A hundred years ago, we might not be surprised to hear testimony about someone's race in open court. Even in the sixties there may have been quiet trials conducted where race was mentioned as an aspect of guilt or sentencing. In the past week, several reports have been made public on the many faults in the trials of death row inmates and those who have been executed. The case that caught my eye is the testimony of Dr. Walter Quijano, a man whose heritage lies in the Philippines. He continues to uphold the view that since the population of Hispanics and Blacks is higher in prison, a Hispanic defendant is more likely to commit future crimes and is therefore more worthy of the death penalty. "Future dangerousness" is a factor used in determining life or death in many courts.
If we used this pseudo-scientific pablum, we could deduce the following:
Dr. Quijano hasn't made clear whether he believes the criminal element lies in the race label determined by the government, genetics, culture, economy, geography or language. The phrase Hispanic, according to the government, can include anyone from Latin American country, Spanish Caribbean or Spain. This includes the Portuguese speaking Brazilians, the indigenous Quechua, the European Spanish, and the African Diasporas. Victor Hugo Saldano was Argentine. Argentina, which does not have the death penalty, and ten other Latin American country representatives have appeared at various hearings and condemned the testimony.
Texas Attorney General John Cornyn and Governor George W. Bush have tried to come off as heroes of the system. Bush proudly points out that the Attorney General asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order a re-sentencing in May of this year and conducted an internal audit of cases where Quijano testified. But neither Bush nor Cornyn explain their silence when the case was before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Texas' highest criminal court ruled that the introduction of race was not a "fundamental error". Nobody recommended a re-sentencing until it became apparent the Supreme Court would actually hear the case.
Since the Supreme Court ruling, the Attorney General has acknowledged six other cases where Quijano testified that race determined "future dangerousness". I've seen no mention of whether other psychologists have testified on race. I have to wonder how Bush can court the Hispanic vote, but doesn't take an active role in discouraging prosecution in his state that says we're criminal and more worthy of the death penalty because of our ethnicity.
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