Texas Denies EU Call to End Executions
On the eve of its planned execution of the 400th inmate to be put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the ultimate penalty in 1976, Texas has rejected a call by the European Union for a death penalty moratorium.
Responding to an EU statement denouncing the death penalty as cruel and inhumane, an ineffective deterrent to crime and a practice that is bound to result in miscarriages of justice that cannot later be corrected, Gov. Rick Perry said execution is a “just and appropriate” punishment, reports the BBC. Johnny Ray Conner, 32, is scheduled to be executed in Texas tomorrow for the 1998 murder of a grocery store clerk.
“While we respect our friends in Europe … Texans are doing just fine governing Texas,” says Robert Black, a spokesman for the governor.
There have been 1,090 executions in the U.S. since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
