The Patrick Henry Democratic Club Death Penalty

POOR TERMINATOR!    CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CALLS FOR LEGISLATION HALTING EXECUTIONS

By Natasha, age 12

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the California Democratic Party encourages the California State Legislature to enact legislation calling for a moratorium on the death penalty until it can be conclusively determined that no individual on death row, or likely to be sent to death row, is innocent and until we can ensure that no one will receive a death sentence as a result of his/her race, socio-economic status or geographic location.  -Resolve clause of the California Democratic Party’s new moratorium resolution adopted Sunday, May 2, 2004.

The Terminator better watch out.  His terminating days may be numbered.  The California Democratic Party is uniting behind its new hero, Congresswoman Maxine Waters.  Waters, speaking to a thunderous applause, helped sway the California Democratic Party to adopt a new resolution calling for sweeping legislation, which, if enacted soon enough, certainly will put a halt to all currently planned executions in the state.

This writer, as the author of the moratorium resolution (which went through changes, some with the assistance of Mike Farrell), was more than a little vested in seeing the resolution become official party policy.   As a child, this writer is outraged that the adults in our society would even consider executing someone who might be innocent.  America is supposed be a country of equal opportunity and yet rich, white people are not making up their fair share of death row inmates.   The fact that the death penalty has become a tool for legalized killing of minorities and the poor does not speak well for the adults in this society.   This writer has written two previous articles for this forum [1] documenting the abuses and dangers of the death penalty. 

California Democrats received a wake-up call earlier this year.  This was months after the moratorium resolution had unanimously passed the 69th A.D. and sat waiting for approval by the state party.  On February 10, 2004, Kevin Cooper (an African American) was almost executed for a crime, which substantial evidence shows was committed by three white men.  The survivor even told the police that the perpetrators were white and that Cooper was the wrong man. Exonerating evidence was withheld from the jury and from the defense.  In the end, jurors who had voted to convict joined in appealing the case.  Arnold Schwarzenegger broke with normal procedure in refusing Cooper the customary clemency hearing.  Apparently, the Terminator couldn’t get this innocent man terminated fast enough.    The 9th Circuit granted a last minute stay.   However, California Democratic Attorney General Bill Lockyer, appealed the stay to the Supreme Court – to the dismay of a great many Democrats who wanted this innocent man to live. This should not have been surprising as Lockyer voted for the California Terminator. Fortunately for justice, even the Supreme Court, which had appointed Bush as President in 2000, wasn’t willing to stoop to executing Cooper.  Instead it supported the 9th Circuit’s stay of execution.  This Supreme Court has been more than willing to execute innocent people in the past because of missed deadlines and it should be commended for doing the right thing in the Cooper case.

Those favoring the moratorium had to fight to get the resolution to floor for a vote.  One permanent co-chair of the resolutions committee worked hard to table and defeat the resolution at the committee level on Saturday, May 1, 2004. Like Lockyer, that particular co-chairman’s loyalties did not necessarily lie with the Democratic Party.  That co-chairman had backed a conservative Republican in a major race in 2002. 

Upon learning that the resolution had received a tabling designation, the proponents of the moratorium were worried.  Numerous members of the committee and audience could even be heard booing when the designation was announced.  Then Congresswoman Maxine Waters walked in the door of the meeting room and things turned around.  Committee member Rima Nashashima pulled the resolution for discussion and Maxine gave a moving speech.  This is a woman who has a genuine dedication to saving innocent lives.    Every member of the resolutions committee also received a copy of a letter, written by Mike Farrell, explaining the need for the moratorium.   Rima pointed out that, when a matter of life and death is involved, it is important to act effectively “with teeth.”  The former standing moratorium resolution had merely called upon Gray Davis to conduct a study, had become obsolete with the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger and had no “teeth.”   Only three out of nineteen members of the resolution committee voted against the new resolution.

