Overall, I felt the BBC program was rather biased against those who opposed the death penalty.
Only one of those in Austin at the BBC program's discussion table during the entire 30-minute long program represented criminal defenders and the anti-death penalty persons. Moreover, the only student who joined the discussion from the Texas university campus in Austin on this date (Nov. 18, 2008) was pro-death penalty.
That is, no representatives from TCADP (Texas Coalition against the Death Penalty), which has membership and volunteers numbering in the hundreds of thousands in Texas, was on hand.
Nor were any representative from Texas Students Against the Death Penalty (TSDP),
http://www.texasabolition.org/
http://texasdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2006/08/on-notice.html
http://www.texasmoratorium.org/
Moreover, only a few callers and e-mailers to BBCs World Have Your Say (Live from Austin, Texas) opposed the death penalty.
Finally, only one or two persons commented on the issues of (1) miscarriage of justice in Texas courts and (2) unfairness to the poor or colored in the courts in Texas and elsewhere in the USA and around the globe.
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/punishment/phillips_11.18.08.pdf
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/punishment/berman_11.18.08.pdf
On the other hand, there was on the BBC program this date one women whose daughter had been murdered 22 years ago on November 18, 1986. This particular mother, after investigating the issues for years , argued against anyone claiming that closure is ever often provided for victims or their families through the death penalty.
http://texasimpact.org/deathpenalty
MY THOUGHTS:
At least, BBC could have noted: "Texas executes more people than any other state in the U.S. On average, Texas juries condemn someone to death about once a week. Increasingly, Texans are voicing concern about our state's use of the death penalty. Some Texans oppose capital punishment for religious or moral reasons. Others support capital punishment in principle but worry that it might be applied unfairly in Texas. In recent years, many Christian denominations and Jewish groups have called for abolition of the death penalty in the US. Most religious calls for abolition identify capital punishment as inconsistent with Judeo-Christian beliefs and values."-
