Here’s at least one defeat handed to Dubya by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Blocks Texas Execution. ‘The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Thursday night’s execution of a convicted killer
said to be so mentally retarded he spends his days coloring with
crayons and still believes in Santa Claus.
The high court said it wanted more time to decide whether to
hear arguments that Johnny Paul Penry’s mental deficiency was
not properly explained to the jury…. Penry, 44, was to become 38th Texas inmate to be executed
this year – the highest number by any state since the U.S.
Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. It
was the third execution scheduled in as many nights in Texas.
Penry’s case was at the center of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court
decision on executing the retarded, and his impending
execution drew protests from around the world. The European
Union (news – web sites), anti-death penalty groups, the
American Bar Association and advocates for the retarded urged
Texas not to execute to him.’
