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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2001)
4nday. , June 11, 2001 o PINION Page 5 THE BATTALION thics versus revenge erry should sign bill banning the execution of retarded murderers VANTED ways looking toi e positions in aering and De positions include 2AD and Ana!^: / and Testing se is Pro/ENGiM s Pro/Mechanca Supreme Court’s recent deci- sipn to over turn John P|ul Penry’s death sen- and are comm aments ot the i the compa y. Lynntech 0 nntech©lynnte or bring 7610 Easi 77840. ng res. kuj u Eastma ^ Clcc ’ ind s ( edge . Mice a sec- ng package ■ , . , Our machine 3ni1 ^me has Mill, Manual'.' heated the debate over capital rough Friday,!fcrB nishment ■ Arguments now in- duies Mot diide the etliical implications of jais that can w»cuting an inmate who is men- tall\ retarded. Anyone with an IQ Bow 70 is considered to be men- handicapped. Penry, who under this category, was con- d of rape and murder in 1980 sentenced to die. here is a bill on Gov. Rick Bry’s desk that will ban the ex- ■ition of the mentally retard- ■ The bill will allow juries to Bide in the sentencing phase pf p trial if the defendant is men- retarded. f the jury 7 finds the defendant ihentally retarded, then the death penalty cannot be im- ed. If the jury decides the de fendant is not mentally retarded, then two outside experts would Hke recommendations to the iu|ge during a hearing. From ^hr^cai k » diihc, the judge would decide th| sentence. i FOUND fcov. Perry has not decided whether he will sign the bill. He has until June 17 to either sign or veto it; if he does neidier, die RCYCLE bill will become law without his signature. Gov. Perry should sign this bill, making Texas the 14th state to ban executions of the mentally retarded. It is morally and ethically wrong to execute those who do not have the mental capability to under- NorthQi Apply i average. Appl) 93-9199 50 Enduro ;heap. fun ETS ttens, Cat nal birds,! • 0°? ^lakes, I Shelter- 775-57! oming a profess*'' Academy offers r* the. __^stand right from wrong. Opponents of the bill argue it will take away a jury’s right to impose a sentence. “This bill gives [the deci sion] to the jury and then it takes it away from the jury,” said David Weeks, the district attorney for Walker County in a New York Times article. Crit ics state that the present jury instructions are sufficient to warrant a decision about defen dant’s mental abilities. Currendy, sentencing juries are instructed to take into ac count all evidence, including a defendant’s background, charac ter and “personal moral culpa bility.” According to critics, these instructions clearly indi cate that juries can consider a criminal’s mental ability during their sentencing, without the need of a new bill. However, the instructions still allow juries to sentence a retard ed person to death. “It reeks of revenge, not justice, when you execute someone who is mental ly retarded and does not know die difference between right and wrong,” said Rep. Juan Hino josa, D-McAllen. The bill limits the ability of die jury to sentence a retarded person to die. It bans capital punishment as a sentence and instead offers life in prison widi- out parole. In the Austin Ameri can Statesman, Sen. Rodney El lis, D-Houston, said, “It is time for Texas to stop defending the defenseless and make a clear, moral stand.” The legally retarded will nev er mentally mature, and most do not diink above a sixth-grade level. It is beyond comprehen sion how anyone can support die execution of someone in diis condition — it is equivalent to executing children. No one ad vocates sentencing children to death, but unfortunately there are people who advocate the death of diese child-like adults. Gov. Perry must sign this bill. Texas has received much atten tion for its application of the death penalty. Now, it is time to gain notice for something more admirable — taking a stand for what is right. Brieanne Porte?' is a junior political science majo?: ADRIAN CALCANEO/The Battalion programs istin. Texas. Tripie-1 is largest dog trai^j jr In the world. Cj nseling, student lilable. Visit online iers.com or call 5 ! 'i are the most denial p.m., a routine i, female, nees; JLday for Austin’s 6 k 95-826i V " 911 emergency dis- —-—rfiltchers. Minutes r/ Lab mix, free j as. 574-5376. later, a call was re- — -r-irieeived. The emer- pptes, AKC, 'S' -j/M masked beauties gency W3S nothing twins are normal college kids; deserve privacy • 7f: me >re titan under- squirrei) and cage a g c teen-agers attempting to purchase alcohol with fake identification cards at ifjjhuy’s, a popular Austin restaurant. E ST ATE The frenzy was caused by Jenna and brand NEW s v Barbara Bush > President Bush’s 19- he premier add^ year-olcl twin daughters, who were cit- jMs'has'oniyscoi' ed lor a misdemeanor charge of mis- tow interest rates representing their age. The twins, who its! Enjoy beach vs are in America s spotlight and dealing dng student 0 4M' w ‘ tB their father’s decision to lead ur furnished Mode '*11 hy “Anywhere Elss; SW Parkway, f 1 79-683-5758 or Td 1 ' America into die 21 st century, are vic tims of a tragedy — journalists micro scopically exposing private matters. The minute die story appeared in headlines around die globe, die twins became the subject of intense scrutiny, leaving journalists looking for juicy de tails. Unfortunately, diese reports lacked the courtesy and understanding die girls deserve. After die twins were labeled as wild, out-of-control and troubled, die owners of Chuy’s apolo gized for dieir handling of the situation and the media frenzy they caused. The thoughdessness of the media