They Didn't So Much Ban The Death Penalty In CA As They DId Protest It Taking So Damn Long To Kill People
Scott Shackford writes for reason:
California's system of justice is slow. It truly is. I've seen it take ages for some basic court cases to get anywhere. For complicated cases, well, when I was a small newspaper editor, I can recall one murder case ultimately being covered by four different reporters at various points due to staff turnover over the years.So today's U.S. district court ruling declaring California's death penalty to be unconstitutional because it's too slow makes a certain sense, but it does read oddly at first, doesn't it? The case revolves around Ernest Dewayne Jones, who has been on death row since 1995, but obviously is not dead. The judge notes that Jones is not alone:
Since 1978, when the current death penalty system was adopted by California voters, over 900 people have been sentenced to death for their crimes. Of them, only 13 have been executed. For the rest, the dysfunctional administration of California's death penalty system has resulted, and will continue to result, in an inordinate and unpredictable period of delay preceding their actual execution. Indeed, for most, systemic delay has made their execution so unlikely that the death sentence carefully and deliberately imposed by the jury has been quietly transformed into one no rational jury or legislature could ever impose: life in prison, with the remote possibility of death. As for the random few for whom execution does become a reality, they will have languished for so long on Death Row that their execution will serve no retributive or deterrent purpose and will be arbitrary.As such, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney has ruled that the sentence is a violation of Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and has ordered it vacated.
...And also, before anti-death-penalty advocates celebrate, this ruling is about the process, not the outcome. It is not a judgment against the use of the death penalty. It is a judgment against California's broken system and its inability to apply it fairly and consistently. Of course, given California's inability to fix anything about any of its broken systems of governance, it may end up ultimately killing the death penalty off anyway (such as it is--executions have been on hold for years over concerns about the state's lethal injection system).
Well, the system in Texas is a lot more efficient, but we've developed a distressing tendency toward executing the innocent. This disturbs me, and I speak as a staunch advocate of the death penalty.
roadgeek at July 17, 2014 3:30 AM
Just add the following language to the death penalty statute: police or prosecutorial malfeasance leading to the death of an innocent person shall be treated as capital murder.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 17, 2014 6:23 AM
Well, the system in Texas is a lot more efficient, but we've developed a distressing tendency toward executing the innocent. This disturbs me, and I speak as a staunch advocate of the death penalty.
Posted by: roadgeek at July 17, 2014 3:30 AM
Who do you think has been executed in Texas that was actually innocent, and what evidence indicated that they were?
Isab at July 17, 2014 6:28 AM
So, in an ironic sort of way, the court ruling doesn't matter -- most of the convicted will die in prison anyway. I'm kind of lacking in sympathy because to a considerable extent, this is something the post-modern judiciary has done to itself; its love of byzantine procedure and make-work for the legal profession has completely choked the justice symptom, and this is just the tip of the spear. People are starting to realize how many accused persons are actually innocent, but pled to a deal simply because they don't have the resources to go through a trial. And in the current state of lawmaking, in which everything you do is a crime and the state isn't required to demonstrate mens rea, a trial is too much of a crapshoot anyway -- you could be found innocent of the original charges, but guilty of something you did in the process of trying to defend yourself (the ever-popular "resisting arrest" and its non-violent counterpart, "making a false statement").
Cousin Dave at July 17, 2014 6:29 AM
Isab, I found this article, most of the cases were from Texas. I do think what roadgeek said is true, they convict very fast and execute fast and leave the door wide open for prosecutorial misconduct. I'm not saying I think they should turn into California, by any means, but I'm with Aggie's disclaimer. I personally think prosecutors who are found guilty of misconduct should have to serve the sentences they imposed.
gooseegg at July 17, 2014 7:07 AM
That's the thing that gets me about California. In the same election in which Three Strikes was struck down, voters failed to do away with the death penalty. The main issue was that those currently on death row would be commuted to life in prison without parole. DA's across the state objected to this, saying that those who were sentenced should still get death. Doing away with the death penalty would have unclogged our legal system, somewhat.
Fayd at July 17, 2014 7:50 AM
I'm sorry gooseegg, but an accusation like that deserves a specific example.
I can assure you that if amnesty international and the anti death penalty groups in the US had any good evidence that Texas had executed, an actual innocent, they would be all over it.
Instead what we get is vague innuendos.
