University Students Disapprove of Texas Executing Ramirez

John Henry Ramirez, 37, will be put to death on October 5, 2022, for the murder of convenience clerk Pablo Castro.

Students at Arizona State and Kansas State University are against the execution.

Ramirez is, without a doubt, guilty; he admittedly stabbed Castro 29 times with a serrated knife during a robbery in 2004.

Ramirez was sentenced in 2008.

Kansas State student Aleena Davis said, "It is not up to someone else to determine when a person dies."

According to New York Times author Ruth Graham, Texas prosecutor Mark Gonzalez filed a motion to withdraw the 'death warrant'; however, Judge Bobby Galvin refused to overturn the warrant because he believed he did not have the authority.

The decision to execute Ramirez begs the question of whether a judge can overturn a jury's ruling.

Cordero Holmes, a 34-year-old ex-convict, and current public policy honors student at Arizona State University, said, "Yes, the judge is there to determine if the sentence is adequate."

According to Graham, Ramirez's lawyer Seth Kretzer said that "the chances are not exactly good" for any last chance appeals and that preparation for a "constitutionally appropriate execution" was underway.

While in prison, Ramirez developed a religious relationship with a Baptist priest named Dana Moore.

Ramirez won an appeal to allow Moore to touch him and pray aloud during his execution.

While the students were against the execution, they were for Ramirez's right to have his preacher touch and pray aloud during his lethal injection.

According to Graham, four of Castro's nine children filed a brief to the judge to uphold the execution date; they said, "the (Ramirez) ordeal has denied peace and closure to them for almost two decades."

Sean Bowman, an honors student at Arizona State University, articulated the side of everyday Americans.

Bowman said, "It costs a lot of resources to keep people alive."

Arizona has the fourth highest imprisonment rate in the country and spends over $1 billion a year on the prison system.

Arizona had its first execution since 2014, on May 11, 2022, with the execution of Clarence Dixon, a blind, mentally insane individual, who committed a murder 30 years ago.

27 states have legalized the death penalty for various circumstances; however, current laws do not reflect the views amongst students in Arizona.

College students ranging from freshman to junior, ages 19 to 34, agreed that the death penalty is unethical and that it is not up to humans to determine the death of other humans, regardless of circumstance.

Holmes described a judge who lacked the authority to determine a convict's sentence but decided to step down from a federal position to help a convict overturn his sentence.

Holmes said, "Chris Young was sentenced in a three-strike rule, and the judge had to abide by mandatory sentencing laws. The judge stepped down and helped Young get out of jail."

Holmes said Judge Galvin took the easy way out, denying overturning Ramirez’s death warrant.

The crime committed by Ramirez in Corpus Christi, Texas, has brought back the debate of ethics regarding the death penalty.

District Attorney Gonzalez used ethics as his number one reason for the withdrawal of the death warrant.

According to Graham, Gonzalez denied commenting after Judge Galvin denied the motion.

As it sits, the death of Pablo Castro will result in the death of both the victim and the perpetrator.