Lawyers for Kimberly McCarthy, who is to be executed on January 29, have petitioned Texas Governor Rick Perry for a 30-day reprieve because of evidence of racial bias in the county in which she was tried. The District Attorney for Dallas County, Craig Watkins, has already called for passage of a Racial Justice Act to address the bias he has found. Attorneys for McCarthy cited several studies pointing to racial disparity in the application of the death penalty: Dallas County is about 22% black, yet 42% of those executed or awaiting execution from the County are black. Ms. McCarthy is black and her victim was white, like 68% of the victims in the County's cases. Her attorneys wrote, “These statistics and their import are reflected in the case of Kimberly McCarthy, an African-American woman, who was sentenced to death for the murder of an elderly white woman." Evidence also exists of bias in jury selection, both historically and in her case: "Of the thirteen jurors seated [in McCarthy’s case], all were white except one.” Although the governor cannot grant clemency to McCarthy because the Pardons Board voted against her, he can issue a 30-day reprieve for further investigation. UPDATE: State District Judge Larry Mitchell stayed McCarthy's execution. Her new execution date is April 3, 2013.
New information on 
In a new study in Harris County (Houston), Texas, criminologist Scott Phillips found significant racial and gender disparities in the application of the death penalty under former District Attorney Charles Rosenthal. Prof. Phillips of the University of Denver examined homicides from 2001 to 2008 and found that death sentences were imposed on behalf of white victims at 2.5 times the rate one would expect if the system were race neutral. Furthermore, death sentences were imposed on behalf of white-female victims at 5 times the rate one would expect if the system were blind to race and gender. Phillips noted that these disparities were particularly troubling because Rosenthal was forced from office in a scandal involving racial improprieties in the workplace. In a 
On January 30, a Texas judge stayed the execution of Larry Swearingen, scheduled for February 27. Swearingen's lawyers argued more time was required to complete DNA testing agreed to by the prosecution, which they believe will prove his innocence. This is the fourth such delay he has received. Five forensic experts have concluded that the decomposition of the victim’s body shows she was killed while Swearingen was in jail on unrelated charges, thereby pointing to his innocence. The attorneys are also asking for additional DNA testing. In 2011, changes to the state’s DNA-testing law allowed new testing for evidence not previously analyzed and for evidence that was tested but can now be re-examined with newer technology. Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, who is representing Swearingen, said, ”The Texas Legislature has made it clear that DNA testing should be allowed when there is a possibility it could help prove innocence, and the testing Mr. Swearingen is seeking could shed light on many unanswered questions in this case.”
Dallas County (Texas) District Attorney Craig Watkins said he plans to advocate for a state law to allow death row inmates to appeal their conviction or sentence using studies showing that racial bias affected the process. Such laws have been passed in North Carolina and Kentucky and are referred to as a "Racial Justice Act." Watkins said, “Throughout history, race has unfortunately played a part, an ugly part, in our criminal justice system. This is an opportunity for us to address not only the past, and those individuals who are still being affected by the disparities in treatment, but also in looking forward to make sure that we don’t have those same disparities in our criminal justice system.” A 2008 study in Texas conducted by a University of Denver professor revealed that black defendants in Harris County, which includes Houston, were more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants. Watkins added, “I’m just of the opinion that if we’re going to seek it that it has to be fairly administrated. No matter where you come from, what you look like, it has to be fairly administrated.”
As legislative sessions begin across the country, legislators in several states have proposed bills to abolish or reform the death penalty in 2013. In Alabama, Sen. Hank Sanders will introduce bills to abolish the death penalty, or alternatively to institute a series of reforms. “I believe the death penalty is not only unproductive but counter-productive,” he said. Texas will also consider a number of death penalty reform bills, including restrictions on certain types of evidence, and the creation of an innocence commission. Colorado Sen. Claire Levy is drafting a bill to abolish the death penalty. "We have increasing concerns about the possibility of executing an innocent person," said Levy. Kentucky Rep. Carl Rollins plans to propose a bill to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. In Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley has voiced support for a bill to end the death penalty and direct some of the money saved to murder victims' families. New Hampshire's Gov. Margaret Hassan also supports abolition, and a bill is likely to be introduced in that state. In Oregon, where Gov. John Kitzhaber instituted a moratorium on executions for the remainder of his term, Rep. Mitch Greenlick plans to introduce a bill beginning the process of abolishing the death penalty.
In a recent op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, former Texas District Attorneys Grant Jones and Sam Millsap (pictured) encouraged the state legislature to reconsider the death penalty. "Both of us have been involved in the execution of men who may well have been innocent," they said, mentioning three cases that "raise serious doubts about the wisdom of continuing the death penalty." Two of the cases, those of Carlos DeLuna and Ruben Cantu, involved possible eyewitness errors. In the third case, Cameron Willingham was executed for setting the house fire that killed his daughters, but new evidence suggests the fire was accidental. Jones and Millsap said Texas is part of a "nationwide trend away from the death penalty" and that "Texans are less willing to take the risk of executing people who are innocent. You see it when they sit on juries. Death sentences in Texas have dropped more than 75 percent since 2002 and remain near historic lows in 2012." They concluded that recent reforms "make the system more accurate, but no one argues that they will catch every mistake....The professionals who administer our justice system cannot guarantee that they will never be without fault." Read the entire op-ed below.
A new report on the death penalty in Texas found that death sentences have declined by more than 75% since 2002, and more than half of all new death sentences were imposed in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this year, while no new death sentences were imposed in Harris County (Houston) for the third time in five years. The report, “