Jamaal Howard: Executed Without Understanding Why

Jamal Howard is over here in the death house, but until the Supreme Court makes a ruling, they will not, uh, move him to the gurney.

Right now we don't have any confirmation that the execution will proceed.

We're waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court 'cause it's a complicated case.

Howard is intellectually disabled.

It's unconstitutional to kill him because of that.

But it's unconstitutional only since 2002, and he was sentenced in 2001.

So his attorney went in front of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals to challenge this, but what the court did at that time, they said, "Well, let's look at it.

Is he intellectual disabled or not? No, he's able to plan a crime, so no, he's good to go.

He's smart enough." Actually, the standards that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals used to say that he was okay to be executed were struck down in 2017 by the US Supreme Court.

Once again, they say, "No, this is not science.

This is not science.

Those standards are not good at all." And since then, Howard has never been back in front of a court to challenge this death sentence.

So we're waiting for that decision.

So we're gonna keep checking with the Supreme Court's page, and we'll see what happens.

I'm covering this execution for Execution Watch on KPFT.

But CDCJ, the Texas Administration, did not let me inside the media area, pretending that I arrived too late.

I arrived at the same time that the other days, but I don't know why today they didn't let me in, and they did not send me any witness list.