True or False?
In 1971, Tim Moore, a state representative in Texas, USA, wanted to prove how ‘careful’ the legislative process was by introducing a resolution to honor the Boston Strangler. As an April Fool joke, he sponsored a bill praising one Albert de Salvo, “a man who was already noted by the state of Massachusetts for his unconventional techniques of population control and applied psychology”. Texas politicians, refusing to be one-upped by another state, unanimously passed a resolution praising Mr. Albert de Salvo, better known to the rest of us as the Boston Strangler. Moore later revealed that he’d only tabled the motion to prove how the Texas legislature often passes resolutions and bills without even taking the time to read, or understand them.
Given the shear volume of information to read for each of the bills and resolutions, legislative ‘rubber stamping’ is the political norm. So, if a fellow legislator introduces a resolution to honor a favored person or group, it’s expected that it’ll be approved as a gesture of good will. Of course, it’s expected that the ‘favor’ will be returned, when it’s needed to boost constituent popularity.
Albert de Salvo, who was also known as the Boston Strangler, was believed to be responsible for the murders of thirteen women in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964. While technically, de Salvo was never put on trial, or convicted, for any of the murders, he was sentenced to life in prison for sexual assault on several women, and later confessed to the thirteen murders. He was stabbed to death in prison in 1973, and whether he actually committed the murders he confessed to, has been a subject of controversy ever since.
True Or False? Texas passed a resolution that honored the Boston Strangler.
TRUE
