“Death row inmate entitled to delay for DNA test"

In this article the author, which is the editorial board of the Austin American Statesman, is asking all Texans in favor of or opposed to capital punishment to lobby behind a man, whom has already been convicted of a triple homicide, and show support as his legal team ask the state of Texas to give him a 30 day reprieve/ pardon so additional DNA testing can be done, which could potentially prove his innocence from this crime. My initial reaction to this argument was, “yes…why not…if there is a possibility for innocence then it is our duty (Texas) to figure it out,” but then as I read through the article again I couldn’t help but feel confused about a few things. First, I wasn’t sure what kind of feelings, if any, I should have for this man that has been convicted of murder and on death row for 17 years now…is he “entitled” to a delay? I was confused about what feelings I should have for the families involved, should the families of the victims have to endure this kind of emotional set back so close to “their justice?” Should the inmate’s family get their hopes up only to be let down? These confusing questions all stemmed from a confusing judicial system. The author states that there are untested item that could be tested with DNA technology that could clear the inmate, but the state won’t allow that testing to be done because in an earlier portion of the trial the inmates lawyer was opposed to further testing, due to damaging evidence already found by prior DNA test. The author also goes on to further back his argument by revealing that evidence shown at the trial was inconsistent and reports showed that the inmate was in a physical state not conducive with being able to murder 3 people, one of which was a very large male. Why weren’t these issues taken care of in the first few years of the trial, why wasn’t everything gone over with a fine tooth comb, why were “inconsistencies” acceptable to a jury? Three innocent people are already dead and now there is a possibility that a fourth innocent person could die by the hands of our state! This man has been on death row for about 17 years, in the article the author talks about a man that Gov. Perry just pardoned, whom had spent 13 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit, unfortunately he died on death row nine years before the pardon was issued. UNBELIEVEABLE! We are talking about life and death of innocence; changes have to start at the front to reduce the latter of possibilities at the end. Milsap, Bexar County District Attorney summed up my thoughts exactly when he said, “Before we send a man to his death, shouldn’t we do everything in our power to be certain of his guilt?”

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/death-row-inmate-entitled-to-delay-for-dna-423839.html?printArticle=y

Is There An Intellectual Future For Our Youth?

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is a government funded program which sets up a structure for schools to follow across the United States to insure that schools here are teaching our kids effectively and timely, to insure future success. This structure is strictly based upon standardized test results. Schools must provide students with the knowledge they need to pass a certain test, during a certain part of the year…then after that, well you’re on your own until “testing preparation season” comes around again. I state the former sentence with much sarcasm, for that is the feeling that I get after reading article and article about how our Texas schools are failing our youth under the NCLB Act. Dallas high schools account for a third of the Texas high schools that are failing to meet the federal ratings, 10 of the 30 high schools, whom are failing have been failing for so many consecutive years they are listed in the worst stages of the NCLB Act. I say our government is failing our schools, teachers, students, and parents by allowing unacceptable ratings to be permitted year after year and not implementing any type of action plan for improvement. Why does it take a school to be on the verge of being closed down because of substantially low academic performance before the government decides to step in and assess the “what” “why” and “how’s” of what went wrong. By this time it’s too late for many of the kids who have dropped out and makes it increasing discouraging for the teachers and students who are still there. I thought this article was very interesting and gave some insight into how something that was designed to help kids succeed in school is probably doing more harm than good. The structure of the NCLB Act is not realistic, though I like the uniformity that it provides state wide, the concept of “one test, one score” is overwhelming for teachers, students, and administrators. I believe this immanent need for schools to meet the score provided by the NCLB Act "or else"…is the rain shower that produces the mud slide.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/030710dnmetdallasreform.3f9194c.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214080530.htm
http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-04-10/news/so-much-for-no-child-left-behind/
(This article is a sad testimony to what our schools resulted to…it’s all about the grade and not the child)