Capital Punishment in Texas - Reasons For The High Number of Executions

Reasons For The High Number of Executions

There are a variety of proposed legal and cultural explanations as to why Texas has more executions than any other state.

• One major reason is due to population size – Texas has the second-largest population of any state, trailing only California. However, while California's death row is larger than Texas'; since 1976 (when Gregg v. Georgia once again permitted the imposition of the death penalty) Texas has executed over 480 inmates, while California has executed only 13 and none since January 17, 2006.
• Another reason is due to Texas' political climate, which generally leans conservative and in favor of capital punishment. Since 1994, all nine seats on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest criminal court in Texas, which on direct appeal reviews all death penalty cases) have been held by the Republican Party (in Texas, the judges are elected except to fill vacant terms). In addition, the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (which can recommend, but not order, commutation of a sentence to the Governor) are gubernatorial appointees, and the Republican Party has held the Governor's office since 1998.
• Another reason is due to the federal appellate structure – federal appeals from Texas are made to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Michael Sharlot, dean of the University of Texas at Austin Law School, found the Fifth Circuit to be a "much more conservative circuit" than the Ninth Circuit to which federal appeals from California are made. According to him, the Fifth is "more deferential to the popular will" that is strongly pro-death penalty and creates few legal obstacles to execution within its jurisdiction.

Texas may have a much lower rate of death sentencing than other states, according to a study by Cornell University faculty members. The study showed that states with more objective laws defining a death penalty offense (such as Texas; as shown in the Capital Offenses section above Texas has defined specific, objective circumstances which constitute a capital murder offense) sentenced defendants to death less (about 1.9 percent in 1977-99) than states whose laws were more subjective in defining a death penalty offense (which assigned it about 2.7 percent during that period).