Group calls for execution pause in Texas

Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa is being asked to help stop all executions in Texas. The call, which came today from a group that opposes the death penalty, includes a plan on how to do it. Fox 7 Austin's chief political reporter, Rudy Kosky, joining us live now with the details. Rudy. Yeah, Marco, certainly an interesting plan. Now, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa does not have the power to commute every death sentence in the state just by herself. There's a specific process to that, and certainly it's unlike what California Governor Gavin Newsom recently did. Today's call for a slow roll shutdown was met with some immediate pushback. Death Row in Texas currently holds 163 people. Monday, an effort was launched to keep alive as many of those inmates as possible. As long as executions continue to happen, then the blue wave is a farce. The Reverend Jeff Hood is a familiar voice against the death penalty in his call for change Monday. Hood said it's not enough for Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa to say that she doesn't support executions. We are not asking for somebody, for just another politician to say, I'm personally opposed to something, but do nothing about it. Hood's to-do list for the governor-elect starts with a 30-day pause on all executions, slowing down the purchase of lethal injection drugs and disclosing how they are used, replacing the Board of Pardons and Parole with people who support commuting death sentences. Forcing all state lawmakers to take a public stance on the issue and closing the execution chamber for renovation, as well as vetoing any budget allocation that supports the death penalty. We want to hear that this system is broken. Instead of focusing on criminals, what I hope the governor will do is focus on the victims of these criminals. Christina Byington, whose cousin was killed in a high-profile murder case, rejected Hood's effort to eliminate the death penalty in Texas. I think this is incredibly ridiculous. The governor hasn't even taken office yet, and you're already asking her to cater to the most violent among us? A governor being able to bring immediate change through the power of an emergency executive order is a sore spot for state lawmaker Brian Harrison. So not just on things like capital punishment, but on the whole panoply of issues from... Border security, to our Second Amendment rights, to our pro-life laws, to laws protecting our oil and gas industry. She could wreak absolute havoc on all of those things just by the stroke of her pen. Legislation to restrict the use of executive orders failed three years ago. Harrison has now called for a special session to take it up again. If that doesn't happen, a new bill is already in the hopper for the 27th session. And Harrison notes Hinojosa, as well as incoming Attorney General Nathan Johnson, have both in the past supported his reform idea. I absolutely would outreach to the new governor and the new attorney general and say, Governor Hinojosa, Attorney General Johnson, you all have committed to me for years you wanted to rein in these powers. Let's work together to do it. Let's protect constitutional separation of powers and let's demonstrate true bipartisanship. Well, I reached out to Governor-elect Hinojosa for comment. As of news time, I have not yet received a response. Marco? Governor-elect Hinojosa said in past interviews that she would take a case-by-case approach with these death penalty cases, but Rudy, looks like it might not be that cut and dry. No, as we mentioned earlier, this is a very specific process that goes through the executive branch by law, and it has to start with the Board of Pardons and Parole, with them making a recommendation for clemency, and then the governor can act one way or the other. Reverend Hood says that takes way too long for what they want. He wants some type of immediate process, which is why he's calling for a 30-day pause to give more time for court action, which can overturn a conviction. Marco?