Supreme Court Issues Stay in Buck Execution
By This is a different kind of injustice than Willingham, in that there seems to be good evidence that Buck killed somebody, but as for the death sentence:
In May 1997, a psychologist took the stand in a courtroom here during the sentencing hearing of Duane Buck, a black man found guilty of killing his former girlfriend and her friend.
The psychologist, Walter Quijano, had been called by the defense, and he testified that he did not believe Mr. Buck would be dangerous in the future. But on cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Mr. Quijano more detailed questions about the factors used to determine whether Mr. Buck might be a danger later in life.
“You have determined that the sex factor, that a male is more violent than a female because that’s just the way it is, and that the race factor, black, increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons,” the prosecutor asked Mr. Quijano. “Is that correct?”
“Yes,” the psychologist replied.
The question now becomes what the Supreme Court does next. I’m rarely optimistic when the Supreme Court deals with the death penalty, but you have to think that this could shock Anthony Kennedy’s normally dormant conscience. Even given the narrow standard established by McCleskey, this seems like a no-brainer 14th Amendment violation.
More on the Texas execution railroad here.