Question

Describe how Texas laws protect our civil liberties and basic civil rights. What are your thoughts on the James Byrd, Jr., case? In your opinion, should Texas still have the death penalty?

Answer 1

Texas civil liberties and civil rights:

Political scientists and Legal Experts make a distinction between civil liberties and civil rights. the constitution has been interpreted to protect both civil liberties and civil rights. civil liberties as being limitations on government power it is intended to protect freedom that governments Mein not legally intrude on. for example, the Texas constitutions article 1 section 6 denies the government the power to prohibit the freedom of worship of religion; the states and the national government cannot force people to follow a religion of their choice, even if politicians and judges think the religion is misguided or otherwise inappropriate. you are free to create your own religion and recruit followers to it, even if both society and government disapprove of its tenets. Similarly, the Texas constitution's article 1 section 13 States the government cannot impose Cruel and unusual punishment on individuals for their criminal acts. although the definitions of cruel and unusual have expanded over the years, the court has generally and consistently interpret this provision as making it constitutional for government officials to torture suspects.

Civil rights on the other hand is the guarantee that the government officials will treat people equally and that decisions will be made on the basis of merit rather than race gender or other personal characteristics. because of the constitutions civil rights guarantee it is unlawful for a school or university run by a state government to treat students differently based on their race ethnicity age sex or National origin. In the 1960 and 1970 many states had separate schools where only students of a certain race or gender were able to study. however the court decided that these policies violated the Civil rights of students who could not be admitted because of those rules. the proclamation that all men are created equal appears in the declaration of independence.

James byrd Jr. poison African American man who was murdered by three white Supremacists , in Texas on June 7 1998. Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer and John King dragged James for Three Mile behind a pickup truck along and concrete Road James who remained conscious for much of his audience was killed about Halfway through the dragging when his body hit the age of a culvert severing his right arm and head. The murderers drove on for another one and half miles before dumping James in front of a black cemetery in Texas.

The murders were given the death sentence which was the right punishment for their brutal killing of James. According to the civil rights of Texas when all are treated equally , the white Americans should not ill treat the African and kill him, the death penalty is the right decision by the court.