"Death Decisions"
Posted by Michael Nevin, Jr.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
In 1965, Robert Lee Massie killed Mildred Weiss in San Gabriel, Calif., while robbing her and her husband. He received the death penalty. However, in 1972 all the death sentences in California were commuted to life, so in 1978 Massie was paroled. On January 3, 1979, Robert Massie shot and killed San Francisco liquor store owner Boris Naumoff and wounded a store clerk during yet another robbery. [1]
On February 6, 2001 San Francisco District Attorney Terrence Hallinan addressed the court refusing to file a motion to set the execution date for Robert Lee Massie. Hallinan told the San Francisco Court, ''The death penalty does not constitute any more deterrent than life without parole.'' [2] Hallinan, a longtime and outspoken opponent of the death penalty, let his personal feelings outweigh his responsibility to carry out state law. The California State Attorney General's office was forced to step in and set the date of execution, March 27, 2001. Although it was too late for one San Francisco liquor store owner, Massie faced the ultimate deterrent as fate would eventually catch up with him.
Former Illinois Governor George Ryan, who commuted the death sentences of all 167 Illinois inmates, recently addressed the California Legislature saying, ''I don't know what's wrong with calling a delay for a couple years.'' [3] Ryan, who left behind multiple scandals while Secretary of State and Governor of Illinois, has been nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and has become the newest darling of the left. He will join illustrious company, including California Death Row inmate and L.A. Crips street gang co-founder, Stanley ''Tookie'' Williams. Williams, who is convicted killer of four, was nominated twice for the same peace award. [4] I would suspect Mumia Abu-Jamal, honorary citizen of Paris and executioner of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, would lend his support of Ryan's nomination.
Ryan is calling for a moratorium in California where only 10 people have been put to death since 1977, although it currently has the largest death row of 622. Imperial County, California District Attorney Gilbert Otero stated, ''The state's [California] citizens can take solace in the extraordinary safeguards used to ensure that only those murderers who are most deserving receive the death penalty. There is no need whatsoever to impose a so-called 'moratorium' in California.'' Less than 2% of all murderers in California were sentenced to death in 2001. [5]
Several myths about the death penalty have been reported but continue to be debunked by closer examination. The Liebman study at Columbia University, ''Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995,'' released its results in 2000 claiming serious flaws in the system, including a high ''error'' rate. It was later revealed that the misleading ''error'' included any issue requiring further review by a lower court, even when the court upheld the sentence. The 23-year study found no cases of mistaken executions. [6] The numerous appeals in capital cases demonstrate the extraordinary adherence to due process, especially in capital punishment cases. The fallacy that innocent people are being executed cannot be validated.
The issue of race has been cited by critics, who complain that minorities are unfairly chosen for death sentences. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976, white inmates have made up the majority of those under sentence of death. In 2002, 71 persons in 13 states were executed: 53 were white and 18 were black
Upon closer examination, an issue can be made of the small number of executions compared to the number of people under sentence of death. According to U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, at year end 2001, 37 states and the federal prison system held 3,581 prisoners under sentence of death (all who committed murder) but only 66 were executed. In 1954, 147 prisoners were under sentence of death and there were 81 executions for that same year. Many condemned inmates today are more likely to die of old age than lethal injection. Addressing this issue will go a long way toward solving any question of deterrence.
States that have the death penalty must provide extraordinary safeguards to ensure guilt. Once guilt has been established and appeals are exhausted, justice should be swift. The families of the victims deserve nothing less. The Pro-Death Penalty.com website states, ''The 317 killers who were executed between 1998 and 2001 had murdered at least 734 people. That is an average of 2.3 victims per executed killer.'' The people on Death Row made disastrous decisions while members of society. The next decision for them should only be what to order for a final meal.
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