Pace of Texas Executions Slows

Executions of criminals in the state of Texas has markedly slowed in the first half of this year after rapid-fire use of the death penalty over the past four years. Lethal injection has been carried out in the Texas death chamber eight times in 2001, compared with 23 by this time in 2000. Last year, a record number of 40 people were executed in Texas. University of Houston law professor David Dow says the execution pace may simply represent a return to more typical times, considering the number of inmates on death row. He tells The Dallas Morning News that the only reason the current pace seems slow is because there have been so many executions in the past two years. Nineteen inmates were executed in 1995, and new state appellate laws were passed that same year. The number of executions dropped to three in 1996 as the new laws were challenged in court and appeals backed up. But Dow says after the new legal issues were resolved, the number of executions soared to new h! ei! ght s. Thirty-seven inmates were executed in 1997, followed by 20 the following year and 35 in 1999.