Response to “Live and Let Die” by Joseph

Hey Joseph, I completely agree with you on the death penalty issue. I did not know so much money went to cases resulting in execution. I originally oppose the death penalty and now, with that fact in mind, I oppose it even more. It is ridiculous to spend those huge sums on people who are not even worth it. All that money can be better spent giving it out to students as financial aid and grants. I have the same exact opinion as you preferring life in jail than a painless death for criminals. When criminals are executed, their "suffering" ends there. We are actually doing them a favor by not having them pay for what they did for the rest of their lives. On the contrary, life in prison takes away what people love the most: Freedom and loved ones. Not only that, but in jail, they will actually pay for their crime by living in misery for the rest of their lives.

UT Raises Tuition

Students with the dream to go to college have to face lots of difficult challenges. Among those challenges are high tuition charges at universities such as the University of Texas at Austin. But what can these students do. They could, of course, apply for financial aid, but that does not necessarily mean that they will receive any aid. This is due to the fact that students or their families make too much money to qualify for financial aid, but just enough to pay tuition and all other school related expenses, not to mention other necessary expenses. More than half of the students at UT at Austin fall in this "too wealthy for financial aid, yet barely able to pay" category. So how is the fact that UT has proposed to raise tuition by more than 15% in two years explainable??? This proposal would raise tuition from about $3,700 to $4,500. This is a huge increase! Not only will this be a problem for current students, but also for the university. Maybe they have not thought of the possibility that with this increase in effect, their enrollment rate will decrease because students just will not be able to pay. And yet Texas has the goal to increase higher education enrollment substantially throughout the years. With this tuition increase, who knows if Texas will actually reach its goal. After watching UT at Austin increase tuition, many more universities will probably do the same and the tuition increase will not only become an Austin issue, but a Texas issue. Anyways, the point here is not whether Texas will be able to increase tuition. The concern is how students will manage to pay almost $2,000 extra per year. It is difficult enough for students and their families as it is. Why does UT need more money anyway? They have around 50,000 students already paying them what they want. Even if UT really needs the money, there are other ways to get it other than raising tuition. To me, this tuition increase is just a scheme and should not take place.

Comment on "To the Younger Demographic"

Luciana, I totally agree with you. I also believe that teens should be informed of our world and our government, especially since they are a part of it. Knowing about the government and how it works is very important because it is what informs all citizens/residents of their rights. A person who knows nothing about government could be in a difficult situation if ever faced with a problem of law and order. This is true especially for teenagers because since we are considered less knowledgeable, anyone could find it simple to do something to us and get away with it. This is NOT how it should be! Therefore it is very important for teenagers to be informed. Knowing about government does make anyone a geek or nerd, on the contrary, it makes people knowledgeable and informed citizens.

Reliable Judges?

When we Americans have conflicts with other people or someone breaks the law, who do we turn to??? To the courts, of course. That means that we trust the courts to handle our problems because they are supposed to be "perfect." The truth is that they are NOT! They are not even always reliable. But we cannot blame the court, the ones incharge and responsible are the Judges. A corrupt case in the hand is the recent overturn of an appeal by a death row inmate. On September 25, 2007 Justice Sharon Keller decided to overturn an appeal by a Texas' death row inmate. Days later, two other executions were put on hold because of an appeal similar to the one Keller overturned. Why did she do this? She says that she did not know about any technical difficulties that the inmate's lawyers were having and that she did not think it was anything serious. It turns out to be that Keller was informed of the technical problems and that she made the decision without commenting any of the other justices on the case. We Americans rely on Judges to serve justice for us all day, every day, not only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. like Keller decided to on September 25. The worst part of all this is that WE the people choose who the judges will be. What we need to do in order to prevent incidences and people like Keller is to actually go out there and vote for those who we think will righteously serve us and make the right choices.

