Texas Catholic Voice April 2022

During the Easter season while we rejoice in Christ’s triumph over death, the TCCB has been advocating for clemency in two death penalty cases that were scheduled this month. We are saddened that one was carried out, but thankful the other was stayed.

On Thursday, April 21, Carl Buntion, who had been on death row for three decades, was executed for the murder of Houston police officer James Irby in 1990. His attorneys filed a petition for clemency based on the erroneous prediction of the jury that he would be a threat to fellow prisoners and staff and that carrying out his execution after 31 years on death row would violate the Eighth Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously not to recommend clemency or a reprieve. The bishops released a statement calling the execution of Mr. Buntion, an infirm, 78-year-old man, an “act of vengeance and retribution.”

While we are greatly saddened by Mr. Buntion’s death, we are grateful Melissa Lucio’s life has been spared. On Monday, April 25, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Ms. Lucio a stay of execution. The audio of her receiving the news from Rep. Jeff Leach that she was not going to be executed and would be given a new trial is incredibly moving.

Questions remain regarding the manner of death of Melissa’s daughter Mariah and there are troubling issues concerning her interrogation and inadequate defense. The bishops stated, “Melissa’s case highlights the serious flaws in our justice system that allowed her to be condemned to death on the basis of a dubious conviction.”

Another death row prisoner also received hopeful news last week. Rodney Reed was scheduled to be executed in November  2019 when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted an indefinite stay in response to the question of his guilt. On April 25, the United States Supreme Court said it would hear Mr. Reed’s appeal based on his request for DNA testing of certain evidence.

All three of these cases, as well as the Supreme Court’s decision last month that Texas likely violated the religious liberty of death row prisoner John Ramirez by denying his request for his spiritual advisor to lay a hand on him and audibly pray during his execution, expose the many injustices of the imposition of the death penalty in Texas. We will continue to seek clemency for every person scheduled for execution and pray for an end to capital punishment for which there is no justification in our modern times.