Texas Juries May Get New Sentencing Option

Lawmakers in the No. 1 death penalty state voted Tuesday to give juries the option of sentencing murderers to life in prison without parole.

Death penalty opponents hope it will reduce the number of executions in Texas.

Currently, Texas juries can sentence people convicted of capital murder to either death or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. Of the 38 states with the death penalty, Texas and New Mexico are the only ones without a life-without-parole option.

The bill approved by the state House on a 104-37 vote Tuesday would take away the life-with-parole option, a move criticized by some civil liberties groups, which want juries to have as many alternatives as possible.

The life-without-parole option has passed the Senate. A final House vote of approval today would send it back to the Senate, which must consider House amendments. The legislative session ends Monday.

“The worst punishment a person can ever get is life in prison,” said state Rep. Paul Moreno, a Democrat. “It’s time that Texas does what the rest of the states are doing.”

Texas leads the nation in executions, having put to death 344 inmates since the state resumed the practice in 1982. Texas executed 23 people last year and has put eight to death this year.

A Scripps-Howard poll in October found that 75% of Texans supported the death penalty and 78% favored giving juries the option of life without parole.

Opponents of the change argued that the current life-with-parole option gives convicts a reason to behave in prison, because good behavior might help them get out.

Without that hope, prisons will become even more dangerous, Republican state Rep. Pat Haggerty said.

“Don’t put this weapon in the prisons,” Haggerty said. “This is a stupid bill.”

Death penalty opponents have argued that prosecutors use the prospect that a killer will someday be released to scare juries into supporting death sentences. Though some prosecutors have resisted the change in the law, many supported the bill once the life-with-parole option was removed.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry has not said whether he would sign the measure.