rhursda>. , : -fc| tiav - September 21. 2()()()
STATE
Page 7 A
THE BATTALION
ush urged to ban death penalty
AUSTIN (AP)
-(Tjov. George W.
lush should ask
jrla moratorium
^^^^ftxecutions and
is appointed pa-
ale board should
nplement one, a
ivil rights group
lar i
BUSH
' is devout!, ritical of capital
history, tli 'unishment in Texas recommended
•assa blceiVednesday.
^■’he ban on executions should re-
, ho until two commissions evaluate
Jason Bi ae convictions of those on death row
nd propose changes in the death
enalty system, according to the
exas Civil Rights Project.
ut representatives of the gover-
or s office and the Texas Board of
’aliens and Paroles denied they
iaVe the power to issue a moratori-
fly EBB They said only the Texas Legis-
I ? I U I LHatiire could do so. They also disput-
* * :c * ’ n report.
■'While Governor Bush respects
VIETNAM E)(PE : h e views of death penalty oppo-
i ie|ts. including this group, we be-
ie\e that their conclusions are
| D A R R E L [ afty-" sa 'd Bush spokesman Mike
ERWOOO ■The non-profit organization re-
jofted on problems with the state’s
use of capital punishment and offered
its suggestions in its seventh annual
“Report on the State of Human
Rights in Texas.”
“When we looked at it, it turned
out to be an even worse situation
than we expected,” said James Har
rington, director of the project.
“There is blame at every level of our
legal system.”
Han ington cited six areas he said
need improvement to ensure execu
tions are carried out fairly: appoint
ed lawyers for defendants; district at
torney accountability; sentencing;
the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals;
DNA testing; and the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles.
Standards must be set for attor
neys who are appointed to death
penalty cases to prevent appointment
of incompetent lawyers, Harrington
said. Compounding the problem, he
said, is that court-appointed attorneys
are paid less than one-fifth of what
private-practice attorneys charge.
The Texas Civil Rights Project is
recommending that the state estab
lish a public defender program, like
one the Texas Legislature passed but
Bush vetoed.
Jones, Bush’s spokesman, said the
governor thought that bill was “well-
intentioned but seriously flawed” be
cause it removed the power of ap
pointing attorneys from judges and
gave it to county commissioners.
Jones also criticized as vague the
civil rights group’s recommendation
that two commissions be established
to review the death penalty system.
“While Governor
Bush respects the
views of death
penalty oppo
nents, including
this group, we be
lieve that their
conclusions are
faulty”
— Mike Jones
Bush spokesman
Bush repeatedly has said he does
not believe an innocent person has
been executed in Texas.
Though Harrington said there
News in brief
betvw
Dallas’ Kimball
football coach
[he sion.
dies at fifty-two
;ition, biit hk:
.'omprehendil
Frustrated prosecutors wait
for federal drug-case money
vs of reli2
denying tl
Jason I
>i_iy
I DALLAS (AP) — James
Jones, who coached football at
the college and high school lev
el for more than 30 years, died
of unknown causes Tuesday at
Tom Landry Medical Center. He
was 52.
His wife, Alvanetta Jones,
told The Dallas Morning News
that her husband was undergo
of paper j n g a stress test at Tom Landry
Medical Center when he had to
- be rushed to Baylor University
Medical Center. Doctors there
.were unable to revive him.
Jones coached football for
32 years and had been at Kim-
!ball High School since 1987.
;H|e was an assistant coach at
- Wilmer-Hutchins/ Lancaster,
Lincoln and Adamson between
*1970-78.
® He also was the head coach
♦at now-defunct Bishop College
I for nine years until the pre-
^dpminantly black school dis-
tcontinued football in 1986.
K In addition to his wife, Jones
ds survived by his daughter,
“Javetta, 13, and two sons, Ja-
«son, 21, and James Jr., 26.
t Funeral arrangements were
„ u not available.
*
:—
HARLINGEN (AP) — Almost three months after
Congress set aside $ 12 million for local district attorneys
stuck with hand-me-down federal drug cases, frustrated
prosecutors are still waiting for the money.
The money was supposed to ease the financial cri
sis facing some local courts along the U.S.-Mexico bor
der with multimillion-dollar tabs for prosecuting the
federal cases.
But disagreement flared over how counties could
spend the emergency cash, and thus not a single district
attorney from Brownsville to San Diego has received
a penny.
Lawmakers blame the Justice Department. The Jus
tice Department blames Congress.
Border prosecutors say they are through arguing. After
Oct. 1, many say they will no longer accept federal cases.
“It doesn’t make me feel any better; it’s just that I can’t
afford to do it anymore and do my job, too,” said Starr
County District Attorney Heriberto Silva. “I can’t be do
ing 250 drug cases that don’t belong to me.”
The bigger drug busts made at international bridges
and roadblocks go to federal court. But the minor catch
es — less than 50 pounds of pot, or small quantities of
cocaine — are generally passed off to local courts.
The petty arrests were once a sporadic hassle, but with
the number of federal agents and drug crackdowns on the
rise, border counties have ended up spending millions to
prosecute federal drug cases.
In June, when Congress set aside the emergency mon
ey, it limited its use to “court costs, courtroom technolo
gy, the building of holding spaces, administrative ex
penses and indigent defense.”
District attorneys say that does not make sense be-
at the north end of Reed Arena
Don't miss this musical marching spectacu
lar when MSC OPAS presents THE BLACK
WATCH and THE BAND/CHOIR OF THE
PRINCE OF WALES'S DIVISION together
for the first time ever with Texas A&M
University's own FIGHTIN' TEXAS AGGIE
BAND and SINGING CADETS. Complete
with bagpipes, drummers and dancers, this
performance is a once-in-a-
lifetime experience only
Reed Arena can hold! Buy
your tickets today!
