Support for death penalty drops

by John Seiler | September 15, 2014 10:02 am

A new Field Poll shows support for the death penalty dropping to its lowest level in 50 years. The Times reported[1]:

After a series of botched executions raised questions about the use of capital punishment across the United States, support for the death penalty in California is nearing an all-time low among state voters, according to the findings of a research poll released Friday….

Support for the death penalty in California reached a high in the mid-1980s, with more than 83% of voters supporting the use of capital punishment. That number has dropped sharply in recent years, falling from 70% in 2010.

The Times’ liberal bias is showing in that report. Actually, here are the reasons support has dropped:

1. People feel safer because crime has been dropping in recent years for a variety of causes, including:

• Higher gun ownership, which scares off criminals.
• Proportionally lower numbers of men ages 15-25, who commit the bulk of gun crimes; the 1960s to 80s were the years the Baby Boomers — 70 million strong, including 35 million men — were in that age cohort.
• The spread of cell phones, which makes it easier to call for help.
• Tougher sentencing laws for violent criminals.

2. The lack of executions in California due to court challenges[2]. This means no publicity and controversy over executions, which means people don’t know about the heinous crimes of inmates on the Green Mile. Only 13 people have been executed[3] in California since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

The last person executed in California was Clarence Ray Allen in 2006, who had been on death row since 1980. According to CBS News[4]:

Allen went to prison for having his teenage son’s 17-year-old girlfriend murdered for fear she would tell police about a Fresno market burglary.

While behind bars in 1980, he directed a hit man to kill seven witnesses, including Bryon Schletewitz, whose family owned Fran’s Market. Schletewitz and two clerks — Douglas Scott White and Josephine Rocha — were slain. Two others in the market were injured.

The killings landed Allen and hit man Billy Ray Hamilton on death row.

Because Allen’s killing spree continued even when he was sent to prison, he was a poster boy for how capital punishment reduces crime.

The execution immediately before him was of Stanley Tookie Williams III[5]. According to NBC News[6], his execution sure got a lot of publicity:

The case became the state’s highest-profile execution in decades. Hollywood stars and capital punishment foes argued that Williams’ sentence should be commuted to life in prison because he had made amends by writing children’s books about the dangers of gangs and violence.

But people also found out why he was executed. NBC  News again:

Williams was condemned in 1981 for gunning down convenience store clerk Albert Owens, 26, at a 7-Eleven in Whittier and killing Yen-I Yang, 76, Tsai-Shai Chen Yang, 63, and the couple’s daughter Yu-Chin Yang Lin, 43, at the Los Angeles motel they owned. Williams claimed he was innocent.

Witnesses at the trial said Williams boasted about the killings, stating “You should have heard the way he sounded when I shot him.” Williams then made a growling noise and laughed for five to six minutes, according to the transcript that the governor [Arnold Schwarzenegger] referenced in his denial of clemency.

3. California is a more liberal state than it was even a decade ago, when a pro-capital punishment Republican governor was elected. It’s true that Arnold Schwarzenegger went liberal in many areas once in office, but the perception was that he was against tax increases and for budget cuts; and he did uphold his law-and-order image by approving the executions.

In his 2010 campaign, Brown said he would uphold the law[7] on the death penalty. But in 2012, he backed Proposition 34[8], which would have ended the death penalty in California. Voters rejected it[9], but by the narrow margin of 52-48, indicating a ban probably would pass today.

The death penalty isn’t even on the radar screen of the 2014 gubernatorial election. A search of GOP candidate Neel Kashkari’s website[10] found nothing at all on the issue. (See nearby screenshot.) The Issues section of his Website insists, “Jobs and Education. That’s it.”

We can expect the courts will continue to hamstring the death penalty until an initiative is passed in a few years banning it. In California, capital punishment is a dead letter.

Those who believe killers should be killed have another reason to move to Texas[11].

Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2014/09/15/support-for-death-penalty-drops/

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