The Dallas Morning News Overturns Century-Old Support for Death Penalty

DALLAS, April 16 /PRNewswire/ — The Dallas Morning News on Sunday,
April 15 ended its century-old support of the Texas death penalty and
devoted its editorial section, Points, to establishing its strong
opposition. In doing so, the News became the largest newspaper in the state
to call for the abolition of the death penalty. In the Monday, April 16
edition, the editorial board outlined steps that Austin should take to
reform Texas law in this regard.
Over the past few years, the editorial board increasingly endorsed
restrictions to the Texas death penalty, such as in cases involving minors
or mental retardation. Recent technology advances regarding the use of DNA
and new Texas laws allowing sentences of life without parole also
contributed to the evolving criminal justice climate studied by the board
as it reviewed its position over the past several months.
“This board has lost confidence that the state of Texas can guarantee
that every inmate it executes is truly guilty of murder. We do not believe
that any legal system devised by inherently flawed human beings can
determine with moral certainty the guilt of every defendant convicted of
murder,” wrote the editorial board. “That is why we believe the state of
Texas should abandon the death penalty - because we cannot reconcile the
fact that it is both imperfect and irreversible.”
Keven Ann Willey, editorial page editor and chair of the editorial
board, will hold a live online chat on Monday, April 16 at 2:00 p.m.
central time. Complete editorial coverage and chat transcript can be viewed
at dallasnews.com/opinion.
About The Dallas Morning News
Established in 1885, The Dallas Morning News is the nation’s 10th
largest newspaper and serves a readership of nearly 1.6 million. The
newspaper has received eight Pulitzer Prizes since 1986, as well as
numerous other industry awards recognizing the quality of its investigative
and feature journalism, design and photojournalism. Its Web site,
DallasNews.com, received the Scripps Howard Foundation National Award for
Web Reporting in 2005. In 2003, the paper launched the leading
Spanish-language daily in North Texas, Al Dia; the standard-setting free
weekday paper, Quick; and the nation’s first editorial blog. The Dallas
Morning News is the flagship newspaper subsidiary of Belo Corp. (NYSE:
BLC), one of the nation’s largest media companies with a diversified group
of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media
assets. A Fortune 1000 company with 7,100 employees and $1.6 billion in
annual revenues, Belo operates in some of America’s most dynamic markets in
Texas, the Northwest, the Southwest, the Mid-Atlantic and Rhode Island.

SOURCE The Dallas Morning News