resulted in a Boston Herald columnist criticizing the girls for dieir clothing during their courtroom appearance. Dumbfounded, the reporter could not believe that Jenna arrived wearing a toe ring. However, what these narrow minded reporters do not realize is that these girls are normal college stu dents, no different from the thou sands of others ticketed for alcohol re lated offenses eveiy day. Their violation does not make them crimi nals or social deviants, it simply adds their name to a long list of other teen agers. A petty misdemeanor should never be important enough to make front page news, nor does it require 911 emergency assistance. Throughout this dilemma, Presi dent Bush has handled die situation in a manner that proves why Americans elected him as our nation’s leader. From the beginning, he has attributed his daughters’ mistakes to die gap diat lies between a parent’s best intentions for dieir children and the reality of to day’s society. Bush’s words accurately depict the rationale of a parent who understands their child’s mistakes will later be valuable lessons. More importandy, the consequences of die twins’ mishap needs to come solely from dieir parents. It is not die business of journalists to engage in public forums contemplating reasons why die girls attempted to purchase al cohol despite being underage. Repeatedly, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has asked jour nalists to consider the nature of this matter before diey pursue reporting on the topic. Fleischer routinely re butts questions from journalists by asking “Do you want the American people to know that you are asking about private conversations that took place between the president of the United States and his child?” The ac tions of Bush’s daughters should not be the subject of questions at govern ment press conferences. T his lack of respect by journalists to intrude into private matters is why oth ers are wrongfully passing judgement on Bush’s daughters. In the future, they should re-evaluate the effects of their “journalistic” reporting. J.J. Trevino is a senior journalism major. 71MATES .'ARTOON OF THE DAY se, remodeled, Ibills. Rick 823^ J HfcLf Of XES &V>*4D1, fLEASE' FILLET 15 fftFSKEFL IVICES ive Driving. Lots’ icket dismissal.; m-9pm), W-Th(6(^; Ipm) &Sat(10ain-2’ f\ UEMTWf fWTERNfcTINE JO dAfvrM- side BankofAmerica >h. Lowest price alio 1 3te.217. 846-6117. -0017). Spend new tax cut elsewhere TWf WcftRtezNWf-© (U-Wire) — President George W. Bush’s tax cut plan that was recently passed in the Senate is a wonderful ex ample of the all-too-frequent political bag of potato chips designed to make you think that you are getting what you paid for. Just like the chips, when we open up the political bag, we will see that it is mostly air and a few crumbs. Put every American in one room, and the average person will receive between $4,000 and $5,000 from this tax cut—. about half a used car, a few months’ rent or a year of groceries. OK. Now let’s remember that we pay taxes on a sliding scale, so the more you earn, the more you pay, and vice versa. By its very nature, this tax cut gives more money to people who already have more money. “You pay more, you get more,” you say. Fine, that makes sense, but it is ex actly the reason why this tax cut is very wasteful, essentially useless and com pletely sensationalized. It is a lot of money, and in the end, the people who need it aren’t getting it. Do we really have $1.3 trillion to spend? If so, maybe we should look at some other options. Tim Russert noted on “Meet the Press” last Sunday that it has been esti mated that the AIDS epidemic in Africa, which long ago became disastrous, could be solved or at least curbed with $5 bil lion a year for the next five years. Sounds like a lot of money until you realize that we have $1.3 trillion at our disposal. If we gave the $25 billion that has been estimated, the average Ameri can would be sacrificing $85. That’s a shirt, a pair of pants and a pair of underwear at the Gap. We would be left with $1.2975 trillion — not too shabby. If Dwight Eisenhower taught the country anything by building the high way system in the 1950s instead of later, it was tli at a dollar now might be worth $5 or $10 down the road. Not only would our $85 per person save millions of lives, it might also save us from paying $250 billion in a decade or two, if or when we decide to take ac tion against AIDS. But this assumes there will be someone left by then. So we’ve spent $2 5 billion — now what? Why don’t we pay school teach ers more? Or how about we build homes for the homeless? Or help i^nericans afford medications? We could do all of those things and still have some spending cash left over. Isn’t America supposed to be the free and visionary country? How can it justify a tax plan that is so confining and short sighted? If we chose to spend this surplus wise ly, while it might not be as popular as saying “free checks for all,” it would not only be the smarter thing to do, it would be more beneficial. If we could stop or curb the major problems in America and around the world today, we could do more than simply cover the problem with money. Bush would be using money as a tool to fix the problems now, saving us money later. Spending this money would help us more in day-to-day life than the aver age $4,000-$5,000 in tax cuts each per son would receive. A child can take money out of the pig gy bank to pay for a broken window, but a carpenter rolls up his sleeves, gets out the tool box, buys the equipment and builds a window that won’t break again. In the long run, who do we want to be? Eric Lidji The Pitt News University of Pittsburgh