Isab at July 17, 2014 7:54 AM
We don't exactly execute them quickly in Texas; it can still take 10 years or more. The pending execution that's getting the most news right now is that of Rodney Reed, who was convicted of killing Stacy Stites some time ago. (The rape and murder occured in '96.) There is speculation that Stites' fiance was the actual killer- he was a corrupt cop, and in the time since her death has been convicted of sexually assaulting someone in custody. He was also the initial suspect in her death. Reed's execution has been set several months out specifically so that more evidence can be lab tested, in case any of it might exonerate Reed and idicate the fiance.
Regarding Isab's question on actual innocence: The most talked-about case that comes to mind is that of that of Cameron Todd Willigham, who was convicted and executed for setting fire to his home, thus killing his children. He was executed in '04. Before his execution, the fire science used to convict him had essentially been discredited. The expert testimony during the trial claimed that an accelerant had been used; later analysis showed the fire was started by a space heater.
Of course, we've had a number of false convictions. A few days ago Amy posted about a no-knock raid in Burleson County, which is where this story also comes from: Anthony Graves was convicted and sentenced to death for killing several people; turns out the DA knowingly let false testimony into his trial. Graves was eventually exonerated, and the former DA may be disbarred.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20140707-former-burleson-county-da-who-prosecuted-ex-death-row-inmate-faces-disbarment.ece
Another "corrupt DA" case was that of Micheal Morton, out of Williamson county, but I can only list one link per post.
As far as someone who was actually innocent being executed, the only one who comes to mind is Willlingham. The number of near-misses doesn make one wonder, though. I certainly don't think we're executing the innocent wholesale, though. I do agree with IRA Darth Aggie about adding "police or prosecutorial malfeasance leading to the death of an innocent person shall be treated as capital murder..." (or attempted murder for those who are convicted and later exonerated.)
ahw at July 17, 2014 8:15 AM
Sorry, I forgot to paste the link: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-possibly-innocent
gooseegg at July 17, 2014 9:32 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/12/AR2006011201210.html
I remember this case. The Innocence project desperately hoped this was their shining example. Didn't work out for them.
Isab at July 17, 2014 9:40 AM
Sorry, I forgot to paste the link: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-possibly-innocent
Posted by: gooseegg at July 17, 2014 9:32 AM
Possibly innocent is not the same as proven to be not guilty.
I don't equate the two. Very easy to poke holes in a single piece of evidence, but much more difficult to prove actual innocence.
It would require contrary DNA evidence in a case that relied on DNA evidence.
As screwed up as I think the justice system is, the death penalty has a very lengthy appeals process, and lots of reviews.
Isab at July 17, 2014 9:46 AM
Maybe a bunch of liberals jumped in and saved 'em before Texas could murder them in the name of the State.
Like these guys:
Texas DNA Exonerations by Year
1994: Gilbert Alejandro
1997: Kevin Byrd, Ben Salazar
2000: A.B. Butler, Roy Criner, Carlos Lavernia, Anthony Robinson
2001: David Shawn Pope, Calvin Washington, Mark Webb
2002: Richard Danziger, Christopher Ochoa, Victor Thomas
2003: Wiley Fountain
2004: Donald Wayne Good, Josiah Sutton
2005: Entre Nax Karage, Brandon Moon, George Rodriguez, Keith Turner
2006: Eugene Henton, Billy Miller, Arthur Mumphrey, Billy Smith
2007: Larry Fuller, James Giles, Andrew Gossett, James Waller, Greg Wallis
2008: Michael Blair, Charles Chatman, Thomas McGowan, Steven Phillips, Ronald Taylor, Patrick Waller
2009: Timothy Cole, Jerry Evans, Johnnie Lindsey, Ricardo Rachell, James Woodard
2010: Allen Porter, Michael Green
2011: Cornelius Dupree, Johnny Pinchback, Michael Morton
2012: James Williams, Raymond Jackson, David Wiggins
2013: Randolph Arledge
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at July 17, 2014 11:15 AM
Yes, there have been plenty of exonerations in Texas. Not everyone on Gog's list was sentenced to death, though.
ahw at July 17, 2014 12:41 PM
True, but completely mystifying.
There is absolutely no need to use lethal injection when inert gas asphyxiation is cheap, simple, fast, and absolutely painless.
Yet despite that, CA (and all other states with capital punishment, SFAIK) use lethal injection instead.
Bizarre.
Jeff Guinn at July 17, 2014 1:11 PM
"Not everyone on Gog's list was sentenced to death, though."
It's Texas. Give 'em time.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at July 19, 2014 4:38 PM
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