Politics And The Death Penalty
I am conflicted on the execution of horrendous murderer Humberto Leal in Texas.
I am not conflicted because I think that executing him was the right thing to do. I don’t. But I am conflicted about almost everything else to do with this case.
I find it absolutely infuriating that the Mexican government tried to intervene in this case almost as frustrating as the US federal government in this case. Humberto Leal was indeed a Mexican national but he lived in the US since he was 2 years old. There are laws on the books designed to protect foreign nationals from being executed without due process and so they are allowed to contact their embassy. The idea is that such foreign nationals might be at a disadvantage and should be afforded adequate representation.
Humberto Leal had adequate representation, and then some. In fact, he had some of the best legal minds in the country with a specialty in capital crimes. No one their right mind could argue that Humberto Leal did not have adequate representation, and that ‘right mind’ caveat naturally excludes the government.
The US government tried to prevent the execution on the grounds…