Imagine you are the father of a 2-year-old girl. You wake up and find her unresponsive.
You rush her to the emergency room. Doctors observe the girl was in very poor
condition upon arrival. She cannot be saved and she dies. People at the hospital think
your behavior is odd. Detective Brian Wharton investigates and suspects you murdered
your daughter. You are accused of “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and are sentenced to
death.
Robert Roberson has been on death row since 2003. Since that time, it has been
revealed that Roberson is autistic, which explains the behavior observed in the
emergency room. Also, his daughter had been suffering from pneumonia, which had
progressed into sepsis by the time she was delivered to the emergency room, which
may explain why the doctors thought her condition was too severe to not have been
caused by Roberson. Evidence of physical damage to the girl suggesting Roberson
abused her now appears to be the result of the efforts made by doctors to revive her.
“Shaken Baby Syndrome” is currently considered to be junk science. Detective Brian
Wharton now believes Roberson is innocent and advocates for his exoneration.
I understand why Roberson was sentenced. Roberson had a criminal record and
witnesses testified that he had been violent. It is questionable whether these witnesses
can be considered reliable. The jury in 2003 was not aware of the new evidence that
Detective Brian Wharton believe exonerates Roberson. This new evidence is why in
2024, 84 members of the Texas House of Representatives signed a clemency petition
for Roberson.
The governor of Texas cannot pardon. That authority lies with the board of Pardons and
Paroles. I realize this board has previously denied commutation. The governor can
request the board reconsider the case and issue a pardon.
Greg Abbott won’t. I will.
There is a perception that Muslims are not native and are terrorists. That seems to
inspire politicians like Greg Abbott to accuse Texas Muslims of crimes. They know
there are Texas voters that are afraid of Muslims.
We know there are Muslim extremists who have a violent interpretation of the Koran.
Inherent to traditional Islam is the concept of “apostacy” that considered it an offense to
leave Islam, and that Muslims should proselytize to convert the entire world into Islam.
It is also true that most Muslims reject compulsory Islam and are peaceful and
productive people like other Texans.
While the governor of Texas has a responsibility to defend the life and property of all
Texans, it should never be done by inciting hatred and fear toward a particular creed,
race, or other such category. When you hear politicians accuse Muslims of spreading
Sharia law in Texas, this is an erroneous and misleading interpretation of Islamic
tribunals, which resolve religious disputes in the same way as Jewish beth din courts or
Christian religious arbitration. When the governor declared the Council on American-
Islamic Relations (CAIR) a foreign terrorist organization, where is the proof? If CAIR
sent funding to HAMAS I would condemn them, but the principle of our law is that you
are innocent until proven guilty.
Greg Abbott now wants to pull a public safety grant from the city of Grand Prairie. The
governor claims the city is using a government asset for a Muslim religious activity. The
organizers say it is paid for by people buying tickets for the event, and similar Christian
and Jewish events using government assets have not been impeded.
Every Texan is an individual with the same rights as every other Texan. If you have not
harmed others, the governor of Texas should recognize your liberty and defend your
rights.
Legislative districts exist to ensure voters have roughly equivalent representation for
their region in government. The purpose of a census every 10 years is to determine
how many people live in those regions so that districts can maintain equivalent
representation.
If I was governor of Texas, and the president of the United States asked me to interrupt
a special session intended to address emergency response to floods to instead redraw
5 year old legislative districts favorable to the president, my answer is no.
Political parties have used redistricting in a perverse manner. It has become a cliché
that they are choosing voters instead of voters choosing their representatives. In 2003
a Libertarian named Jon Roland presented a plan (https://constitution.org/1-
Activism/reform/us/tx/redistrict/cnpr.htm) to the Texas legislature making use of software
that Texas already has. It would allow the software to produce non-partisan district
maps that are compact and fair.
Political parties should not override the will of the voters. We need non-partisan
redistricting.