Texas report released on 25th anniversary of lethal injections
Advocacy
On December 7, 1982, Charlie Brooks was the first person executed by the State of Texas under its revised statute – and the first person executed by lethal injection in the US.
The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) chose the 25th anniversary of this tragic event to release its first annual report on the use of capital punishment in Texas.
The report was launched at a press conference in the state capitol in Austin (watch the video).
Speaking at the event, TCADP president Rick Halperin said: “Is chemically poisoning people the very best response to some violent offenders that this state in particular and this nation in general is capable of meeting out?” He added: “We know the answer to this question is no. Then why are we doing it ?”
On this occasion, TCADP highlighted in a press release that while most other states proceeded cautiously with their administration of the death penalty, Texas, which accounts for 62% of US executions in 2007, continued to carry them out at an alarming rate.
The organisation regretted that only a U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear a Kentucky case challenging the constitutionality of the current lethal injection protocol (Baze v. Rees) forced the state to put its death penalty apparatus on hold.
