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September 25, 2000

The time has come for the United States to cease diddling with death and abolish capital punishment. The recent discovery of thirteen wrongfully convicted and condemned human beings on death row in Illinois signals to the citizenry that something is seriously flawed with our judicial system. The fact that in at least four of the Illinois discoveries the innocence of the human beings was proven by college students after the cases had been fully litigated in the State and Federal judiciary systems, and days or moments before the innocent man was to be killed, indicates that the quest for truth, which is a foundation of the responsibility of our justice system, has been trampled in the zeal for vengeance.

The modern era of capital punishment (1976-present) began with a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case "Gregg v. Georgia" (428 U.S. 153) in 1976, and in earnest with the judicial suicide of Gary Gilmore before a Utah firing squad in 1977. Since that time more than 655 human beings have been put to death and over 3,650 others are caged on death rows across our nation awaiting the same fate.

A recent study by a team of attorneys and criminologists at Columbia University School of Law commissioned by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary reveals that of the 4,578 death sentences adjudicated completely through the State and/or Federal judicial systems between 1973-1995, 68% of them were found to be constitutionally infirm and had to be reversed! Keep in mind, at the least, some of the aforementioned Illinois innocents were among the 32% cases upheld by the judicial systems! Which begs the question: How many innocent or wrongfully condemned were among the 653 men and women sacrificed to the Goddess of Justice?

A question seemingly ignored by the likes of U.S. Representative McCollum (R-FL) who opined in 1999 that executing an innocent person is the price we must pay for the benefits of capital punishment. This is preposterous! Absurd! Congressmen are sworn to uphold the laws and Constitution and to admittedly condone the idea of executing an innocent human being now and then to lubricate the machinery of death is a violation of that oath and complicity to murder at the least! Perhaps Representative McCollum will volunteer to be executed or give up his child to the executioner's needle...so that we all might benefit?

Any argument that requires death penalty supporters to accept mistaken execution is a danger to the U.S. Constitutional guarantees that we all enjoy. Do not think for one moment that the infringement of the right of habeas corpus (U.S. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 9) formulated by Congress in the "Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996" was anything but a legislative machination to cover up the mistakes that the Columbia University report illuminated in death penalty cases. By ordering the Federal Judiciary to defer to State Court rulings and imposing time restrictions on filing writs of habeas corpus, Congress has put all citizens at the whim and caprice of State judges who are elected on promises to be tough on crime and/or appointed by politicians to serve their own agendas, which endangers the crucial independence of the judiciary.

Which in turn brings to mind the importance of this year's presidential election. With at least three U.S. Supreme Court Justices well into their years and ill, it may behoove voters to not think about whom they want in the White House, but to think about who they want to be appointing the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice!

Do we really want George W. Bush to appoint more Justices of the Clarence Thomas ilk? Bush, who has presided over 140 plus executions as the Governor of Texas, wants the death penalty to be swift and sure and he vetoed a Bill that would have aided in providing adequate counsel for the accused. His idea of swift, would be a trial in front of a hangin' judge, a pro-death jury, prosecuted by a prosecutor with a win at all cost attitude, and a defense attorney who is beholden to the judge and prosecutor for his appointment. Followed by a review of the case by elected judges, hand picked by him, who share his pro-death ideology, with no Federal judicial oversight. A system that would provide a swift ride to the death chamber, and you would be dead for sure!

If Bush is desirous of this sort of rough justice in the death penalty, think about the other social issues hanging on a 5-4 balance that his appointment to the U.S. Courts would certainly tilt against the individual.

The Columbia University study indicated that 19% of the errors in capital cases were caused by the misconduct of police or prosecutors in suppressing evidence that would have helped the defendant. To me, a career convict, that comes as no surprise...but as a free citizen, I would take heed. Remember the innocent four in Illinois whom the college students freed? Police and prosecutors can choose anyone to set up for a fall, even you!

Bush says that all accused should be allowed a full day in court, but his veto of the Criminal Defense Bill in Texas belies that statement. A full day in court requires fundamental fairness. The Columbia University study reported that 3,790 of the capital cases with egregious constitutional error were the result of incompetent, inexperienced and poorly paid Defense Attorneys, this surely indicates that there is a significant lack of fairness in the prosecution of capital cases nationwide.

Fundamental fairness requires a level playing field. Each individual accused of a crime must be provided with ample resources to defend themselves, or at least an equal measure of the resources being utilized against them. If the people are unwilling to level the judicial plain for the poorest among them, then the only solution to a system so fraught with error is to scrap it. Rid ourselves of this danse macabre. It is time to quit diddlin' with death and abolish capital punishment once and for all!

NOTE:

Liebman, J.S., "A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995", Columbia University School of Law, 2000 (See: http://justice.policy.net/jpreport)

comments to: Steven King Ainsworth, C-13201 4-EB-81L
San Quentin Prison, San Quentin, CA 94974

Send Email to Charla Greene at Welcome to Hell

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