Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

New trial for Jew on death row in Texas due to judge’s Jew-hatred

The judge formed an opinion about the defendant “that derived from an extrajudicial factor ... poisonous antisemitism,” an appeals court ruled.

Gavel, Court, Judge
Gavel. Credit: Katrin Bolovtsova/Pexels.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals voted 6-3 to grant a new trial to Randy Ethan Halprin, 47, after it found that the judge who ruled against him “was biased against him at the time of his trial because he is Jewish,” the Associated Press reported.

Halprin, who is on death row, is part of the “Texas 7,” which shot and killed a police officer after breaking free from prison in December 2000, per the AP.

He had been serving a 30-year sentence after admitting to brutally attacking a 16-month-old baby.

Sonia Sotomayor, associate Supreme Court justice, wrote on April 6, 2020 of the judge’s antisemitic statements that “the facts underlying this petition are deeply disturbing.”

“As a Democrat, it’s my responsibility to call out antisemitism in my own party, just as I hope that Sen. Lankford calls out antisemitism in his party,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin said at the event.
“Wishing all who celebrate a happy Shavuot,” said the Jerusalem legation led by ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
The ritual bath was donated by American philanthropist Cheryl Halpern in memory of her husband, Fred.
During an assessment with all division commanders, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reviewed challenges in multiple sectors.
Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun is doing “tremendous work,” the Israeli FM said.
Ahead of the holiday, President Isaac Herzog celebrates the country’s farmers, who provide Israelis “with all the bounty of the land.”