Texas justice goes soft on executions

A backlog of executions continues apace, but Thompson says a fundamental shift is underway. The number of death penalties imposed by Texas juries fell from around two dozen a year in the early 2000s into the low teens after the law’s passage. By 2012, there were nine death penalties imposed in Texas, while 15 executions took place, down from a peak of 40 executions in 2000.

Several high-profile cases of DNA exoneration have also swayed public opinion, Thompson believes. Support for the death penalty remains high in Texas — a 2012 Texas Tribune poll found 73 percent of respondents support it, but when the option of life without parole was included in the question, support fell to 53 percent. A number of high profile exonerations also have led to what Thompson calls one of the strongest anti-prosecutorial misconduct laws in the nation.

In May, Governor Rick Perry signed the Michael Morton Act, named for the Texas man who served 24 years in prison for the 1987 slaying of his wife before DNA evidence exonerated him. The law requires prosecutors to give defense attorneys full access to evidence and sets penalties for prosecutors who violate the mandate. Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, who allegedly withheld evidence in Morton’s trial, recently gave up his law license in a criminal settlement over the case.