AUSTIN, Texas - Attorneys for a Texas man scheduled for execution in eight days are asking a federal judge to order a new sentencing trial, contending that Duane Buck's 1997 sentencing was unconstitutional.

Buck's was one of seven death-penalty cases that then-Attorney General John Cornyn wanted reviewed for what he called an "egregious error": An expert witness told juries that certain races were more likely to be dangerous in the future. While the other six eventually received new trials, Buck, who is African-American, "slipped through the procedural cracks," according to Andrea Keilen, executive director of the Texas Defender Service.

"The bottom line is that his trial was tainted by this racist evidence. So we're asking that he have a fair opportunity, in front of a jury that's not biased by this sort of thing, to argue for his life."

She says the Buck case highlights how the death penalty is sometimes applied unfairly, even after the question of guilt or innocence has been settled.

Buck shot and killed Debra Gardner and Kenneth Butler in 1995, and injured Phyllis Taylor, who now says she has forgiven him and wants his life spared. Keilen says allowing race to factor into the sentencing violated both the due-process and equal-protection clauses of the Constitution.

"It's something that should not be controversial. It's something that should be obvious to everyone, both at the official level and the public at large, that this can't be tolerated when someone's life is on the line."

Buck's lawyers also have asked current Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and Gov. Rick Perry to intervene. So far, Keilen says, everyone who could postpone the Sept. 15 execution has remained silent on the matter.

"Whether or not anyone intervenes - or even makes a decision until at the last minute - we just don't know."

Perry has allowed 235 executions during his 10 years as governor. He has granted clemency only once, not counting capital cases in which the Supreme Court intervened.

The clemency petition for Buck is online at scribd.com.


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New York City community advocates want to reduce the number of stop-and-frisk encounters with police.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New York City reported the city's police department made more than 15,000 stops so far in 2023, the most since 2015. Data also show police primarily stopped Black and Latino people, although they were mostly innocent or not given a summons.

Christine Rivera, defense attorney for adolescents at Bronx Defenders, said the City Council is looking at legislation to increase transparency about why the stops are necessary.

"What the How Many Stops Act is asking for is, we want reports on those lower-level encounters as well," Rivera explained. "First of all, the federal monitor said that 29% of all Level 3 stops are not even being properly recorded. So, we don't even have the proper data for what is required right now."

The bill also calls for proper documentation of Level 1 and Level 2 stops. The measure builds on the Right to Know Act, which went into effect in 2018.

Rivera noted once the bill is passed, community groups such as hers will work on implementation, including developing a new documentation system, seeing what kind of oversight can eliminate problems and determining the training police officers will need for the new system.

Some precincts comply with federal monitors, but Rivera pointed out that those locations are not primarily where Black and Latino people are being stopped. In order for real change to come about, she feels state legislators might have to step in, since it is a growing problem on Long Island as well.

"Having our state legislators and our representatives apply pressure on the NYPD," Rivera suggested. "A lot of these police unions play a powerful role in these spaces, and maybe holding our council members' feet to the fire to say, 'Listen, you can't keep supporting this institution when it's causing so much harm in the community that you're representing.'"

She added community outreach and education has helped people understand the issues at hand. Her goal is to continue meeting with legislators and constituents to maintain the momentum on increasing police transparency.

Senate lawmakers are soon expected to vote on the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act, legislation introduced this year by Republican Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.

The bill would allow doctors to prescribe and pharmacies to dispense methadone for people with opioid-use disorder. Currently, methadone is tightly regulated and can only be accessed through certified opioid treatment facilities.

Jordan Scott, digital advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network, said the regulations mostly affect people in rural regions who cannot get to methadone clinics or who end up using diverted methadone, which can lead to arrests and time in jail.

"There are some states, like West Virginia, where there's a state law in effect that places a hold on any new opioid treatment programs opening within the state," Scott pointed out. "And when we look at really rural areas, those numbers of how many people able to access methadone goes down even further."

Methadone is a Schedule II drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Critics of the bill argue methadone is an opiate which can be abused, and in some cases may be replacing one addictive medication for another, especially if used in isolation, without counseling or as part of a treatment program.

Scott contends the bill would make people less likely to rely on using street-supply substances with a high risk of containing fentanyl, if they know they can obtain methadone safely and locally.

"If my closest clinic is an hour-and-a-half, two hours away, but my primary care doctor is 20 minutes away, this act would allow me to be able to go to my primary care doctor," Scott emphasized.

The Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act would also require the federal government to track data nationwide on methadone prescriptions and the number of providers.

Government accountability groups want increased transparency in New York criminal court decisions. This comes after a new report finds only 6% of decisions are published annually.

Since the number of judges presiding over criminal cases isn't made available by the court system, it's uncertain how many judges aren't publishing decisions. Of the 600 New York criminal court judges publishing at least one decision, 20 were responsible for 28% of all decisions published.

Oded Oren, executive director of Scrutinize, a judicial accountability group, explained why transparency is so important.

"When decisionmakers or New Yorkers need to make a decision about whether to reappoint or re-elect a judge, it is important that they have information before them to understand how this judge is applying the law and what their decisions are," Oren said.

Without these written decisions, assessing judicial decision making and its impacts are much harder. One concern is a person's identity being made public in a published ruling.

Oren pointed out that, instead of putting a person's full name, judges can use a person's initials, their last name only or simply redact that information.

While laws are on the books about how decisions can be published, they're not being enforced. Reasons these decisions aren't being published include judges having high workloads, or feeling their day-to-day rulings aren't so important.

Rachael Fauss, senior policy analyst with Reinvent Albany, said there are ways to make it easier for judicial decisions to be published.

"Sometimes oral decisions are given, so a judge will say what the decision is and there's a transcript of that," Fauss said. "So, the transcripts could get published in the cases where there is not a written decision."

The report's recommendations include passing a bill requiring written decisions by criminal court judges to be publicly available online. This legislation will be introduced during the 2024 session of the New York State Legislature.


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