Moratorium News Spring 2000

Majority Support for Moratorium

The first national poll to test public opinion on a moratorium on executions was released in early August. The NBC News/Wall Street poll of registered voters found that 63% now support a suspension of the death penalty until questions about its fairness can be studied. Less than a third of those polled (30%) opposed a suspension.
The poll was conducted jointly by the organizations of Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster, and Robert Teeter, a Republican. The polling questions and results are available at http://www. pollingreport.com/crime.htm#Death or call the Equal Justice USA office at 301-699-0042.

A Columbia University study released in June concludes that the US "death penalty system is collapsing under the weight of its own mistakes." Entitled A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995, the study is the most comprehensive statistical analysis of the death penalty to date, examining 4,578 state and federal capital appeals filed over 23 years.

Death penalty proponents are often quick to point out that capital appeals raise minor legal technicalities. Yet the Columbia study demonstrates grave constitutional error in nearly two-thirds of all cases reviewed in state or federal court. These errors included grossly incompetent defense attorneys, police and prosecutorial misconduct, and the illegal exclusion of black jurors.

Ultimately, 75% of prisoners whose cases were overturned later received lesser sentences after a retrial, a plea bargain, or a judge's order.

Risk of executing the innocent

Such violations not only trample constitutional guarantees of due process but increase the risk that innocent people will be executed. Death penalty proponents argue that high reversal rates demonstrate the system is working and point to the study's finding that in 93% of reversed cases, the defendant was ultimately found guilty. Yet the study finds it takes three reviewing judges to catch errors and an average of nine years to complete the review process. All this coupled with the sheer volume of mistakes discovered, "raises grave doubts whether we do catch all the mistakes," the study's author James Liebman told The New York Times.

Lawrence C. Marshall, a law professor at Northwestern University Law School and director of its Center on Wrongful Convictions, agrees with Professor Liebman. "One of the 13 cases that led Governor Ryan to suspend executions in Illinois, that of Anthony Porter, went through the entire review process without any error being detected," he says. "Mr. Porter came within 48 hours of execution, only to win a stay from a state court because of a psychologist's test raising doubts whether he was mentally competent. This is compelling evidence that the appeals process still does not screen out all the innocent people."

Furthermore, Liebman notes, the rate of errors and the number that go undetected may have risen since 1995, the last year the study examined. Since the mid-1990s, several states and Congress have curbed death row appeals, sped up executions, and cut or eliminated funding for public defender organizations that assisted prisoner appeals.

Illinois is not unique

The study also counters contentions in recent months from opponents of a nationwide moratorium that the systemic problems that led to Illinois? halt of executions are unique to that state. Over 90% of states with the death penalty have an overall error rate of 52% or higher. Eighty-five percent have error rates of 66% or more. Illinois has an error rate of 66%, slightly below the national average of 68%.

The rate of error also proved persistent over time. More than half of all cases reviewed were seriously flawed in 20 of the 23 years of the study.

Death penalty proponents often complain that capital appeals take too long. A Broken System confirms this observation but concludes that appeals take so long precisely because death sentencing is so plagued by error. The study concludes:

Erroneously trying capital defendants the first time around, operating the multi-tiered inspection process needed to catch the mistakes, warehousing thousands under costly death row conditions in the meantime, and having to try two out of three case again is irrational.

The study, which gained wide coverage in the media, has intensified the debate over the death penalty. Developments since its release suggest it has influenced policymakers. This summer, Republican governors of Virginia and Texas – two states that lead the country in executions – ordered new DNA tests for men who pleaded not guilty in capital cases. At the same time, Maryland?s governor Parris Glendening (D) commuted a death sentence to life imprisonment because he had doubts about Eugene Colvin-El?s guilt. President Clinton postponed the execution of Juan Garza, a federal prisoner, pending a Justice Department review of racial and geographic disparities in federal sentencing.

