EU Urges Texas Governor To Halt Executions

(AP)  The European Union on Tuesday urged the governor of Texas to halt executions in the United States' busiest death penalty state.

In an unusual direct appeal, the EU said Governor Rick Perry should introduce a moratorium on the death penalty and stop the impending 400th execution since Texas resumed capital punishment in 1982.

The execution of Johnny Ray Conner by lethal injection for the shooting death of a Houston grocery store owner during an attempted holdup in 1998 is scheduled for this week.

"The European Union notes with great regret the upcoming execution in the State of Texas," the bloc said in a statement.

The death penalty is banned in the 27-nation EU, which also fights for its global abolition.

"The irreversibility of the punishment means that miscarriages of justice — which are inevitable in all legal systems — cannot be redressed," the EU said.

Meanwhile, China has announced that it will execute people who sabotage the nation's electricity supply, reversing recent steps to rein in widespread use of the death penalty.

Under a new legal interpretation by the Supreme People's Court, death can be ordered in extremely serious cases where people are killed or injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Executions can also be ordered when direct economic losses exceed 1 million yuan ($131,500), when power is cut for six hours or longer, affecting industrial production or more than 10,000 households, or where there are "other serious consequences that endangered public security," Xinhua said.

Xinhua and the court's official newspaper gave no explanation as to what prompted the legal interpretation or how serious a problem the sabotage of power supplies is in China.

Last month, the court said it would crack down on the uneven application of the death penalty in different regions.

Chinese courts are believed to order about 80 percent of the world's court-ordered executions — at least 1,770 people in 2005 and possibly many more.

[actornaught]

The whole legal process of putting someone to death costs more than simply warehousing them for life. Almost a minor point.

Two studies independantly found that the US has put to death at least 45 innocent people, i believe that was for the 20th century. On this one, I have to ask, how many innocent people is too many? Personally, i think one is too many.

I''m certain that some people need to die for what they''ve done, certainly more than do get executed.

But...

The process is too flawed, and it would make us more moral as a society if we just stopped it.

[toolmangler-2009]

Maybe Texas should halt all executions if EU agrees to let the poor innocents be paroled to the EU, then they can judge for themselves if the former inmates should be put to death..

[gunnerv1]

antilynch- Not your thoughts or postings, just don''t send your Eurotrash here, or your form of Gov''t, we hate taking out the garbage. I don''t mind your posting, we need something to laugh at.

[gunnerv1]

antilynch- Not your thoughts or postings, just don''t send your Eurotrash here, or your form of Gov''t, we hate taking out the garbage. I don''t mind your posting, we need something to laugh at.

[rushman71]

What kind of makes me sick is watching people claiming guilty of the crimes get less punishment and no death sentence, than the people claiming innocent but found guilty!!! What a crock of shiit!!!

[rushman71]

xzavierbrown: I agree with you. With guys in jail who''ve raped and killed innocent people with no remorse living an unknown amount of years until they "naturally" die is like letting them off the hook!!! I don''t even understand why a person sentenced to death has to live a certain number of years in jail before they are killed for what they have done. If a person is sentenced to death, then DO IT!!! HANG ''EM!!! FRY ''EM!!! SHOOT ''EM!!! Whatever makes ya happy!!! Just do it!!! Our jail cells are all ready outnumbered as it is!!!

[zhynaryll]

The EU needs to mind its own business and let the States alone. Wasn''t that what we fought for back in the 1770''s??? Hmmmm - sounds like they also never heard of the Monroe Doctrine, either. Stay out of our Hemisphere, our business, and whatever else it is they don''t like about us. Go talk to the Chinese and Iranians if they want to gripe about executions. Don''t mess with Texas!!

[xzavierbrown]

am a Texan & the EU is right as can be!

I hate our death penalty.
I think rotting in a prison and having to think about their life until they die is a much worse punishment. The death penalty is the easy way out.

"The irreversibility of the punishment means that miscarriages of justice %u2014 which are inevitable in all legal systems %u2014 cannot be redressed."




Posted by jh6379 at 09:41 AM : Aug 22, 2007
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Letting death row inmates rott in jail is a very expensive preposition. our jails are already overwhelmed. How about this..since you are europe has a problem with this..why dont you pay extra taxes to pay for these people so you can sleep better at night OR we ship them all to europe??

[mike71067]

Besides, don''''t consider them executions, consider them to be late-tem abortions.
That should ease your liberal concious''''s
-Posted by processor2 at 10:27 AM : Aug 22, 2007

That was the best comment I''ve seen all day. Granted, it''s only 10:40am. But still, it highlights the liberals HUGE logic problem.

[processor2]

Executions DO stop repeat offenders.

Besides, don''t consider them executions, consider them to be late-tem abortions.

That should ease your liberal concious''s

..