Judge Edith Jones: Kill Inmates to Save Their Souls

Say you are on death row and your case comes up for appeal. Is it fair to have an appeals judge who thinks the best way to save an inmate's soul is to condemn him to death? See the excerpt below:

"Judge Edith Jones reportedly sees the death penalty as some kind of mercy"

by Jarvis DeBerry, The Times-Picayune

The death penalty. You've heard it called many things: Vengeance, barbarism, deterrence, justice. But even if you're a faithful, church-going Christian, you may never have heard the death penalty described as Edith Jones, a judge at the federal appeals court in New Orleans, is said to have described it in February. The death penalty, she reportedly said, is an accelerant toward salvation . . . According to some audience members at a lecture Jones gave at the University of Pennsylvania in February, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals jurist preached that some criminals only get things right with God on the way to their execution.

Such a judge needs an accelerant toward a new career. What would be this judge's reasoning about killing inmates who claim to be "born again" while on death row? Would she want to kill "saved" inmates even quicker before they revert to a life of sin, thus preventing the new converts from backsliding? Judge Jones also reportedly stated that blacks and Hispanics are more violent than whites [and presumably, more in need of the "saving grace" of execution]. 

Judge Jones - Killing Inmates to "Save" Them

According to a complaint filed on June 4, 2013, against Jones by several civil rights groups and the Government of Mexico, Jones violated her duty to be impartial. See an excerpt from the Austin Chronicle:

"Jones  asserted as fact the proposition that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to commit violent crimes. When asked to explain her comments, "she stated that there was 'no arguing' that 'Blacks and Hispanics' outnumber 'Anglos' on death row and 'sadly' it was a 'statistical fact' that people 'from these racial groups get involved in more violent crime,'" reads the complaint. As an example, she noted that it is a "fact" that "'a lot of Hispanic people [are] involved in drug trafficking' which itself 'involved a lot of violent crime.'" According to the complaint, when the lecture host abruptly ended the question-and-answer portion of the program Jones 'lost her composure.'"

Read the entire articles at the following links
"Judge Edith Jones reportedly sees the death penalty as some kind of mercy"
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2013/06/judge_edith_jones_sees_the_dea.html

Judge Edith Jones: Blacks and Hispanics More Violent
http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/news/2013-06-04/judge-edith-jones-blacks-and-hispanics-more-violent/

UPDATES

Edith Jones, Federal Judge in 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Faces Rare Supreme Court-Ordered Review Over Alleged Racist Remarks
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/edith-jones-federal-judge_n_3437341.html

The complaint against Judge Jones was dismissed, reports TheRealityCheck:
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/10/16/civil-rights-groups-appeal-dismissal-ethics-complaint-judge-edith-jones/
Read about the death penalty in Texas and Louisiana, two states under the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, at the following Death Penalty Information Center webpages:
Texas http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/category/categories/states/texas
Louisiana http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/category/categories/states/louisiana

"Keep fighting this fight."