Texas execution looms after jury consult Bible - Amnesty USA

If you want to know how some humans are completely unintelligent then read the story below.
Bear in mind the jurors are alleged to have consulted a book of fiction to determine the man's fate.
A book of fiction!
Please let me know what you think:

"A Texas man who faces execution after jurors at his trial consulted the Bible when deliberating his fate should have his death sentence commuted, Amnesty International said on Friday.

Khristian Oliver, 32, is set to be killed on 5 November after jurors used Biblical passages supporting the death penalty to help them decide whether he should live or die.

Amnesty International is calling on the Texas authorities to commute Khristian Oliver's death sentence. The organization considers that the jurors' use of the Bible during their sentencing deliberations raises serious questions about their impartiality.

A US federal appeals court acknowledged last year that the jurors' use of the Bible amounted to an "external influence" prohibited under the US Constitution, but nonetheless upheld the death sentence.

Khristian Oliver was sentenced to death in 1999 for a murder committed during a burglary. According to accomplice testimony at the trial, 20-year-old Oliver shot the victim before striking him on the head with a rifle butt.

After the trial, evidence emerged that jurors had consulted the Bible during their sentencing deliberations. At a hearing in June 1999, four of the jurors recalled that several Bibles had been present and highlighted passages had been passed around.

One juror had read aloud from the Bible to a group of fellow jurors, including the passage, "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death".

The judge ruled that the jury had not acted improperly and this was upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

In 2002, a Danish journalist interviewed a fifth juror. The latter said that "about 80 per cent" of the jurors had "brought scripture into the deliberation", and that the jurors had consulted the Bible "long before we ever reached a verdict".

He told the journalist he believed "the Bible is truth from page 1 to the last page", and that if civil law and biblical law were in conflict, the latter should prevail. He said that if he had been told he could not consult the Bible, "I would have left the courtroom". He described himself as a death penalty supporter, saying life imprisonment was a "burden" on the taxpayer.

In 2008, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the jurors had "crossed an important line" by consulting specific passages in the Bible that described the very facts at issue in the case. This amounted to an "external influence" on the jury prohibited under the US Constitution.

However, it concluded that under the "highly deferential standard" by which federal courts should review state court decisions, Oliver had failed to prove that he had been prejudiced by this unconstitutional juror conduct. In April 2009, the US Supreme Court refused to take the case, despite being urged to take it by nearly 50 former US federal and state prosecutors."

Amnesty USA.org

Are Black People allowed to Critically Analyse Other Black People?

I had a discussion with a relative of mine recently concerning black history and some black writers. My relative took particular exception to my criticism of certain aspects of IvanVan Sertima's book 'They Came Before Columbus'. On discussing her objections further it became clear that her real objection was that I could dare to make a critical comment about another black person. Her reasoning was that if, as Prof. Van Sertima had tried to do, the aim was to make more black people aware of their history then if he fabricated a few stories then he should be completely forgiven as the ends justified the means.
Words failed me. Then I understood: 'Oh, you mean like the Bible?' I said.

She couldn't see the link and advised me that she loved black people and anybody who felt it necessary to criticise black people quite clearly didn't. Anyway, Prof Van Sertima's aim was to (having both read his other books) 'enable black people to reclaim their kings and queens and princesses'.
Very much in the vein, it seems to me, as the absolute rubbish espoused by those who revere Haile Selassie and call themselves Rasta. So now we can look to Africa and say we have a black person who is similar to the Queen! It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Don't criticise black people. (A bit like the 'don't snitch' policy, eh?)
I don't think, like my relative does, that being 'spiritual' andwhat I call a 'Designer African' is positive for black people, especially when it is wrapped up in a belief in the supernatural.
Bullshit is bullshit no matter how it is dressed up and black people should not be excluded from any form of critical analysis.

Just in case you don't know: I don't care where you are from - your colour of skin, hair, race, belief system, gender, sexual orientation or anything else - if you are black you will not be excluded from criticism, praise or even indifference. The same applies to any 'group' I come across.
I chose 'black woman thinks' as the name of this blog to enable people to find me in amongst the billions of sites out there, but don't be fooled into thinking that this site is a lovefest exclusively for black people and all other groups will be trashed.

I don't speak for or on behalf of any group. I have my opinions but I am not the voice of 'the black world' or women (what a horrible thought!) and I will continue to try my best to see the world as it really is and not try to ignore things that make me feel uncomfortable or embrace fabricated myths as truth.

I don't always succeed but as the late Carl Sagan said:

“I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies”


What do you think?

Time for Change...

I have decided to simplify my blog. Make it easier to read and navigate by narrowing the width of the page and so on.
What you might call a bit of spring cleaning and I intend to get back to highlighting some brilliant blogs and equally brilliant people out there like GeneralX, Ralph Dumain, etc. as well as some of my observations about people and life.

I want to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who has taken the time to comment here and especially those who drop by regularly. Without readers and visitors this blog would not be what it is. Thank YOU!!