The Texas "Law of Parties" (7.02)

When They Execute You for Just Being There

When you think of executions and death row, do you picture a cold blooded murderer? Someone who has committed a heinous crime? Locked up to protect the rest of society? Someone who must be executed or else they will kill again? If that is the image that comes to your mind, you may be surprised to find out that this is not necessary the case.

Executions are not reserved just for the most heinous crimes anymore, and actually there are states considering the crime of child rape, to be punishable by death. Louisiana has already sent one man to death row for a crime of rape, and not murder. According to The Christian Science Monitor, Patrick Kennedy has been sentenced to die for the rape of a minor.

Along with Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas are also considering "child rape" to be punishable by death.

Nobody likes a child rapist, and our children must be protected somehow, but aren't there alternatives, other than the death penalty? I feel if we start killing rapists, along with murderers, what will be next? Is our nation turning the death penalty into an alternative to prison?

The leading state of executions, Texas, has another law on their books that allows someone to be sentenced to die for being present at the scene of the crime. That law is called the Texas Law of Parties (7.02). It's a law that claims you can be "criminally responsible for the conduct of another." You don't have to necessarily be the "triggerman," and the courts can know this, but yet they can sentence you to die. Over 80 inmates are said to be at The Polunsky Unit in Livingston Texas are on death row, sentenced under "The Law of Parties." Inmates that the courts know have not actually murdered anyone.

According to Texas Legislation website you can be sentence to death according to the Law of Parties if: