US News
Texas executes 200th prisoner since 2000
Jun 3, 2009, 1:33 GMT
Washington - Texas executed its 200th prisoner in nearly nine years Tuesday night amidst protests organized across Texas and elsewhere in the world, organizers said.
The convicted killer, Terry Lee Hankins, was put to death for the 2001 slaying of his two stepchildren. He also took responsibility for killing three other people.
Hankins was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville, Texas, prison.
Protestors highlighted that it was the 200th execution since Republican Governor Rick Perry took office in 2000. The number represents nearly half of the 439 executions carried out in Texas since 1982, and 35 per cent of all US executions since 2000.
Gloria Rubac, spokesman for the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, told dpa in a telephone interview that the executions represented a 'continuation of lynching ... and racism' from the old South, since prisoners put to death are disproportionately African American.
She had joined 60 protestors in Houston at the 'old hanging tree' outside the county jail, a 400-year-old oak tree that has seen its share of hangings, mostly lynchings.
Other protests were to be held in Huntsville, Paris, Montreal, Brussels and Leipzig, Germany.
Rubac said that Texas' executions are out of line not only with the rest of the world, but also with 'any other state in this country.'
'When I travelled to Europe and said I was from Texas, that's what people asked me about. It's almost embarassing,' she said.
'It sends a bad message because killing is not the answer to killing,' she said. 'It also sends the message to make people wonder what in the hell is going on in Texas.'
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Older Talkback
page: 1
ever went to Texass, they'd execute him for the just cause of being too stupid to live.
Adios shitbag
Let's see...he shot and killed two little kids and their mother. Which went last and had to watch the other two get shot??? Yeah, this was after he tried to kill another woman by bashing her in the head with a baton. Yeah, this was after he shot and killed his father which they found mummified. And, after he bashed in the head and killed his mentally challenged half-sister who was pregnant for the second time by his raping of her, then left her body in the garage to rot while living with the above mentioned surviving victim he smashed in the head.
Yeah, Texas is mean to give him a fair trail, free lawyers, free room and board, free medical, lots of appeals, chance to make peace with God and then give him a shot to go to sleep and die without the pain he inficted on many lives.... I guess we should have paid to house and feed him and pay for all his medical bills in prison forever,and just hope he didn't bash in the head of a fellow inmate, guard, nurse, clergy, etc...
all of these comments coming from the same bible thumpers that are pro-life? Figures the idiots like to congregate and pat each on the ass, to justify their inane positions.
sure looks like it, except for the one about SP and Texass.
and pass the lethal needle.
was sarcasm, you bible humping morons, not an instruction from your god.
Texas is just like Saudi Arabia, China and other outlaw states who kill to show that killing is wrong. And as far as Perry is concerned... may God show mercy for his 200 murders.
dreaming or did we just read a comment from the indisputably neutral SP4 who only yesterday posted the murder of doctor Tiller was not even worth mentioning yet feels compelled to share with us all of his deep joy over such trifle as a 200th execution in Texas.Boy was he fast in contraditing his own writing from that moment ...Will he now call out for the execution of that murderer Scott Roeder who incidentally was a domestic terrorist belonging to the freemen .Shouldn't he be waterboarded ?That is the inescapable logic behind the neocon's constant paranoia about terrorists ? I say give those folks a cookie of their own dough.Eventually Scott Roeder will admit that he received his instructions from Sarah Palin herself,waterboarding will make sure of that ,what say you SP4 ?Good idea or not ?
I don't quite see what all the fuss is about. This man was a multiple murderer. Guilty beyond any doubt. Good riddance to bad rubbish. What would the opinions of the more sanctimonious commentators have been were it their nearest and dearest who had been killed by him? Oh, and I'm no bible thumper. Not even Christian for that matter.
...because, unlike the libnazi relativist circular thinkers here, I know the difference between a lawful execution, and a murder. If you do not, go inform yourself.
Killing, depending on the situation, is not wrong. The same libnazis who admonished Bush for murdering civilians are now silent when a handful of civilians get off'ed in Afghanistan, with the blessing of the new commander in chief. I contend that it is those libnazis who have the contradiction to deal with. I suspect they will have another rationalization like Waco, eh?
The State of Texas???
They do not.
In the dictionary under hypocrite there is a picture of SP4. If you spend any time here you will see this on a constant basis. My favorite is when he says, 'that doesn't make me wrong', when in fact he is wrong 95% of the time. His arguments are full of not only holes, but the worst spelling you have ever seen---1st grade level work at best. Someone here has named him 'idiots stick', how appropriate.
