Personally, I do not support capital punishment. I also do not support lies being told to support an issue because it renders the entire issue to be fraudulent in the eyes of others. I also have an aunt who was murdered, so I know both sides of the issue. If one is going to oppose capital punishment and go about protesting it publicly, it does no good to blame the governor of ANY state for an offender getting put to death. I am only going to use TX as the example here, but other states also have the same limitations because there was a day when the mob was buying off commutations for their family members who were incarcerated for murders.
First off, in the State of Texas, the governor only has the power to issue a ONE TIME 30 day stay per offender on death row. ONE time only! That’s it! He or she can recommend a sentence commutation but CANNOT order it. That has to go through the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. 98% of the time, they do not commute depending upon crime which got the offender sent to death row. This is especially true if there are multiple victims of the same crime. They will not commute a sentence for such offenders.
Many other states have the same power structure in place to avoid the office of governor from becoming corrupted. Now it is time to re-work the strategy about how to change things. It cannot be done by spreading lies and half-truths. I strongly urge Hollywood writers to be careful when trying to make a change in any policy. Do your homework on every case. Look at what the juries saw/heard. Make sure you stick close to the facts of the case even if there is a tendency to get too creative about holes in the story. Make sure the holes are addressed as HOLES!
However in order to even begin to change things, the very corrupt nature of the correctional system when it comes to addressing officer issues must change. One cannot clean up a nation-wide issue until he/she starts with his/her own state. There is a huge disparity between how male officers vs. female officers are treated by their employers about disciplinary issues, and I am quite confident that there is at least a 30 year-long paper trail to back that up–in Texas alone. One will find the male will get a slap on the wrist 9 times out of 10 but the female will lose her job for the same offense. If people want to talk about a “War on Women” there is where they should start.
…to be continued…
The Haunted Pen 