Texas will put Hank Skinner to death today.
For those who feel comfortable with the death penalty, Hank Skinner’s death may also be the death of their comfort. The issue here is that there is untested DNA which may well show that Skinner isn’t guilty, but the State of Texas will take no chance of upsetting its conviction and sentence. They could have tested it all and, if it went badly for Skinner, still kept his date with death. Instead, they fought it off.
Mark Bennett explains it as confirmation bias. While accurate, it’s too sanitary. It makes it sound clinical when it’s anything but scientific. The officials of Texas, a state inclined to put people to death more so than any other, who believe that the death penalty must be used at all costs, fear that science will create doubts in their legitimacy, so they won’t take the chance of letting science intervene in their execution.
Even for those who believe that the death penalty is a necessary and viable deterrent, the question looms why Texas wouldn’t let the Skinner team have the rest of the evidence tested for DNA. If guilty as sin, then the DNA will show it. That Texas refused, stonewalled, fought and, upon the death of Hank Skinner, will have won, leaves a lingering doubt that no amount of blind faith can ignore.
There is no platitude that covers the execution of Hank Skinner to make us feel good about his execution. It doesn’t matter what the outcome of the DNA tests would be. It only matters that Texas managed to avoid the tests and kill him anyway.
Discover more from Simple Justice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Your headline makes me so very angry…as an advocate/activist for prison reform and the death penalty…I refuse to give up until 5pm CST today. There is still a chance that Texas may grant a stay. Given their track record, I will not hold my breath. How can Texas even proceed with this is beyond me, what about truth & justice? What matters? Life doesnt seem to matter, and the hell with justice- we got a conviction! This is an affront to Justice everywhere….
With their recent changes to their textbooks, it shows that the powerful in Texas don’t believe in any scientific evidence. So their tragic intransigence on the DNA testing is consistent with their Neanderthal beliefs.
In Texas’ defence, DNA is an acid and acids melt things. Therefore there couldn’t be DNA in our bodies or else we would melt.
It’s very possible we’re just not dealing with rational people here. It’s a horrible situation all round and fighting to prevent evidence being tested is always going to look suspicious.
Sir, somehow my normal routine of a cup of mudd & a dose of SJ doesn’t seem so normal today. With the PrisonMovement author being angry & the Deci author relating it all to textbooks, I feel like saying something even if it falls on deaf ears.
Speaking as a ‘Victim of the (Texas) System’ (as I have many times in the past here at SJ) first and foremost, may Mr. Skinner rest in peace (guilty or not we will never know) and thank you for never letting Texas have a pass when it comes to being flat out wrong. Please continue to call out the State when you learn about our justice system’s blatant acts of injustice.
Now, I’d like to close by saying F-U to every single Texas politician and the horses you rode in on. Gutless MO-FOs.
SHAME LIST:
*Shame on the multitudes of DNA only innocence projects for picking & choosing.
*Shame on the wussie citizens of my stinkin state for ignoring & allowing.
*Shame on the voter(s) that vote just to be voting.
*Shame on the goofballs in the Clemency Section that are on a power trip.
*Shame on the seven Board members.
*Shame on the state’s lawyers associations and clicks that have done absolutely nothing but talk shit.
*Shame on the Governor(s) of Texas for making the entire state look like complete idiots.
*Shame on the churches for discriminating when it comes to picking and choosing whom to represent.
*Shame on the Senators and Representatives that only rally behind inmates of a certain race.
*Shame on those that arrested, charged and passed sentence without testing and for not insisting on it.
*Shame on the entire state of Texas.
I hope this leads to everyone calling for a boycott of everything Texas. Thanks.
The hypocrisy of the state sometimes knows no bounds. “Proudly Christian,” except for that part about “thou shalt not kill.” Oh well, 9 of 10 isn’t bad, is it? At the end of day, truth is a casualty of the zeal for power. Any failure of “the system” undermines the power of people like the Harris County DA or the Governor. Illinois has illustrated that many people found guilty and deserving of death are actually innocent. I supposed Texas’ response must be that the juries are smarter than those in other states. It’s too bad that fear of science and a desire for political advancement trump a basic sense of fairness.
I congratulate you for remaining so resolutely optimistic. I hope you didn’t give up at 5pm CST yesterday and share our cynicism for 20 minutes before word of the stay came down.
Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.
I believe in the death penalty, but when there is the possibility of dna evidence that could prove innocence, or confirm guilt, and it is not allowed to be tested, it just seems wrong.
[Ed. Note: It appears that this is just another spam comment, but given that the link goes to an evagelical church (with really bad auto-muzak), I couldn’t resist allowing it just to let people know that even church’s are fighting for Google page rank. Of course, if God is on their side, they wouldn’t need to use spam comments to get onto page 1 of Google, now would they?]