...a far more likely scenario is that you cannot muster a cogent argument so you once again (and again...and again) retreat into insults and vague comments. This is the heart of the libnazi empty shirted morality i.e no morality at all.
...really, yes you idiot. Your comments were nothing to argue, just your inane rants. Put some fact and/or figures in your posts and I will argue your points. Put some proof/facts in your stupid comments. Arguing opinions do not require anything but comments, if you had i ounce of brains you would know that. Figures, facts, some sort of proof please.
from SP4...ain't going to happen. He gets all his comments from someone else, like Rush, Savage, Fix News. Those people do not deal in facts, just hate and discontent. You will however get a hefty bag full of lies.
If anybody is silent when a handful of civilians get offed in Afghanistan as you so hypocritically say,it would be YOU ,ourself not us.I regret every loss of human life,none is considered expendable ,certainly not civilians .
You are the worst of the GOP hypocrites as you have double standards for everything .The only reason why you are tolerated is to serve as a perfect example of what the GOP stands for .Your political stance is resumed in blind belief of whatever the GOP wants you to believe .Do you still maintain Saddam had WMD ,do you still think he had any connection with Al Quaida,two notorious affirmations you have disseminated here .
Read this for a change and prepare to be covered with ridicule
www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/when-will-dick-cheneys-to_b_2 10627.html
SP4,fascinating man,are there many like him,do they display tool making skills already ?
Abe, I don't think they've evolved that far yet, and SP4 probably does not subscribe to Darwinian theory anyway. He and his democrap mirror image, who I call SPthree-and-a-half (the numbers refer to their apparent mental ages) have not even reached the 'banging the rocks together' stage yet. Just the 'banging their heads together' one, which is appropriate in a way, that being all they're fit for.
what took so damn long????
...here is Slappy Jones who killed these kids, with the liberal culture of grievence running to his aid, while just a few years ago, two Klansmen dragged a black man to dismemberment and death, and nary a peep from the left when they off'ed them. No Jamie Fox pleading, no Susan Sarandon weeping for them, no denizens of the left's kneejerk libnazi elite running to their aid, as if they were the same as Tookiw Williams. Nope, it was pure silence, more so than at Waco. So rave on, becuase when we need real killers, the libnazi elite can always muster the gumption the likes of which even makes Cheney cringe. Makes me nostalgic for when Clinton had the air force bombing bridges in eastern europe with people on them...
In Texas we have the death penalty, and we use. If you come to Texas and you kill somebody, we will kill you back that's our policy. Every other state is trying to do away with the death penalty while mine is putting in an express lane.
And Josie, Read the Texas Death Row statement concerning the offense. She died in her sleep, not watching her children die. Don't didtort the facts.
'...here is Slappy Jones who killed these kids, with the liberal culture of grievence running to his aid, while just a few years ago, two Klansmen dragged a black man to dismemberment and death, and nary a peep from the left when they off'ed them. No Jamie Fox pleading, no Susan Sarandon weeping for them, no denizens of the left's kneejerk libnazi elite running to their aid, as if they were the same as Tookiw Williams. Nope, it was pure silence, more so than at Waco. So rave on, becuase when we need real killers, the libnazi elite can always muster the gumption the likes of which even makes Cheney cringe. Makes me nostalgic for when Clinton had the air force bombing bridges in eastern europe with people on them...'
Only a couple of problems with your misguided statements (again). You idiot, they did not 'off' those guys, they are still in prison---liar.
There was plenty of outrage at Waco you friggin nutball, does the truth mean nothing to you?
You and your stupidity is so funny, does it not even bother you one bit to be so stupid? My god man, the best part of you did run down your mothers leg.
..I never did see the sentence carried out on those two chuckleheads either. I just assumed ol GW had them fried and I missed it! Are they still apealing? Honestly, I do not know which is worse...the crime they committed or that justice has yet to be applied.
Heck libnazis....this is your chance! Run off and make a stink to save a couple of KKK scumbags! Hell, I'd buy tickets to watch Jamie Fox advocate for their stay of execution! Maybe Susan sarandon can beg for their lives.
Waco? Don't make me laugh. Janet 'Buck' Reno gagged all of the investigation into that set of murders...all for one crazy preacher and a BS gun charge with no conviction.
'..I never did see the sentence carried out on those two chuckleheads either. I just assumed ol GW had them fried and I missed it! Are they still apealing? Honestly, I do not know which is worse...the crime they committed or that justice has yet to be applied.'
That is what I thought, too stupid to look something up to see if you were correct, just spew out the stupid comments...thanks for verifying your stupidity.
