Choose Your Own Theme Week at the Lege
April 9th, 2007 at 11:26 am
This week there’s a bit of synergy at the Lege with a lot of action on both stem cell research and the death penalty. Depending on one’s perspective, the week could go one of two ways. Either it’s a week of hope — righting the wrongs of our criminal justice system and seeking out new and exciting cures for some of humanity’s most vexing diseases. Or it’s a week of grim moral decay — getting weak on crime while destroying the unborn. Your interpretation may vary. And perhaps there is some shades of gray between those two poles.
The stem-cell events:
The House State Affairs committee will hold hearings on half a dozen stem cell bills Thursday at 8 a.m., room E2.010.
And for the death penalty:
An exoneration hearing today in Dallas will make James Curtis Giles the 13th person cleared in Dallas County based on DNA evidence, and the third this year under the new DA, Craig Watkins. Depending on the count he’s either the 199th or 200th exoneration in the country. As my Observer colleague Patrick Michels says, “Either way, it’s a lot.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Rodney Ellis’ Innocence Commission bill (SB 263) has its hearing in the Criminal Justice Committee, room E1.016, at 10 a.m. The hearing will also include his bills to increase compensation for wrongful imprisonment and to clean up procedures for suspect lineups.
Finally on Wednesday night, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is hosting an event at UT featuring the Rev. Carroll Pickett, “a former prison chaplain who ministered to over a hundred men executed in Texas, and author of the book Within These Walls.” Details on their website.
And then of course, tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. in E1.036, the Senate Finance Committee will be dealing with that little exercise in priorities called the state budget, SB 1. In the past few sessions when money was tight, the budget was usually rammed down the throats of senators without much effective complaint. Now that there is a little extra money and even less love for the Lite Gov. David Dewhurst, there is the potential for interesting alliances and objections.
As always, the Observer blogging team will be searching for pearls among the oysters.
April 11th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
This comment is directed to the author of this topic Megan Headley. Megan will reading thru this article it is clear that you are pro embyonic stem cell research. You quickly try to convince the readers that there is nothing wrong with embryonic research but there clearly is. I want you to think about this examples. A mother duck is quick to attack anything that even remotely puts here eggs into danger…and why is this…the reason is clear it is because those are her children no matter how small and how unformed. Even the duck realizes this. Again… when you take a set of parents that are using invitro fertilization (which is a whole different controvercy in its self) if you were to take that newly fertilized egg the embryo and you were to take that embryo and destroy it infront of those parents what do you think there reaction would be…I can tell you what it would be it would be anger, rage, hostility…why is this reaction provoked you may ask…the answer is easy because these parents know that it was there child that you just destroyed…their offspring…there flesh and blood…no matter how small the child may be. So when you speak about embryonic cells and about them being thrown out and how this is such a waste. You sound like you are just throwing out the trash some common waste but this trash is human life… and they should not be used as research in the first place because to be used as research they are also killed. You wouldn’t let your 8yr old daughter be killed for science, or your 3yr old or your 1month old so why do you let your 8hour old die…. I wish you would just think about what you are saying… because even though you may be set on what you think…others are listining to your words and may be convinced what you say is right because the outcome is so good…But really what good is it to kill our children so that others may live…
Joe