President Obama, PLEASE issue a stay of execution for all Texas death row inmates.

[Union Yes]

Until a thorough investigation of the sleazeball fascist Gov Rick Perry has been conducted.

[ddeclue]

1. Sorry but he has no power to stay state cases, only Federal ones.

He can order the Justice dept to review these cases but that's about all he can do.

[Horse with no Name]

2. Is that even legal for him to do that?

I wish it was, but I don't believe it is.
I believe he could commute their sentences to life...but this would be a nightmare regarding states rights.
How about he just use this as an example and make state-sponsored executions illegal by executive order?
Texas isn't the only state that has innocent folks on death row.

[ddeclue]

3. Not for state crimes - he doesn't have that ability - only for Federal crimes.

[paulsby]

7. the POTUS has no authority

to commute any sentence, unless its federal.

he has no more power to do it than you do.

there's this pesky thing called a democratic republic and rule of law and all that...

[jeffbr]

4. He could delay or veto federal funding for Texas

[MajorChode]

5. He can't do that, but there should be a federal investigation into Gov. Goodhair

[TexasObserver]

6. He could direct Justice to investigate to see if an innocent man was executed.

It would be an investigation to determine if the dead man's civil rights were violated, and if so, by whom. It would be run by Feds and Gov Goodhair would be a witness, not in charge.

[LeftyMom]

8. OP, please read the constitution. It clearly outlines the various powers of the president.

[BuyingThyme]

17. Actually, if you actually do read it, you might conclude that

the president can pardon anybody for any crime.

[nofurylike]

9. thank you for posting this, Union Yes!! he must at least urge holder

to do his job, as this requires!

soon, maybe time for an action on that? a wave of letters?

thank you!!

[nofurylike]

10. PLEASE help stop him from killing another innocent man :

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6766530&mesg_id=6771282

and please spread the word everywhere!! this is the day of action, but there are days more in which to act.

thank you!!


solidarity

[nofurylike]

11. and k&r

[scheming daemons]

12. Unrecced because the OP doesn't understand the law

Obama has no power to stay state executions.

[DaveinJapan]

13. Instead of the snide "OP doesn't understand the law" comment, why not write up some info for us?

I think it's an interesting topic, and I freely admit I don't know much about the law.

I always thought the President could pardon anyone he wished to (I realize a Pardon is different from a stay of execution but bear with me), does this mean the President can only pardon criminals who have committed federal crimes and not state or local ones? If true, does that mean that NOONE has the power to pardon an alleged criminal for state or local crimes?

[jeffbr]

14. FYI - It's because of the Tenth Amendment

The federal government has no power where it has no legal jurisdiction, unless there are constitutional (e.g. Bill of Rights) issues involved. So only a state governor (or board of pardons in some states) can issue a pardon for a state crime.

[Vattel]

16. The President can only pardon federal crimes

In most states (I'm not sure if this is the case in all states), the governor can pardon state crimes.

[berni_mccoy]

15. The President has no authority to do that. He can only issue stays and pardons for federal criminals

The President's pardon authority only applies to criminals who broke Federal law, not state law.