#Above the Law » Feed Above the Law » Comments Feed Above the Law » Debating the Death Penalty — From Both Sides Now Comments Feed Non-Sequiturs: 04.09.12 Morning Docket: 04.10.12 Above the Law » Podcast [p?c1=2&c2=16807273&cv=2.0&cj=1] Above the Law A Legal Tabloid - News, Insights, and Colorful Commentary on Law Firms and the Legal Profession Managing Editor: David Lat Editor: Elie Mystal Assistant Editor: Staci Zaretsky Contributors: Kashmir Hill, Marin, Mark Herrmann, Jay Shepherd * Big Law * Small Law Firms * Law Schools * In-House Counsel * Legal Technology * * Career Center + Pre-Law + Law Students + Lawyers + + Law Firm Directory + Law School Directory + + Law School Rankings * * Jobs * * Search for: ____________________ Send Tips: tips@abovethelaw.com or text (646) 820-8477 Plus: * Asia * Bonuses * ATL’s Law School Rankings * Lawsuit of the Day * Archives * Holiday Gift Guide Holiday Gift Guide What do you get for the lawyer that has everything? Check out ATL's Holiday Gift Guide » * 09 Apr 2012 at 6:55 PM * California, Crime, Death Penalty, Reader Polls, Sentencing Law Debating the Death Penalty — From Both Sides Now By Christopher Danzig The lethal injection room at San Quentin State Prison. Debating the death penalty never gets old in the United States. Sometimes it cools off for a while, but if you wait long enough it always bubbles up again. These days it’s getting hot out here on the West Coast, where a ballot initiative aims to roll back the state’s death penalty and replace it with life without parole. The initiative would replace Proposition 7, passed in 1978, which made California’s death penalty law “among the toughest and most far-reaching in the country.” At the center of the debate are two men — one of them a former prosecutor from New York — who helped pass the death penalty bill in California 30 years ago. Now they have completely changed their tune. What prompted this change of heart? Over the weekend, the New York Times ran an exhaustive article about the two men and their are 180° shift: The campaign [in favor of Prop 7] was run by Ron Briggs, today a farmer and Republican member of the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors. It was championed by his father, John V. Briggs, a state senator. And it was written by Donald J. Heller, a former prosecutor in the New York district attorney’s office who had moved to Sacramento. Thirty-four years later, another initiative is going on the California ballot, this time to repeal the death penalty and replace it with mandatory life without parole. And two of its biggest advocates are Ron Briggs and Mr. Heller, who are trying to reverse what they have come to view as one of the biggest mistakes of their lives. Some people might fault Briggs and Heller for flip-flopping on such a massive issue. I find it admirable. People have to act on the information they have. A person of integrity is able to accept being wrong. And then he will try to fix the situation: “At the time, we were of the impression that it would do swift justice, that it would get the criminals and murderers through the system quickly and apply them the death penalty,” Mr. Briggs, 54, said over tea in the kitchen at his 100-acre farm in this Gold Rush town, where he grows potatoes, peppers, melons, cherries and (unsuccessfully, so far) black Périgord truffles. “But it’s not working,” he said. “My dad always says, admit the obvious. We started with 300 on death row when we did Prop 7, and we now have over 720 — and it’s cost us $4 billion. I tell my Republican friends, ‘Close your eyes for a moment. If there was a state program that was costing $185 million a year and only gave the money to lawyers and criminals, what would you do with it?’ ” Assuming you can’t be right all the time, I am pretty sure this is better than the alternatives: to continue plowing ahead obstinately, just so you don’t have to admit you’re wrong, or pandering to popular opinion and saying you believe whatever you think people want you to believe. The Times article mentions in several places that advocates to repeal the death penalty in California focus on cost because it is the most “politically neutral” angle, as Paula M. Mitchell, a Loyola Law School professor, is quoted as saying. Briggs is more plainspoken: Mr. Briggs said that argument “is going to capture a lot of Tea Partiers.” He continued: “Conservative Republicans should take a real hard look at it. I’m going to do my best to make sure they do. I have very good conservative credentials.” It’s no secret how expensive the death penalty is: A report last year found that California was spending $184 million a year on a cottage industry of lawyers, expert witnesses and supersecure prisons to deal with the death row population created by Proposition 7. Still, cost isn’t the strongest argument. The death penalty should be abolished because it is racist, arbitrary, and particularly unfair to indigent defendants. (Full disclosure: in college, I worked on this wrongful conviction case as part of the Medill Innocence Project.) The Death Penalty Information Center has a wealth of information and statistics about this issue. The organization’s website is worth perusing. (As I write this, the New York Times story is at the top of the homepage.) But for starters, here are some numbers from the site: * Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims generally are white. * In Louisiana, the odds of a death sentence were 97% higher for those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was black. * A study in California found that those who killed whites were over 3 times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who killed blacks and over 4 times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who killed Latinos. * In cases with white defendants and black victims, 18 people have been executed. Where there has been a black defendant and a white victim, 253 people have been executed. Capital cases also are unfair, because they often involve indigent defendants, who must use a public defender, and meanwhile the prosecutors are probably throwing their best men (or women) at the case. It is a stacked deck