Most of the significant changes that we are seeing have come from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled that juvenile offenders and people who are mentally retarded cannot be executed. That ruling has stopped a number of executions in Texas.

The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet taken up the subject of executing people who are severely mentally ill. We hope that will happen in the near future.

The International Court of Justice (World Court) in the Hague ruled that the cases of Mexican Nationals on death row in the U.S. should be reviewed. The Vienna Convention, which the U.S. has signed, requires that foreign nationals be advised by authorities that they can contact their consulate if they are arrested. This requirement has been violated in Texas and other states. This has become a contentious international issue. The issue is also being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The next Texas legislative session will start in January of 2007. The TCADP will continue to promote improvements to the criminal justice system and abolition of the death penalty.

To contact the TCADP, email David Atwood at dpatwood@igc.org or Nancy Bailey at nlbailey@earthlink.net or Lynn Furay at lfuray33@sbcglobal.net .