USA: Republicans Cheer Texas Death Penalty at GOP Debate

To applause, Perry defends Texas death penalty

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is defending the death penalty in Texas and says he's never struggled with whether any of the inmates executed during his time as governor might have been innocent.

“No sir, I’ve never struggled with that at all.” Rick Perry’s response to the question of whether he’s ever had trouble sleeping at night over the 234 people he’s executed and the chance that anyone of them might be innocent.

When Perry defended capital punishment, he drew strong applause from the scores of people in the audience at the Republican debate Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

As of today, 234 people have been executed in the 10-plus years that Perry has served as governor of Texas. That's the highest number of any American governor.

The audience first applauded when NBC News anchor Brian Williams cited the number of executions in Texas. Perry says he believes that such a response reflects how much Americans support capital punishment for particularly heinous crimes.

Source: Associated Press, September 7, 2011

Gruesome GOP crowd applauds Perry's execution of 284 humans

There wasn't much excitement in last night's GOP debate. Sure, Ron Paul and Rick Perry traded some barbs, but over all it was civil. That is, until moderator Brian Williams brought up Perry's execution record.

What is sickening is that Perry's record setting 284 executions as the governor of Texas actually garnered lively applause from the audience.

Perhaps — at least in my own judgement — some of the loudest applause of the night.

That's right, the crowd became most lively when it was announced that Perry had a hand in killing 284 human beings.

I want to take a moment here to point out that I am currently a registered Republican. But after hearing those applause, I do not want to be associated with that crowd. I never fit in very well, anyway. And I don't fit in with the Democrats, either.

Still, the applause made me want to run as far away from the Republicans as humanly possible.

How can a party that has such blatant and justified mistrust for government intervention; a party that believes (or claims to believe) that the government fails at most things; a party that believes the government isn't even good at helping the poor; actually believe that this same government is perfect enough, is infallible enough, to take the life of another human being? Isn't that a blatant contradiction?

I know, they are convicted criminals. Perry was quick to point that out. But, he is also quick to point out that the government is wrong when it comes to Keynesian economics or intervention in the health care market. If the government which, after all, is made up of imperfect individuals, could be wrong about those things, couldn't it be wrong about others? Isn't it possible that the government got some of those convictions wrong as well? The government, we all know, is not perfect.

As a taxpayer, I do not support the death penalty, especially when used as excessively as Perry did, because I do not want the blood of innocent life on my hands. I would rather that those guilty men rot in jail, or even go free, than risk the chance of murdering — because that is what it would be — one innocent man.

After all, DNA evidence has exonerated 17 people in the United States after they were already sitting on death row, including one innocent man who waited 21 years for the state's sickle to come down on him. Luckily, he wasn't in Perry's state, or he would have been killed before the DNA evidence could exonerate him.

Luckily, those 17 people were on death row during a time when the DNA technology was developed. If they were accused a couple of decades sooner, they would have likely been murdered.

The government is not perfect. It is not anywhere near perfect. At best, it is a necessary evil. At worst, it is counterproductive, abusive, and stagnating — and at it's absolute worst it is murderous.

Source: Op-Ed; Micahel Billy, Digiatal Journal, September 8, 2011

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Tennessee Woman Christa Pike Survives Lethal Injection, Ends Up in Hospital; Governor Halts Executions

Tennessee unable to carry out the execution by lethal injection of Christa Gail Pike Tennessee officials were unable to put Christa Gail Pike to death for a 1995 murder Wednesday, media witnesses said, after the lethal injection was halted for hours as courts considered a last-minute appeal of what would have been the state's 1st execution of a woman in at least 200 years. Pike, 50, had been scheduled for execution for a killing she committed at age 18 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an appeals court ruling that stopped the lethal injection just an hour before it was to start. Officials then attempted to go ahead with it as planned.

Florida | He executed death row prisoners. Then they came back to haunt him

Dunnellon, Florida—Every night, one of the men Ron McAndrew killed would sit at the foot of his bed and stare, blankly, into his tortured soul. He knew they were coming. He’d shift over in his sheets to make room. “They never said anything,” McAndrew recalls, his aged voice straining from the weight of the memory. “They just sat there and looked at me.” But their eyes would talk. They would ask, "How could you do such a thing?’” says McAndrew. “You always claimed to be a good person. And now you’re killing people.”

Tennessee | Governor permits Christa Pike execution: 'I am upholding the sentence'

Gov. Bill Lee does not plan to stop Christa Pike's execution. Pike, 50, is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection 10 a.m. Sept. 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. “After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene," Lee said in a statement released Sept. 28. Pike's attorneys lamented the news.

Tennessee Supreme Court denies stay for death row inmate Christa Pike

(TNND) — As Tennessee prepares for a Sept. 30 execution, the Tennessee Supreme Court has denied death row inmate Christa Gail Pike’s request to stop it. The court rejected Pike’s challenge to the state’s lethal-injection protocol, finding that her thrombocytosis diagnosis, a condition involving elevated blood platelets, did not show the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Florida executes Curtis Beasley

A 77-year-old man convicted of killing a woman with a hammer has become the 16th person executed this year in Florida A 77-year-old Florida man was put to death Tuesday for his conviction in a deadly hammer attack on a woman decades ago, becoming the 16th person executed to date this year in the nation’s busiest death chamber. Curtis Wilkie Beasley was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of 1st-degree murder, robbery, and grand theft auto in the 1995 hammer attack on Carolyn Monfort at her home south of Orlando.

Indiana plans to proceed with execution after botched Tennessee attempt

Indiana prison officials plan to proceed with Jeffrey Weisheit’s Nov. 5 execution after a botched lethal injection in Tennessee prompted that state’s governor to halt executions and order an independent review. The Indiana Department of Correction said Thursday that it remains confident in its procedures despite using the same protocol as Tennessee. Agency officials offered no additional details about the training of those administering lethal injections, the role of medical personnel, or safeguards for execution drugs.

William Thompson Faces Execution in Florida Amid Dementia, Terminal Illness Concerns

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an execution warrant for 74-year-old prisoner William “Bill” Thompson less than 24 hours after he was released from the hospital to the hospice wing of the prison. After his attorneys raised serious concerns about his mental competency and deteriorating physical health, Gov. DeSantis agreed to temporarily stay the execution so Mr. Thompson’s competency can be evaluated on October 1. If he is found competent, his execution remains scheduled for October 13.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

Philippines | President Marcos Grants Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso

President Marcos Confirms Decision to Grant Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed an absolute pardon for Mary Jane Veloso after more than a decade. On Friday (September 25, 2026), the President confirmed the decision during a visit to Guiuan, Eastern Samar. According to him, the pardon was officially signed the previous day, marking a major development in the case.

Texas executes Ker’Sean Ramey

Texas executes man for a triple killing, days after other man convicted in case was put to death A man was executed Wednesday evening in Texas for a triple killing committed during an attempted robbery at a rural home, 1 week after the other man convicted in the case was put to death. Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the 6th person executed this year in Texas, with 3 more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next 2 months.

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