:

Innocent Texas death-row inmate Anthony Graves was released earlier this week from the Burleson County Jail. Mr. Graves was wrongly imprisoned for 18 years, most of it on death row, due to the horrendous behavior of dishonest and unethical prosecutors.

http://www.shermancriminallawyer.com/2010/10/innocent-texas-death-row-inmat.html

[formrusmcsgt]

And here's a list of 140 other innocents sentenced to death in this country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_exonerated_death_row_inmates