Texas offers religious education to the condemned but rarely values religious growth when considering clemency requests.
Every day at 6 a.m., Will Speer’s testimony is broadcast across the airwaves on the Polunsky Unit’s radio station. He talks to his fellow prisoners about redemption, salvation, and faith. Speer was convicted and sent to prison for the murder of his friend’s father when he was 16 years old. While incarcerated at the Telford Unit, he killed fellow prisoner Gary Dickerson in an attempt to gain membership to a prison gang. He was sentenced to death.
He graduated on June 7 and was tapped to become the first inmate coordinator of the program. His appointment was the popular choice among prison administration, as well as the men he would oversee in the role. He received his execution date just a month after being named coordinator. Clemency processes have always existed at the federal and state level. Granting clemency can look like a pardon, which undoes a criminal conviction, or a commutation, which lessens a sentence. According to Michael Heise, author of the 2003 report on the death penalty “Mercy by the Numbers,” “the constitutional Framers viewed pardons as a public act of office rather than a private act of grace.”
Texas’ clemency process has a blotchy permanent record. In 1999, Amnesty International declared that, because of issues of secrecy and a lack of training of board members, “Texas has turned the final safeguard of executive clemency into nothing more than an empty gesture.”referred to Karla Faye Tucker as “the Pickax Killer turned born-again Christian.
“In clemency work, if we have a good case, often we’re talking about someone who’s changed their life in some way,” he told the. “Because of the nature of faith, often that does have to do with a religion they’ve either adopted or reembraced.” to explore the legal processes behind Jesus’ crucifixion in the Bible. In doing so, he hoped to speak directly to devout Christians who support the death penalty, despite there being “a wrongful conviction right there at the center” of the religion.
In 2003, Whitaker was involved in a plot to kill his mother, father, and 19-year-old brother for inheritance money. Then 23, he conspired with his roommate, Chris Brashear, who ambushed the family at their home one night. Brashear shot and killed Whitaker’s mother and brother, but his father, Kent Whitaker, survived the attack.
He said because the pardons board has read all about the crime that landed the person on death row, they’re “a tough audience.” “The only way to reach them is an upfront, honest, verifiable appeal to mercy.”
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jordan on path to another defeat for speaker's gavelThe House is expected to hold another vote for speaker Wednesday morning, as business remains frozen due to a leadership vacuum.
Read more »
Florida Democrat Mucarsel-Powell gets clearer path to challenge US Sen. Rick Scott in 2024Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s path to the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has become a bit clearer. Her main primary opponent dropped out of the race on Wednesday to seek a U.S. House seat.
Read more »
Florida Democrat Mucarsel-Powell gets clearer path to challenge US Sen. Rick Scott in 2024Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s path to the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has become a bit clearer
Read more »
Journey Brown's unlikely path from Penn State football star to NASCAR pit crew memberThe 2019 Cotton Bowl Offensive MVP will be deeply invested in Saturday's Penn State-Ohio State showdown as he preps for his latest role in sports.
Read more »
Florida Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell gets clearer path to challenge U.S. Sen. Rick Scott in 2024Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell's path to the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida became clearer Wednesday when her main primary opponent dropped out of the race to seek a U.S. House seat.
Read more »