Wayman Newton: The line of injustice on Texas death row

While I'm ordinarily against the death penalty, I think Andrea Yates should have been given an all-expenses paid trip to the Texas death chamber. And there are five good reasons why.

Oliver Cruz, a mentally retarded man once confined to a psychiatric hospital, was convicted of raping and murdering a young woman in 1988. Cruz's father was known for his excessive drug use and alcoholism, and the family had a history of mental illness.

In spite of this evidence, Cruz was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed by the state of Texas on Aug. 9, 2000.

Tony Tyrone Dixon, who has a history of mental illness and an IQ of 65, murdered Elizabeth Peavy in an attempted car theft. During his trial, substantial evidence was presented to show his condition made him accountable for his actions, but this was not enough to keep him from getting the death penalty.

He has been on Texas death row since May 17, 1995.

Emile Pierre Duhamel, a paranoid schizophreniac with an IQ of 56, was charged with the 1984 murder and rape of a 9-year-old girl in Harligen, Texas.

Despite his mental history, Duhamel was convicted of murder and given the death penalty. While awaiting his execution, Duhamel died on death row of natural causes on July 9, 1998.

Doil Lane, a mentally ill man with an IQ between 62 and 70, was found guilty of the 1980 murder and rape of an 8-year-old girl in San Marcos, Texas.

During his trial, much evidence was presented about his mental state, but it wasn't enough to protect Doil from receiving the ultimate punishment. He was sentenced to death row where he currently awaits his final day.

Johnny Penry, who suffers from organic brain damage, was accused of the murder and rape of 22-year-old female in Livingston, Texas.

Although he has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old, he was still found guilty and sentenced to die.

If these five mentally ill, poor men can be sentenced to death despite their mental illness, then why couldn't justice mete out the same to Andrea Yates? Her crime was just as gruesome and horrific as theirs, if not more so. By the numbers, Yates killed almost as many people as the other five combined.

Andrea Yates was spared a death sentence because of who she was -- a white, middle class housewife. She did not fit the right profile. We don't like to execute people like her.

But rest assured, if Andrea Yates were a poor black male, or a poor white male for that matter, she would almost certainly find herself on death row.

But she isn't. And so she gets to live. Wayman Newton is a senior Political Science major from Birmingham, AL.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.