from the beginning. More fundamentally, I’m not convinced that the system does not lead to innocent people being executed. Stories like those of Cameron Todd Willingham, or the death row prisoner whose appeal was rejected because the judge left work early, do not fill me with confidence. A system that is okay with wrongfully killing a few people for the sake of “the greater good” is unacceptable. Regardless of my opinion, public opinion has steadfastly remained in favor of the death penalty, as noted in the Times article. We want to know what you guys think. So please debate in the comments, and take our reader poll: Are you in favor of the death penalty? * No (75%, 681 Votes) * Yes (25%, 226 Votes) Total Voters: 905 Loading ... Loading ... Loading ... Seeking an End to an Execution Law They Once Championed [New York Times] 40 Comments * * Share * * Print Topics California, Capital Punishment, Crime, Death Penalty, Donald J. Heller, John V. Briggs, Paula M. Mitchell, Reader Polls, Ron Briggs, Sentencing, Sentencing Law Sign up for the Above the Law newsletter Subscribe and get breaking news, commentary, and opinions on law firms, lawyers, law schools, lawsuits, judges, and more. * [X] Daily Updates * [X] Small Law Firms (weekly) * [X] Partner Issues (weekly) * [X] In-House Counsel (weekly) Email Address ____________________ Subscribe __________________________________________________________________ comments sponsored by 40 comments (hidden for your protection) Show all comments [kinney-recruiting-428.png] * Follow @atlblog RSS More subscription options … * * Sponsored Content + 23 Dec 2013 at 10:00 AM + 7 Tips To Help You Make The Right Lateral Move Presented by Clint Russell Ed. note: This post is written by Clint Russell at Prestige Legal Search. Check out their Prestige Rewards Program here, or email him here. Bonuses are in. ‘Tis the season to lateral. Here’s what you need to know to make a move. Warning: some points are fairly obvious, many are overlooked, but all are important. 1. Start the process now. Making a lateral move takes time. Unless the planets magically align for you, you’re likely looking at a couple-month process, start to finish. While that’s certainly not a bad thing (you should be exhaustive when making a career change), it does mean that you should start the process now if you’re planning on exploring your options after you collect your bonus in the upcoming weeks/months. Keep reading » + Tags: Biglaw, Headhunters / Recruiters, In-House Counsel, Interview Tips, Lateral Hiring, Lateral Interviews, Lateral Recruiting, Legal Recruiters, Prestige Legal Search, This Is an Ad Sponsored Content + 23 Dec 2013 at 10:00 AM + WHEN BIG LAW FEELS LIKE HOME: A CONVERSATION WITH MOFO DIVERSITY FELLOW CHRIS URRUELA-STAUSS Presented by Morrison & Foerster Chris Urruela-Stauss, a second-year Harvard Law School student, shares his experiences as a 1L Diversity Fellow at Morrison & Foerster. MoFo awards up to 10 fellowships to law students who are members of historically underrepresented groups. For information about 2014 fellowships, visit MoFo’s career site. What sparked your interest in MoFo? I participated in the SEO program the summer before law school. At a panel about law firm hiring, Chris Delson explained how he had been converted from a die-hard Californian to a New Yorker by the people he had met at MoFo. As a loyal Californian myself, I was curious what made MoFo so special. After speaking with a MoFo SEO student, I had a great impression of the firm. Keep reading » Sponsored Content + 19 Dec 2013 at 10:00 AM + Asia Chronicles IN-HOUSE OPENING IN CHINA AT LEADING INTERNET / SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY Presented by Kinney Recruiting Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com. We currently have a very exciting and rare type of in-house opening in China at one of the world’s leading internet and social media companies. Our client is looking for an IP Transactional / TMT / Licensing attorney with 2 to 6 years experience. The new hire will be based in Shenzhen or Shanghai. Mandarin is not required (deal documentation will be in English) but is preferred. A solid reason to be in China and a commitment to that market is required of course. This new hire will likely be US qualified (but could also be qualified in UK or other jurisdictions) and with experience and training at a top law firm’s IP transactional / TMT practice and could be currently at a law firm or in-house. Qualified candidates currently Asia based, Europe based or US based will be considered. The new hire’s supervisors in this technology transactions in-house team are very well regarded US trained IP transactional lawyers, with substantial experience at Silicon Valley firms. The culture and atmosphere in this in-house group and the company in general is entrepreneurial, team oriented, and the work is cutting edge, even for a cutting edge industry. The upside of being in an important strategic in-house position in this fast growing and world leading internet company is of the “sky is the limit” variety. Its a very exciting place to be in China for a rising IP transactional lawyer in our opinion, for many reasons beyond the basic info we can share here in this ad / post. This is a special A+ opportunity. Keep reading » + Tags: Asia, In-house, Legal Recruiting, Shanghai * * Contact Us Editorial Staff Managing Editor David Lat Editor Elie Mystal Assistant Editors Staci Zaretsky Joe Patrice How Can We Help You? + Send tips to: tips@abovethelaw.com + For tech issues email: web@breakingmedia.com + For advertising or events email: advertising@breakingmedia.com + For research or custom solutions email: services@breakingmedia.com + Above the Law is published by Breaking Media. For a full list of our sites, services and staff visit breakingmedia.com * Our Sites * Above the Law * Dealbreaker * Fashionista * About * Advertise on Above the Law * Small Law Firms * Law Schools * In-House Counsel * Legal Technology * Job Board * Career Center Copyright © 2013 Breaking Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Registration or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Quantcast