'Heck libnazis....this is your chance! Run off and make a stink to save a couple of KKK scumbags! Hell, I'd buy tickets to watch Jamie Fox advocate for their stay of execution! Maybe Susan sarandon can beg for their lives.'
There will be people there to protest their execution. Unlike you neo-con idiots, us 'libanzis' know that a life is a life, but only after one is born. The 10 commandments state 'that shall not kill', something you need to remember when you are getting ready to be fried.
Waco? Don't make me laugh. Janet 'Buck' Reno gagged all of the investigation into that set of murders...all for one crazy preacher and a BS gun charge with no conviction.'
Again, please provide some proof. But at my last accusatory statement you are just a right-wing nut-ball liar. Thanks again for making yourself look so stupid.
...if the libnazi elite runs to these KKK chuckleheads rescue. Wanna bet on Jamie Fox, or Susan Sarandon hitting the talk show circuit for these two? Sure, there will be the usual libnazi relativists but I'm betting we won't be seeing a Duke University-style turnout, eh? Tell us, how'd THAT turn out?
You're not fooling anyone.
It is amazing to me how quickly something like this loses focus and turns political so quickly. We will start with The Ten Commandments. It originally stated 'You shall not murder', not, 'Thou shalt not kill'. That, of course, is now left up to interpretation of what is 'murder' and what is 'justice'. My personal beliefs aside, a distinction will have to be made and agreed upon if that debate will ever be finished. Second, names like 'libnazis' and 'neo-cons' do not settle, or help, anything. All this accomplishes is more disdain between the two parties. It doesn't help that each side has its own set of fanatics, like Rush or Sarandon, to egg people on. Now, on to my thoughts. Murder is wrong, whether it is a person like Terry committing the crime, or a person like Rick Perry allowing the prison do it. The definition of murder is - To kill with premeditated malice; to kill (a human being) willfully and deliberately. The big question is, do we assign the death penalty purely from justice, or is there any feeling of malice, or revenge, for the crimes committed by said criminal? I do not believe that it is a pure sense of justice that these people are sentenced to die. We want justice to be served for the crimes committed, but we also want revenge for the victims that were lost to these horrible crimes. There is no way to stop human emotion to enter the scenario. Prosecutors use that to help them state their cases, they play on the sympathy they can draw for the victims and their families. A fantastic strategy that be used to uphold the 'eye for an eye' feeling most of us have. Terry was a great friend to me for over 20 years. What he did was absolutely horrible, I will not EVER try to justify what he did, but he was always great to me. He always helped me out with anything he could, he had a huge heart. But he had a horrible family life filled with abuse and neglect. That abuse continued into his marriage, between both his wife and him. They would both end up with bruises, and both had a tendency to aggravate the other and push the other to the limit. I witnessed this many times between the two of them. Does this mean Tammy and her children should have been killed? No, absolutely not. I feel the same way about Terry though. The death penalty allows people to stop thinking about what they have done, it ends all thinking, all remorse, and all punishment. If someone is truly remorseful for what they have done, which I believe Terry was, then isn't having to live with that thought for the rest of your life the true punishment? The thought that you truly stole something so precious as life away from someone and their family, and caused so much pain, grief and suffering? That is real punishment. The disappointment and sadness you caused the people that truly cared for you, and truly wanted to help you, that's a real punishment. Remember the days when you were a child, and the spankings stopped, and the dreaded line from your parents came out, 'I'm not angry at you, I am disappointed in you.' That was the worst feeling you could ever have. Terry wasn't a sociopath, he knew right and wrong. He showed that by covering the bodies, he couldn't look at what he'd done. Believe me, he felt pain over what he'd done, and the pain he caused. Think these things over when you think about what the death penalty really accomplishes. Yes it takes these people off the planet, stops them from breathing our air, etc, etc. That's not true thought, that's anger. Think about what it truly accomplishes, it sets them free from their punishment, from their anguish over what they have done. I'm off my soapbox now, feel free to attack my opinions and thoughts. There is bound to be someone that thinks I am some 'bleeding heart liberal' because I have an opinion that differs from theirs. If there are any questions about Terry and his life, please ask, like I said, I was his best friend for over 20 years. I will answer anything I can.
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SP4: NonsenseJun 3rd, 2009 - 02:45:04
..the defendant was found guilty
..the case would not stand appeal
..the people of the state of Texas decided on the punishment
..it was upheld by the highest court in the land
..the defendant knew the law
..he did it anyway
now he's gone.
'Court's adjourned!'
This is the clarity of the Texas justice system. If anyone has a point of law to offer as an argument, feel free to do so, beside the argument of some poor libnazi pussy who is embarrassed at a fair justice system.
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