Texas set for death penalty anniversary

HUNTSVILLE, Texas, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Texas reaches the 25th anniversary of the return of the death penalty this week as federal officials debate the ethical nature of the ultimate punishment.

While Texas prisons have carried out 405 executions since the death penalty resumed in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court and even some of the state's wardens have questioned the constitutionality of the criminal punishment, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram said Sunday.

Former Texas warden Jim Willett, who oversaw the most executions of any U.S. prison warden in history, said the finality of the act still weighs heavy on his mind.

"An overwhelming feeling comes over you as you give the signal to take a perfectly healthy human being and cause his death," the former Texas Department of Criminal Justice official said. "You can't help but wonder whether what you're doing is right."

As the nation's highest court reviews the death penalty process at length, scores of other death row inmates sit in Texas prison cells.

The Star-Telegram said that in early November, the population of death row had reached 371 and among those inmates are 10 women convicted of various crimes.