September 22, 2000 • 7:30 PM
Reed Arena ’
Texas A&M
University
Singing Cartels
Call 845-1234 or log
on to opas.tamu.edu
for ticket information.
2000-2001 Season KC
Media Partners
KBTX
NWTAH'
igr^92j
• entertain «
enlighten
•Student offer not good for tickets already purchased.
ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH • GIRLS CLUB OF BRAZOS COUNTY
1805 Briarcrest
776-0999
Come ioin the fun!
1/2 PRICE
OPTION
EVERY
THURSDAY
CURRENT SCHEDULE
BQQSS.Qmi ISXSESSIQN—ajig-SESSI-OM
fi.4S I'M NONE
Tuesday 5i00 PM
Wednesday 5:00 PM
,Thursday 5:00 PM
Friday 5:00 PM
Saturday 5:00 PM
Sunday 4:00 PM
6:45 PM
6:45 PM
7:15 PM
6:45 PM
6:00 PM
ELECTRONIC
MACHINES
Non-SmokingArea • Door Prizes • Great Pood • Security • Pull Tabs and Much More!
4:00 1>M
9:00 PM
9:00 PM
9:00 PM
8:00 PM
NEW
LOWER PRICES
BINGO
MAGIC 2000
have been suspicions about partic
ular cases, he did not cite a case in
which it has been proven that an in
nocent person was put to death in
Texas.
Gerald Garrett, chairman of the
Texas Board of Pardons and
Paroles, dismissed allegations that
the parole board, which often votes
by telephone, does not provide a
“meaningful review” of death
penalty cases.
The board reviews each case
carefully, he said.
“We have a very specific respon
sibility and we try to do that to the
best of our ability,” he said.
The civil rights group also rec
ommended that the state stop exe
cuting retarded inmates; that it pro
vide a system for wrongly convicted
defendants to recover damages from
prosecutors; and that life in prison
without parole be added as a pun
ishment option in Texas.
The report criticized the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals — the
state’s highest criminal appellate
court — for its 3 percent reversal
rate in death penalty cases. It was
about 33 percent before legislation
that accelerates appeals was passed
in 1995, backed by Bush.
Over *30,000 Awarded Weekly
LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA
lEMs y©ar (Sit©©©©! K!! I!!
C r-f: rt:)
Class of'79
• Greek Icons • Greek Dolls
• Greek Jewelry • Greek Pottery
• Greek Statues • Greek Puppets
Shop the World in Downtown Bryan..
We shop the world for you.
216 N. Bryan '
Downtown Bn an
Mon.-SaUAani-tym
A MOST EXTRAORDINARY STORE
un=zi
cause the staggering cost of jail and prosecution — not
included in the language — is what drove border coun
ties to demand help from Washington.
“The money is out there, but we can’t use it to pay for
the places we’re taking a hit,” said Cameron County Dis
trict Attorney Yolanda De Leon. The county loses $100
million a year in courtroom and jail expenses from fed
eral drug prosecutions, she said.
The border lawyers planned to meet this week at the
Texas District and County Attorneys Association confer
ence to discuss the problem.
“I can't be doing
2SO drug cases that
don't belong to me”
— Heriberto Silva
Starr County district attorney
“It makes no sense we’d continue to give this away to
the federal government,” De Leon said. “Not when we’re
encountering real difficulties paying for basic services.”
Justice Department spokesmen said they can’t pay for
jail and prosecution because Congress did not include
those expenses in the language of the bill.
“For whatever reason the bill that passed does not
include” those expenses, said Bill Blagg, U.S. attor
ney for the Western District of Texas. “It’s not possi
ble for us to pay prosecution and incarceration because
of the language.”
Ate
.260-2660
uloimgz
7253 University Drive
SUN
1 Sep 24
MON TUBS
Sep 25 ! Sep 26
WED
Sep 27
THUR
Sep 28
BICH BICH 410
410 LI Wang
4-e PM
Chem
101
Chem
227
Chem 101
8-8 PM
WiftMmton
Mawk fMfcm
1 Chem 101
Ch.S
8-9 PM
Chem 101 j
Ch.S j
6-8 PM
Chem 227 Chem 227
Ch.3 i Ch.4
8-8 PM j $-8 PM
Review 4
9-Mid
I
Review & I
Prac test [
2-4 PM )
Chem 228 |
ch.15
Math 151
Review 1 [ Review 2 j Review 3
10-Mit) j 8-10 PM j 8-10 PM
Chem
228
1 1 1
It's a fact...
THE MAJORITY OF ACCIlf
BRINK 1 OB
FEWER
BRINK) BERWEEK
Alcohol and Drug
B*>i <: vtjon Pkookamm
Data from Spring, 1998 CORE survey on an
anonymous, random sample of 861 students
GuarantyBank
A Temple-Inland Financial Services Company
GuarantyBank, the
cornerstone of Temple-Inland
Financial Services, invites you
to follow your path to a career
in commercial lending.
If you are a finance or
accounting major
graduating in December 2000
or May 2001, we invite you to explore the exceptional
careet opportunities at GuarantyBank.
Visit our representatives at the GuarantyBank
Information Session and Roc option on Monday,
September 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Cafe Eccell. Register
with the A&M Career Center for on-campus
interviews held Wednesday, October 4.
To R.S.V.P. or for more information, please contact:
GuarantyBank, College Relations
MEMBER 8333 Douglas Avenue, Suite 620
Dallas, TX 75225 ULT
800/999-1726 ext. 4809 ™' 5R
214/360-4894 FAX
E-mail: collegerecruiting@gfbank.com
www.gfbank.com c 2000 Guaranty Federa i f.s.b.
FDIC