· There is no statewide system of legal aid in Texas and no standards of competency exist for court-appointed
    defense attorneys, even in capital cases.

· The execution of the mentally retarded contravenes international human rights standards.

· All international human rights treaties prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on anyone under 18 years of age
    at the time of the crime. At the end of 1997, there were 25 men on death row in Texas who were sentenced at the age
    of 17. The racial disparities in the sentencing of juvenile offenders to death in Texas may well be the most
    disproportionate in the USA

· Some Texas officials are so eager to have prisoners executed that they are even willing to openly contemplate the
    execution of an innocent prisoner.

· Although juries are required to assess a capital defendant's "future dangerousness" before deciding upon the
    sentence, the Texas Constitution prohibits a defense attorney from informing the jury that a defendant sentenced to
    life imprisonment under current laws would not even be considered for parole for 40 years-

· The rulings of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in death penalty cases are a maze of contradictory and
    sometimes bizarre decisions- The Court has consistently refused to uphold the appeals of death row inmates, even
    when clear violations of the law or Constitution have taken place.

· Amnesty International considers the clemency/commutation procedures in Texas to be in violation of international
    human rights standards. Since the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976, the Texas Board of Pardons and
    Paroles has never recommended commutation after considering a request from a condemned inmate.

· The conditions of incarceration of death row inmates in Texas are so severe that no prisoner should be seen as
     freely "consenting" to their execution. Many prisoners spend up to 23 hours a day in tiny 5 x 9 feet cells which
     become extremely hot in summer.

· Amnesty International remains concerned that the politicization of the judiciary, via the electoral process in Texas,
    detracts from its ability to dispense justice in an impartial and fair manner.

· Public support for the death penalty in Texas remains strong, undermining any political will that might ensure the
    provision of competent and adequate legal aid for indigent defendants on trial for their lives.

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