How many executions did Bush "order" while Governor of Texas?

[MysteryFellow63427]

In Texas, the governor has the limited power to stay an execution once, for 30 days only, unless Board of Pardons and Paroles makes a recommendation for clemency.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is appointed by the Governor and is notoriously pro-death penalty. Bush is often criticized for the executions he allowed during the tenure of his governorship, but how many times did he actually reject a recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles and order an inmate executed?

Related question: How many times during Bush’s tenure (or any other time periods) did the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommend clemency vs execution for inmates on death row?

[Johnny_Hildo]

To answer part of the question, the only death sentence W ever commuted as governor was a nice little fellow named Henry Lee Lucas.

From the article:

Lucas’s sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1998 by then-Governor George W. Bush. His was the only death penalty case among the 153 that came across George W. Bush’s desk in his tenure as Texas Governor (including that of Karla Faye Tucker) in which Governor Bush intervened and commuted the death sentence.

[Duckster]

Here’s a 2005 NY Times book review commentary, by the author of Dead Man Walking.

This paragraph was chilling for me:

As governor, Bush certainly did not stand apart in his routine refusal to deny clemency to death row petitioners, but what does set him apart is the sheer number of executions over which he has presided. Callous indifference to human suffering may also set Bush apart. He may be the only government official to mock a condemned person’s plea for mercy, then lie about it afterward, claiming humane feelings he never felt. On the contrary, it seems that Bush is comfortable with using violent solutions to solve troublesome social and political realities.

[Duke_of_Rat]

I don’t think the governor orders executions, seems like it’s the court that imposes the punishment.

At any rate, there were about 23 people removed from death row in Texas during the time Bush was governor (and about 153 executed). I say about because the stats are given per year, and Bush didn’t take or leave office exactly at the start or end of the years.

Lists of executions:

http://www.txexecutions.org/stats.asp

List of pardons granted:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20106/tsl-20106.html#a23

Looks like 26 pardons granted. I don’t see Henry Lee Lucas in the list.

[John_Mace]

@Duckster

Here’s a 2005 NY Times book review commentary, by the author of Dead Man Walking.

This paragraph was chilling for me:

nitpick: The New York Review of Books is not the NYT Book Reivew. It’s a common error.

[Johnny_Hildo]

@Duke of Rat

Looks like 26 pardons granted. I don’t see Henry Lee Lucas in the list.

A sentence commutation is not a pardon.

[Duke_of_Rat]

@Johnny Hildo

To answer part of the question, the only death sentence W ever commuted as governor was a nice little fellow named Henry Lee Lucas.

From the article:

Ricky Nolen McGinn was given a stay of execution until DNA evidence confirmed his guilt then his execution was carried out.

Yeah, yeah, a stay of execution isn’t a commutation or a pardon. Got it.

This whole deal has to do, I bet, with the Bush/Libby deal. Some talk of he had never given a pardon/reprieve/commutation/stay-whatever-while Governor. He did.

[CynicalGabe]

Bush didn’t order a single execution while governor of Texas.

[Diceman]

@Duke of Rat

This whole deal has to do, I bet, with the Bush/Libby deal.

While we’re at it, Bush didn’t pardon Libby either. He commuted the prison time, but Libby is still a convicted felon.

[Johnny_Hildo]

@CynicalGabe

Bush didn’t order a single execution while governor of Texas.

I think by “order” he meant “signs the death warrant.” But whatever.

[Walloon]

It’s more than a “whatever”. Judges and juries order the death penalty, not the governor.

[Johnny_Hildo]

@Walloon

It’s more than a “whatever”. Judges and juries order the death penalty, not the governor.

But can it go through without the governor’s signature? I don’t know the answer to this.

[Johnny_Hildo]

@neuroman

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is appointed by the Governor and is notoriously pro-death penalty. Bush is often criticized for the executions he allowed during the tenure of his governorship, but how many times did he actually reject a recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles and order an inmate executed?

Let’s look at the Karla Faye Tucker case.

From the article:

Under Texas law, each death penalty case has one chance to be reprieved by a governor without the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board must recommend the second reprieve in order for it to be granted. All 18 members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles are appointed by the governor (Clark, 2000). Before Tucker was executed, there were pleas for clemency from Waly Bacre Ndiaye, the United Nations commissioner on summary and arbitrary executions, the World Council of Churches, Pope John Paul II, and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, among other world figures. Unusual pleas came from conservative American political figures such as Newt Gingrich and Pat Robertson, interceding on her behalf.

Regardless of what you think about W’s presidential politics, I would say that this decision deserves an entry in Profiles in Courage.

[anson2995]

@Johnny Hildo

But can it go through without the governor’s signature? I don’t know the answer to this.

Absolutely. The whole matter proceeds from the day of sentencing to the day of execution without any involvement by the governor, unless he choses to interject himself by issuing a pardon or commuting the sentence. In other words, Bush never “approved” or “authorized” any executions while governor of Texas, he simply refused to stop them.

[Loach]

Since this is GQ here is the number of executions in Texas since 1974. It also has how many were removed from death row.