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The ECADP's Appeal for Toronto Patterson
The State of Texas has set yet another
date for the execution of a juvenile
offender. Toronto Patterson, aged just
24, is scheduled to be executed on
August 28th 2002.
Toronto was convicted of the murders
of his cousin, Kimberly Brewer, and
her daughters, Jennifer (aged 6) and
Ollie (aged 3) on 6th June 1995.
This petition in no way attempts to
excuse this crime or belittle the distress
this crime has caused to the Brewer
family.
To: Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Rick Perry, Governor of Texas.
We, the undersigned, wish to express
our concerns about the impending
execution of juvenile offender, Toronto
Patterson, and respectfully request
that his execution be stayed and consideration
is given to commuting the
sentence to life imprisonment. The
appeal is made on the following grounds:
International Law:
The International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the
United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC) specifically
forbid the execution of juvenile offenders.
While it is understood that the
United States of America expressed
it right to execute juveniles when
ratifying the ICCPR and has not yet
ratified the CRC, we appeal to the Board
and to the Governor not to further
isolate the United States in the
developed world by sanctioning this
execution.
If this crime had been committed in
any other developed nation, a death
penalty would not have been imposed.
Only Iran and the Democratic Republic
of Congo have judicially executed juveniles
in the past three years …
countries which do not sit comfortably
in a category with the United States.
The United States, and specifically
Texas, is now virtually alone in the
international community in imposing
the death penalty on juvenile
offenders – only eight nations worldwide
sanction juvenile executions.
Indeed, within the United States, the
execution of juveniles has recently
been halted in Indiana and is under
review in nine other States.
Human Rights:
Scientific, psychological research has
illustrated that an adolescents are
still developing in many areas of identity
and character. At this time of
great change, cognitive skills, such
as reasoning ability, impulse control,
and an understanding of the long-term
effects on ones behaviour are still
very much under development. For this
reason, responsible States impose
protective limitations upon their juvenile
citizens such as restricting the
purchase of alcohol, prohibiting the
entering into credit agreements and
other contracts, and restricting the
age at which a person can vote. Yet,
for a crime committed at the age of
only seventeen years, Toronto Patterson,
unable to buy alcohol, enter into a
credit agreement or vote, was sentenced
to the death penalty. For the same
reasons that juveniles are protected from
social responsibilities, they should
also be protected from capital
punishment.
Furthermore, Toronto Patterson had a
somewhat disturbed upbringing which, we assert, impacted upon his development
into adolescence. Toronto was born to a single teenaged mother in a deprived
neighbourhood. As a result of his
mother’s frequent drug and alcohol
use, he was neglected and often endured
physically abusive forms of discipline
and punishment. He also had to abide
his mother’s many boyfriends throughout
his childhood. When Toronto was
nine, his sister Kanisha, who suffered
from a serious brain defect, was
born. Toronto was left to provide much
of the care she required up until she
died, aged just two years. The effect
this event would have on an
eleven-year-old boy is simply unimaginable.
However, despite all of this
this, Toronto performed well at school
until he was forced to drop out of
the education system in order to provide
himself with the most basic if
necessities. Unfortunately, at this
time, he became involved with his cousin
and began selling drugs, although he
never actually used any drugs himself.
The undersigned believe that not enough
weight was attributed to these
mitigating circumstances when imposing
the death penalty in this case as
opposed to life imprisonment.
Toronto Patterson has presented no significant
challenges since being on
death row and has even been classified
as ‘work fit’. Texas maintains that
the death sentence should only be imposed
where an inmate is likely to
remain a significant danger, even if
given a life sentence. We would suggest
that Toronto’s conduct whilst on death
row demonstrates that he is not
likely to be dangerous to others in
the future and urge you to revisit the
assessment process for this criterion.
The European Coalition to Abolish the
Death Penalty has representations in
many European countries and the coalition
and our supporters (the
undersigned) respectfully demand that
Toronto’s death sentence is commuted
to life imprisonment. Internationally,
the European Union, and within the
United States, the American Bar Association,
the Child Welfare League of
America, the Children's Defence Fund,
the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, the American
Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, the
American Psychiatric Association, and
the National Mental Health Association
have appealed to the United States
to stop executing juveniles. The United
States must listen to the voices raising
concerns about the legality and
morality of imposing juvenile executions.
Texas has two-thirds of the entire
juvenile death penalty inmates and
this group is the fastest growing of all
death row populations. One juvenile
has already been executed this summer in
Texas and TWO more are scheduled …
the European Community consider this to be totally unjustifiable and reprehensible
behaviour. A child being
sentenced to death is completely unacceptable
and abhorrent. The United
States is in violation of international
law and of the moral respect and
decency every human being deserves
… and in most developed nations,
receives. The United States is a nation
which claims to lead the world and
which acts as a role model to many
States … please lead by example. You
cannot preach to other nations about
human rights when your legal system, on
a more and more regular basis, kills
people who were children when they
committed their crime. We ask that
you begin this process by granting
clemency to Toronto Patterson.
If you prefer, you can write directly to the board or Rick Perry:
Governor Rick Perry
Attn: Office of General Counsel
Fax: 512/463-1849
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Attn: Executive Clemency Section
Fax: 512/463-8120
8610 Shoal Creek Blvd
Austin, Texas 78757
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