Texas Inmate Pens Letter Comparing Prison to Slavery, Death Penalty to Lynching
Texas inmate Ray Jasper is scheduled to be executed in two weeks and decided to speak out about his experience inside the prison system. He previous wrote to a website as part of a collection of letters about life on death row, and this is his second piece about the system, which he says is comparable to slavery.
"Without any questions, you've given me a blank canvas," Jasper wrote to Gawker. "I'll only address what's on my heart. Next month, the State of Texas has resolved to kill me like some kind of rabid dog, so indirectly, I guess my intention is to use this as some type of platform because this could be my final statement on earth."
"The justice system is truly broken beyond repair and the sad part is there is no way to start over. We look at slavery like its a thing of the past, but you can go to any penitentiary in this nation and you will see slavery. People need to know that when they sit on trial juries and sentence people to prison time that they are sentencing them to slavery," Jasper continued.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Jasper, now 34, was convicted of participating in the 1998 robbery and murder of David Alejandro and was given the death penalty while a teenager. He was only 19 when he entered prison and will die there on March 19, if his execution is carried out by the state. Jasper addressed his feelings toward the death penalty itself in his letter.
"The death penalty needs to be abolished. It's a very Southern practice from that old lynching mentality," he noted. "If the death penalty must exist, I think it should only be for cases where more than one person is killed like these rampant shootings that have taken place around the country the last few years. Also, in a situation of terrorism. I'm on death row and yet I didn't commit the act of murder."
You can read Jasper's full letter at Gawker.
