In an his­toric move to ensure that Texas fair­ly applies the death penal­ty and that defen­dants are afford­ed prop­er legal pro­tec­tions to prove their inno­cence, Texas Governor Rick Perry appoint­ed a nine-mem­ber spe­cial coun­cil with sweep­ing pow­ers to review an array of legal issues rang­ing from police inves­ti­ga­tions to court appeals. The appoint­ment of the pan­el is the first acton of its kind by a Texas gov­er­nor in decades.

​“I have great con­fi­dence in our jus­tice sys­tem, but no sys­tem is per­fect, and we must not be afraid of ask­ing the ques­tions that will lead to cre­at­ing a more per­fect sys­tem of jus­tice for all the peo­ple of Texas,” Gov. Perry said after issu­ing the Executive Order to cre­ate the pan­el. He not­ed that among the fac­tors lead­ing to the pan­el’s cre­ation were evi­dence test­ing mis­takes at the Houston crime lab that affect­ed thou­sands of crim­i­nal cas­es, court rul­ings bar­ring the exe­cu­tion of juve­nile offend­ers and those with men­tal retar­da­tion, and ques­tions about whether Texas is prop­er­ly afford­ing full legal rights to for­eign cit­i­zens impris­oned in the state. 

The pan­el will include judges, law­mak­ers, vic­tims’ advo­cates, defense attor­neys, and legal schol­ars. It will not seek pub­lic com­ment, but its meet­ings will be open to the pub­lic. Gov. Perry stat­ed that the mem­bers will be giv­en the lee­way to rec­om­mend what­ev­er changes in the jus­tice sys­tem may be nec­es­sary. The pan­el’s rec­om­men­da­tions will be sent to the gov­er­nor by January 2006, before the start of the next leg­isla­tive ses­sion.

​“I believe it is an excel­lent start toward get­ting to the bot­tom of mis­car­riages of jus­tice. I look for­ward to talk­ing and work­ing with Governor Perry … to ensure that Texans have a crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem that pro­vides them with the pro­tec­tion that they deserve and is instilled with the fair­ness and integri­ty that jus­tice demands,” said Sen. Rodney Ellis.

(Austin American-Statesman, March 15, 2005). See Innocence.

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