In another instance of judicially induced nausea, Judge Keller is under tremendous fire for her part in the ultimate execution of convicted felon Michael Richards. Think whatever you want to about the death penalty and about whether you think she was right or not but I will paraphrase Sister Helen Prejean (of Dead Man Walking fame) who spoke at my church about two Sundays ago and said: Is it fair to reduce someone’s life just to the worst thing that they’ve ever done?
Mark Bennett has a much better take on the whole thing than I do at:
http://www.bennettandbennett.com/blog/2007/10/sharon-keller-cont.html
And I thought an article by a former court of appeals clerk in the Chronicle spoke volumes as well.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5231289.html
October 23, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Sign Our Judicial Complaint Against Judge Sharon Keller
If you are as shocked as we were by Judge Sharon Keller saying “We close at 5″ and refusing to accept an appeal 20 minutes after 5 PM by lawyers representing a man about to be executed, then sign on to this complaint. We will submit this complaint to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct on October 30, 2007. Anyone can sign the complaint.