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STORY: Last week, El Paso County Commissioners became the first governmental body to recommend a moratorium on the death penalty. The Commissioners Court voted for a two-year moratorium while a study looks into the state's capital punishment system. Commisioner Miguel Teran introduced the resolution. He says the problem comes from economic disparities in the overall criminal justice system. "I've always been concerned that the level of scrutiny is more restrictive in the communities that have the least. So the least money you have the more likely you will be the target of being stopped by a police officer. From the very beginning the problem is people have a higher likelihood of being incarcerated because of the nature of the system in place." Hours after the resolution was passed, El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza asked that it be cancelled. The commission agreed to rescind their vote and postpone a second vote on the resolution until this week, when murder victims' families had an opportunity to express their views on the issue. Founding member of El Pasoans against the death penalty, Carol Tures, notes Eszpara is likely to pursue the death penalty this February. The case involves a man accused of killing 5-year-old Alexandra Flores last year. During the hearings, Esparza warned the resolution would put doubts in death penalty jurors' minds. Carol Tures questions the DA's motives for opposing the commissioner's resolution: "He's probably not interested in the death penalty, the DA, but is interested in getting a conviction. So I think that with a death penalty jury he'll be more likely to get a conviction, and that's the bottom line." Tures says the DA's motives point to a larger issue: "Well, it really points out why the death penalty is stuck in place in Texas, because of these other issues that have to do with the District Attorney getting his conviction, that have to do with getting re-elected. There is so much politics in the death penalty and they're afraid if there's a study it will all come out." After hearing the concerns of murder victim's family members, Commissioner Teran offered to remove the moratorium request in the resolution. Instead, he's only recommending a study of the state's capital punishment system. The resolution was not voted on, however, when his proposal failed to receive a second. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is one of many state agencies taking a second look at their proposed expenses as the state approaches a new fiscal year with a budget shortfall that could reach $12 billion. This week, the department of criminal justice proposed cutting its two-year, $5 billion budget by $60 million. One problem with the budget cut is that Texas now has roughly 2,000 more inmates in prison than expected; the money the state would spend on these prisoners is roughly equal to the department's proposed budget cut. The increase in prisoners coincides with a drop in the percentage of eligible inmates being released on parole. According to critics like State Representative Pat Haggerty, R-El Paso, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, too many paroled convicts are returned to prison for violating technical terms of their release, such as missing appointments with parole officers. Independent budget analysts say the increase in prisoners could put another strain on the already swollen state budget.
E-mail Renee Feltz at chickpea_@ziplip.com.
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