The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
(H.B. 215 is still waiting to be heard in front of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.)
Last week we talked about Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, one of the major advocacy organizations against capital punishment. This week, we will be taking a look across the aisle at the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation is a right-wing think tank in favor of capital punishment (CJLF, n.d.). The organization was spearheaded by business and community leaders in California in 1982 and is now the leading advocacy group supporting the death penalty conversation. Their legal director, Kent Scheidegger, is well known for his rhetoric against criminal justice reform and is frequently involved in capital punishment cases at both state and national levels (Pishko, 2017). He represents the organization in these cases by submitting a “friend of the court” briefing, which is a way to sway court opinion by providing what Scheidegger refers to as scholarly information on capital punishment. However, these claims are not evidence-based and seem to be coming from more of an opinion-based perspective. One of the points he likes to make is that terms like “intellectually disabled” are social constructs. Therefore, they should not be factors considered in death penalty cases. An argument that specifically tries to halt any defense attorney’s attempt to humanize a client who does, in fact, have a disability. Another argument that he stands by is that the death penalty is the only thing that deters criminal activity. I could not find credible evidence that suggests this is true, but he stands by this narrative. I encourage you to take a look at his written work. If you would like to know more about what the organization does from a legal standpoint across the country, I will link the organization’s website below.
After spending some time discussing the history of the death penalty in Texas, and analyzing the major players involved in the argument, it is clear that it goes back to politics (progressives vs. conservatives). However, the evidence is what I believe matters in this case. In today’s day and age, crime rates are decreasing, public opinion in favor of capital punishment is dwindling, and taxpayers are carrying the burden of the financial aspect of executing people (Death Penalty Information Center, n.d.). Not to mention the alternate opinion, which is that life without the possibility of parole is far worse than being put to death. H.B. 215 is the perfect bill to address these changes in society. We were not meant to uphold practices that uphold past circumstances.
CJLF. (n.d.). Library of briefs. Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. http://www.cjlf.org/program/briefs.htm
Death Penalty Information Center. (n.d.). Facts and research. Retrieved April 10, 2021, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/
Pishko, J. (2017, June 14) Meet the man leading the push for more executions in the U.S. Pacific Standard. https://psmag.com/news/meet-the-man-leading-the-push-for-more-executions-in-the-u-s