Ethics Comlaint Against Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Justice

On September 25, 2007, an after-hours appeal by death row inmate, Michael Richard, was denied by one of the judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Sharon Keller. Keller made the decision to overturn Richard's appeal without consulting any of the other judges, including at least three who were working late that day in case of any last-minute appeals. Keller's decision resulted in Richard's death. Richard's lawyers wanted to appeal based on that morning's new that the U.S. Supreme Court would decide whether lethal injections for the death penalty were constitutional or not. On September 27, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court halted another Texas death row inmate's execution because they had appealed, similar to Richard's appeal, on time. The fact that the second death row inmate's execution was stopped clearly demonstrates that Richard's execution could have also been stopped had Keller accepted to stay open a little late. Today, Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 19 lawyers have filed an ethics complaint with the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct against Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Sharon Keller. They claim that "Keller's actions violated her legal obligations and deprived Richard of his constitutional right to court access." In their complaint, the lawyers are accusing Justice Keller of violating 4 sections of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. If the complaint is confirmed and Keller is incriminated then the commission can "issue private sanctions and public reprimands or request that the Texas Supreme Court issue a suspension."

Personally, I find that Justice Sharon Keller should be punished by at least suspension. What she did is not something that can be remediated at all, nevertheless by a reprimand. Her act MUST be punished. In her hands was the life of Michael Richard; even though criminal, he was still human. She did not deny Richard's lawyers request to stay open late because of any rules or to maintain closure time at 5; if three justices were there in case of any last-minute appeals, they were there to work. Plus, who cares if they have to stay open late??? Their job is to serve justice. Keller's biggest mistake, however, was that she did not even consult with the justices who were there in case of any last minute appeals. Keller's actions are not acceptable!!! Her responsibility was to consult the other justices and she failed to do so; therefore she should be punished in order to learn to comply with judicial conduct and for the sake of us citizens.

Sharon Keller

Murder or Capital Murder?

On August 22, 2006, Selwyn P. Davis, 25, killed his ex-girlfriend's mother, Regina Lara, in Austin Texas. Not only is Davis being accused of murdering Regina, he is also accused of "breaking his ex-girlfriend's jaw, slicing his uncle with a knife, sexually assaulting a teenager and trying to run over a police officer with a car," during a "two-day crime spree." The Austin American-Statesman reported in "Jury deliberations begin in capital murder trial," that today, October 4, 2007, the jury on Davis' case left the courtroom to decide whether Davis is guilty of capital murder or just guilty of murder.

One might ask, "Isn't being guilty of capital murder or being guilty of murder the same thing?" The answer is no. Capital murder is defined as intentional murder during the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, robbery, or aggravated sexual assault. Murder is planned murder for the purpose of evil. These two types of murders also differ in punishment. Murder is punished up to life imprisonment, but capital murder is subject to the death penalty. So that's the big question for Davis' case: Should or will Davis be accused of capital murder or murder?

The article tells us of both sides of the story. The defendant's lawyer said that 'The murder is not part of a scheme to rob, not part of a scheme to burglarize. It's from hate and anger and should be punished.' On the other hand, the prosecutor said that Davis took 'Lara's checkbook from under her mattress after stabbing her to death.' The truth I do not know, but personally, I believe the prosecutor because lawyers are paid to defend the defendant whether innocent or guilty. What I do know is that Selwyn Davis killed Regina and should be punished.

Regardless of the fact that I believe that Davis committed and should be accused of capital murder, I do not agree with the punishment. I believe that someone who has deprived someone else of live should suffer, and to me the death penalty does not bring suffering to the accused. It terminates their life with a "painless" injection. Even if the injection was painful, the pain would not last long. On the other hand, depriving someone of liberty for life, would really affect that person. I trust that Davis will be accused of capital murder, but since right now the death penalty, by means of the lethal injection, in Texas has been put on hold and is waiting for the ruling of whether or not it is constitutional, we will have to wait and see what the punishment will be. Hopefully, it will be one that really affects the criminal.

Texas Involved in Bible School Scandal?

Texas involved in Bible school scandal? Yes, just like it sounds. It happens to be that 10 years ago, Texas passed a law that allowed the state to set standards for seminary degrees. The law also gave the state the power to fine those institutions who did not comply with the law. The bill favored institutions that offered certificates not solely for the purpose of awarding them for academic achievement, but more for the purpose of collecting fees. On Friday, September 1, 2007, the Texas Supreme Court ruled this law unconstitutional because it clearly entangled government with religious institutions. The ruling also overturned a $173,000 fine that was placed on a Texas Bible school by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, only a few months after the law had passed. The Austin American-Statesman's article "Supreme Court Rules State Cant Regulate Bible School" tells the story.