California Death Penalty Watch: Moratorium?

This undated photograph courtesy of the California Department of Corrections shows the San Quentin Prison execution chamber.

The Los Angeles Times has Death Penalty Moratorium on the Table

State legislators in early January will consider what is likely to be a contentious proposal to postpone executions for as long as three years.

On Jan. 10, an Assembly committee plans to consider legislation that would place a moratorium on executions until a special commission finishes examining whether California’s criminal justice system allows innocent people to be convicted.

The bill, the first of its kind in Sacramento in more than a decade, faces substantial political and legal hurdles. Its hearing — scheduled long before convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams’ execution Tuesday — comes as the state is poised to perform a record number of executions in the coming year.

The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, created by the state Senate last year, is studying the extent to which people have been wrongly convicted of crimes. The commission, composed of people on all sides of the issue, was charged with suggesting improvements to lawmakers by the end of 2007.

Among the topics the panel is set to look at are the frequency of police suppression of exculpatory evidence, and false testimony from witnesses and jailhouse informants.

“There’s a half a dozen issues that are recurring in exoneration cases,” said Jon Streeter, a San Francisco business trial lawyer who is chairman of the panel. “We see them time and time again. They tend to arise in death penalty cases, where the problems can be the most serious.”

Five Democrats have proposed the moratorium until either the Legislature “has fully considered” the panel’s suggestions or, if lawmakers take no action, Jan. 1, 2009.

NO WAY!

The people of California have time after time voted for the death penalty. Opponents of it are trying to wear down “ultimate penalty” advocates and through attrition gain what they otherwise would never win in an election.

Death penalty proponents, however, say they will vigorously oppose any delay.

“This is the most liberal Legislature in the country,” said Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks). “I would not be the least bit surprised if it adopted a moratorium or even attempted to rescind the death penalty entirely. But if they do, they’ll have a fight on their hands.”

And a FIGHT they will have…..

Stay tuned………