The Rev. Jeff Hood, an anti-death penalty activist and spiritual adviser to death row inmates in Texas, has called on Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa to do everything possible to stop executions in the Lone Star State. In a November 4 letter shared with Newsweek, the founder of the Execution Intervention Project urged the newly elected Democrat to use her gubernatorial powers to that end. Hinojosa, who defeated incumbent Republican Greg Abbott, will take office in January 2027.
Hood congratulated Hinojosa on her victory, which ended more than three decades of Republican rule in the Texas governor’s office. At the same time, he noted that the death penalty has been carried out in the state under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
“Texas has killed more people than any state in this country. Texas has killed under Republicans and Democrats. Texas has even killed under Ann Richards,” he wrote, referring to the last Democratic governor, who held office from 1991 to 1995. The reverend also drew on his own experiences in the execution chamber in Huntsville, including the death of Jamaal Howard four weeks earlier. In his view, a change in the state’s political leadership alone will not be enough to curb the use of the death penalty.
Does Hinojosa actually have the ability to stop executions in the state? The powers of the Texas governor in this area are fairly limited. The governor cannot unilaterally declare a moratorium on all executions, and commuting a death sentence or granting a pardon requires a written recommendation from a majority of the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
The governor can, however, grant a one-time, 30-day reprieve for a specific execution without such a recommendation. Hood urged Hinojosa to use that tool and to gradually appoint to the seven-member board people willing to recommend commuting death sentences to life in prison.
Board members serve six-year terms, and their appointments require confirmation by the state Senate, which will be under Democratic control in the coming term, as will the state legislature. The reverend also proposed using administrative options to limit executions, including oversight of the purchase of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injections.
Hinojosa has not so far committed to a complete halt to executions. In an October interview with CNN, she said she personally opposes the death penalty but, as governor, intends to consider each case individually.
“I don’t support the death penalty, but as governor, I think it’s my responsibility to look at each case individually,” she stressed. She added that she does not want to make blanket statements about future decisions because each case requires separate analysis.
Ed. JŁ
