Stage Seven

In 1992, Scott Panetti killed his mother-in-law and his father-in-law, the parents of his second wife, Sonja Alvarado. He then held his wife and daughter hostage for the night, and surrendered to police the next morning. Three years later, Panetti was tried in a Texas state court for capital murder. Scott Panetti was scheduled to be executed on February 5, 2004 in Texas, but was granted a 60-day stay on February 4, 2004. Now we fast forward to over a decade later, Texas has now set an execution date of Dec. 3, 2014, for Panetti following the U.S. Supreme Court declining to review a lower court's ruling allowing his execution to go forward. With that said, if the state continues forth with this execution, a miserable spectacle of a trial will have led to one of the most outrageous executions of our time. The TexasTribune acknowledged the latest update of the case, "with the 6-3 ruling on Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals thwarted the latest effort to stay the schizophrenic death row inmate’s execution." There's no question that Panetti must be incarcerated for his actions in the early 90's, however, his execution would be immoral and serve no purpose, either in retribution or to prevent similar crimes. Either the courts must step in to stay this travesty or Gov. Rick Perry must change Panetti's sentence to life. Otherwise, the state will kill an individual who is so ill and delusional that he cannot begin to comprehend his fate. As of now, I don't see either of those things happening to halt the unfortunate fate for Panetti's life with our failed justice system, but at least his attorneys are seeking to get him off death row or, in the very least, to get his execution date postponed so that he can undergo further psychological testing to determine if he's competent to be put to death. According to Kathryn Kase, one of Panetti's lawyers, "He cannot appreciate why Texas seeks to execute him. You have to have a rational as well as factual understanding of why you're being executed." A diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, Panetti had been hospitalized for mental illness more than a dozen times within the decade leading up to the September 1992 killings of the Alvarados. And now Panetti, who believes that Satan, working through the state of Texas, is trying to kill him to stop him from preaching Christ's word to other inmates is just days away from death by lethal injection, unless his execution is stopped. There are multiple legal safeguards that are meant to protect the inherent dignity and civil rights of Americans with mental illness when they come into the criminal justice system. Majority of people assume that the United States doesn't execute people with severe mental illness. They wrongly presume that people with mental illness are protected by our laws. Unfortunately, as Panetti's case illustrates, the safeguards can and do fail. We do execute people with severe mental illness. And now Panetti, 56, may be the next horrifying example of this failure.

Stage Six

After reading fellow classmate Shay's post about Funding for Planned Parenthood, I decided to 
research the benefits and detriments for reasons on why we should defund Planned Parenthood instead. Planned Parenthood is reported to be the largest U.S. provider of reproductive health services, including cancer screening, HIV screening and counseling, contraception, and abortion. After researching, I've decided to lean towards defunding for Planned Parenthood because they're not what everyone is expecting them to be. According to LifeSiteNews, Planned Parenthood facilities in Texas are closing shop due to serious sterilization issues,which has been a problem in many facilities across the country. "In San Antonio, an annual inspection report showed that the Planned Parenthood facility had serious sterilization issues. They weren’t separating clean and dirty instruments. They weren’t testing their autoclave machine to ensure that it was still working. Lots of problems". It goes on about another city in Texas, Beaumont, "There was an abortion clinic in Beaumont with the same issues. They have also been cited for untrained staff, dirty equipment, expired medications given to patients…the list goes on and on. So, instead of fixing these problems, Planned Parenthood has chosen to close these facilities". Why continue to fund Planned Parenthood if they're not bending over backwards to implement these changes to facilities if they're really concerned about the health and safety of women? Also, why fund a program that is America's largest abortion provider? According to sba-list, Planned Parenthood is America's largest abortion provider, having performed a record 332,278 abortions in 2009. Data shows that since 1970, Planned Parenthood has performed at least 5.3 million abortions, nearly one out of four abortions are performed at Planned Parenthood. More taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood leads to more abortion and fewer adoption referrals. In 2009, that record breaking adoption number performed at Planned Parenthood (332,278) led to only 977 adoption referrals. This meaning with the 80 percent increase in taxpayer funding resulted in a 69 percent increase in the number of abortions and a 61 percent decrease in the number of adoption referrals. For more reasons to Defund Planned Parenthood now, you can click here.

Stage Five

Proposition 1... Aren’t we lucky in Texas to have all this ‘free money’ in our “Rainy Day Fund”?  The Rainy Day Fund, formally known as the Economic Stabilization Fund, is the state’s savings fund that allows states to set aside excess revenue for use in times of unexpected revenue shortfall. The money comes from excess oil and gas production taxes and some unspent general revenue.  Proposition 1 will require the Texas Comptroller to transfer 50% of oil and gas tax revenues away from the economic stabilization fund (Rainy Day Fund) to the State Highway Fund. Why not dip into that Rainy Day Fund for something more important like a program would pick up the tab for two-year public colleges? Senator Leticia Van de Putte, the liberal nominee for Texas Lt. Governor, wants to make college free for every student in Texas through a scholarship she calls the “Texas Promise.” This exceptionally generous program would pick up the tab for two-year public colleges and similar institutions by amending the state constitution and siphoning $2 billion from the state’s emergency coffers. The scholarship is intended to remove barriers students face in obtaining degrees and jobs, the Texas Tribune for a promise that is only “tuition free” for the lower rungs of higher public education, mainly community colleges and technical schools. Proposition 1, also known as Project Connect is a proposed $1 billion bond for city transportation. Of this amount, $600 million would help to build a 9.5-mile light-rail line, while $400 million would pay for various road improvements. The total cost of this rail line is estimated at $1.4 billion; for it to be built, Austin will apply for a $600 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. Project Connect estimates that by 2030 (eight years after it opens) the rail will receive between 16,000 and 20,000 boardings per day. Prop 1 is just going to waste our limited transportation funds, and in no chance will relieve congestion, but will slow the growth of congestion very slightly. So again I ask, why not dip into that Rainy Day Fund for something more important like a program would pick up the tab for two-year public colleges?