Texas Governor Rick Perry (pic­tured) has signed the bill that gives juries in death penal­ty cas­es the option of sen­tenc­ing a defen­dant to life with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole. ​“I believe this bill will improve our crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem because it gives jurors a new option to pro­tect the pub­lic with the cer­tain­ty a con­vict­ed killer will nev­er roam our streets again,” Perry said. The new law is not retroac­tive, and will apply only to those sen­tenced after September 1, 2005. (Governor’s Office, Press Release, ​“Governor Perry Signs Life Without Parole Bill,” June 17, 2005). Perry’s action brings the total num­ber of death penal­ty states with the sen­tenc­ing option of life with­out parole to 37. New Mexico is the only death penal­ty state with­out this option. The Texas bill passed in both hous­es by sub­stan­tial majori­ties and was strong­ly sup­port­ed in opin­ion polls. See Life Without Parole.

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