The state of Texas since 1976 has executed more people than any other state in the country. With a population of that is 7.6% of the country, Texas has done almost 40% of the executions… 66% of those executions have been people of color… Since 1982 not one single white person has been put to death for murdering an African American. Meanwhile the overwhelming majority of executions have been bestowed upon African Americans who have killed whites.
Over the years a number of people who had strong claims to their innocence have been executed. These include people like; Ruben Cantu, Gary Graham aka Shaka Sankofa and most recently Cameron Todd Willingham. Some of the death penalty cases have been extremely disturbing. In one case, the prosecutor and the judge were sleeping with each other and tried to keep that sordid fact hidden. In another case a judge knowing that lawyers were headed to her office with a last minute appeal, decided to close her office early so that the execution could take place and not be stopped. In still another instance, the defense attorney fell asleep while in court defending his client.
In the case of Todd Willingham, evidence surfaced on numerous occassions including what the Texas Forensic Science Commission discovered, where they concluded that the fire he was accused of starting which resulted in several deaths, was not arson at all and that he may have been put to death wrongly. Complicating this is Governor Rick Perry who not only rebuffed previous findings that stated no arson was caused, but at the 11th hour of the Texas Commission investigation attempted to disband and replace 4 of the members to perhaps get a more favorable ruling. He is accused of impeding justice and people calling for him to be investigated.
Today the state of Texas the case around Reggie Blanton is sparking controversy as many feel he is innocent and was railroaded by the state of Texas. He has been on death row for 10 years and is scheduled to be executed Tuesday Oct 27th 2009 . His mother Anna Blanton and his brother gave impassioned pleas to a large crowd at the 10th annual Abolish the Death Penalty March in Austin, Texas this past weekend. She asked us all to take action and hold Governor Rick Perry and Judge Juanita Vasquez Garner accountable..She talked about how the family had been severely punished to the point of not even being allowed to her not even being allowed to see her son..She spoke about the treatment Reggie has recieved inside prison and how the corrupt system has not allowed her son to present crucial evidence. She asked that people call the Governors office at 512-463-2000
Reggie’s brother an Iraq veteran also spoke and talked about how he served in the military because he believed in things like our justice system. He noted that he is now angry and disillusioned. His speech was heartbreaking..
Here’s some more information of the Raggie Blanton case..
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/837705/
http://www.petitiononline.com/reggie/
Save Reggie Blanton..