The next day, the resolution (quoted below) was placed before the floor of the 300 plus member California Democratic Party Executive Board, which has the authority to approve and adopt resolutions on behalf of the Party.

 “MORATORIUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY

”WHEREAS: to this date 113 men and women who had been sentenced to
death row have been exonerated since the death penalty was reinstated
in 1976 and in view of the fact that a June, 2000 Columbia University
study entitled "A Broken System" found that reversible error had
occurred in 68% of reviewed cases of those on death row, the fact that
the American Bar Association has concluded that capital punishment is
a "maze of unfair practices with no internal consistency" and the fact
that California has the largest death row population in the United
States with over 622 women and men awaiting execution, 1/3 of whom
have no legal representation, and many of whom may be innocent, and 

”WHEREAS: the bigotry involved in capital punishment is evident from
the fact that a disproportionate number of minorities are awaiting execution
in California and 98% of those on death row are from such poor
backgrounds that they could not even afford their own attorney, and 

”WHEREAS: once an innocent person has been executed, there is no way to
correct the mistake, 

”THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the California Democratic Party encourages
the California State Legislature to enact legislation calling for a moratorium on the death penalty
until it can be conclusively determined that no individual on death row, or likely to be sent to death row,
is innocent and until we can ensure that no one will receive a death sentence
as a result of his/her race, socio-economic status or geographic location. 

”Drafted by Natasha Hull-Richter

”Sponsored by Ruth Hull-Richter, Mark Hull-Richter and Bea Foster,

revised by the author and sponsors with assistance from Mike Farrell.”

A friendly amendment took out the first eight words (“the bigotry involved in capital punishment is evident”) of the second “WHEREAS” clause.   The rest of the resolution remained intact.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Democratic Party Regional Director Ray Cordova both gave dynamic speeches in support of the resolution.  After Maxine rallied the crowd, one opposition speaker talked about crime victims.  Ray Cordova pointed out that, if someone killed his (Ray’s) child and the wrong person were executed, that would not be justice.   The support for the resolution was almost unanimous.   In the end, only three individuals in the whole room voted against the resolution.  The hundreds who had voted to adopt it, cheered the result.

Now what remains to be seen is whether the California Democratic legislators will support the members of their own party by introducing and passing this legislation.  As the majority party in both houses of the California legislature, they have the power to do exactly that.  If they do, they will prove that they are Democrats as opposed to Republicrats.  If Democratic legislators fail to introduce and enact the proposed legislation, it will show that their loyalties lie other than with those they purport to represent. 

A great many members of the Kucinich Los Angeles and San Diego campaigns showed up to lend moral support (although only those who were members of the executive board members were allowed to vote).  Dennis Kucinich is a strong opponent of the death penalty, partly because of many of the problems noted in the WHEREAS clauses.  This writer and the Democratic Party sponsors of the resolution all worked on the Kucinich campaign.

The resolution also works in favor of John Kerry.  John Kerry opposes the death penalty – except for terrorists.  No one currently on death row is there for acts of terrorism.  Therefore, it is now clear that the California Democratic Party shares Kerry’s and Kucinich’s objections to the death penalty.  The fact that the nominee will be one of these two men shows that the California Democratic Party is not just ABB – but on board, philosophically, with its choice. 

What is also clear from the overwhelming approval of the resolution is the strong support Democrats feel for Congresswoman Maxine Waters.  If Kerry is looking for a female running-mate, Maxine is his best choice for maximizing support and votes from members of the Democratic Party and from those voters who have given up on the Party.  The close-to-unanimous vote to adopt this resolution shows that the Democratic Party can rise to challenge injustice and to once again stand tall.  THANK YOU, MAXINE, FOR BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN OUR PARTY.

1. See “Where Has the Compassion Gone?” and “Should a Black Man Be Executed For a White Man’s Crime?” in the Debateusa.com archives.   “Should a Black Man Be Executed For a White Man’s Crime?” is co-authored by Alexandar, my brother.

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