Trial errors discovered in Columbia University Study

A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995:

"I am putting together a call to action," said Martha Barnett just days before she became the American Bar Association?s (ABA) new president in July. "What we want to do is ask the lawyers of America to get involved in trying to work with their state and local governments, encouraging a moratorium in those various jurisdictions."

While the ABA has no position on capital punishmet per se, in 1997 the group passed a resolution calling for an open-ended suspension of executions. To date, nine local and state bar associations have endorsed a moratorium.

The ABA represents 400,000 lawyers in the U.S. In some states, lawyers have been involved in the grassroots and legislative efforts to win a halt to executions. Barnett's recent pledge of support encourages stronger participation of ABA members.

"What we don't know is how many innocent people still sit on death row," Barnett said. "The possibility that we are executing innocent people is abhorrent to all of us. As lawyers, we have a responsibility to ensure that the law is being evenly and fairly applied."

return to top

The Arizona moratorium movement is growing and making progress. A recent Arizona poll revealed that more Arizonans favor a moratorium than oppose it. The Behavior Research Center of Phoenix reports that 49% support a moratorium, while 41% are opposed.

Arizonans for a Moratorium on Executions formed this spring, with working committees in Tucson and Phoenix. The campaign was launched with press conferences in both cities. Sister Helen Prejean and some local community leaders spoke in Tucson, and Bishop Thomas O'Brien of the Phoenix Catholic Diocese, local lawyers, and other community members spoke out in Phoenix.

The campaign is recruiting groups throughout the state to adopt moratorium resolutions. In addition to winning faith-based and community organizational endorsements, organizers are approaching city councils, bar associations, and Native American Tribal governments. Nineteen resolutions have been collected to date.

The local Catholic Diocese of Tucson is sponsoring a "Moratorium Sunday." The death penalty, with a particular focus on the need for a moratorium, will be addressed at local parishes, and moratorium petitions will be available for people to sign. Tucson's bishop will also issue a moratorium proclamation. Our aim is that each parish in the diocese will adopt its own moratorium resolution.

return to top

Eugene Colvin-El was slated for execution in June, the third under Governor Parris Glendening?s watch.

The impending execution posed a serious political problem for Glendening, particularly in the aftermath of a moratorium being imposed in Illinois. Colvin-El?s conviction was based solely on circumstantial evidence. For 19 years, he had steadfastly maintained his innocence and press reports were substantiating his plea.

The Governor, moreover, had only just agreed to fund a University of Maryland study on racial bias in Maryland?s death row. The study came after years of pressure from the Legislative Black Caucus, which represents a constituency that played a decisive role in the liberal governor's re-election in 1998.

Maryland?s death row evidences the strongest case of racial bias in the U.S. Among its inhabitants, 71% are African American, and 76% of these black defendants were convicted of murdering a white person. Glendening?s own 1996 Task Force on the Fair Imposition of Capital Punishment had concluded, "the high percentage of African American prisoners under the sentence of death, and the low percentage of prisoners under a death sentence whose victims were African American, remains a cause for concern."

An African American, Colvin-El was sentenced to death in 1981 for the murder of an elderly white woman in Baltimore County – a wealthy suburban county that is responsible for over half of the state's death sentences. Of those defendants sentenced to death in the county, 70% are black.

Moratorium legislation had faced political opposition and stalled in committee during the state?s three-month legislative session earlier in the year. Its primary sponsor, Baltimore Delegate Salima Siler Marriott, was determined to push the governor to suspend executions while his study on racial bias was pending. Collaborating with Moratorium Now! and other groups, she spearheaded a campaign to pressure Glendening, speaking out at press conferences and organizational and town meetings.

The movement found allies among local governments in Glendening?s electoral support base throughout the spring. Sparked by the organizing efforts of the Moratorium Now! campaign, Prince George's County, Baltimore City, Montgomery County, Mt. Rainier, and Takoma Park all adopted resolutions urging the governor to halt executions.

Other state and national representatives spoke out as Colvin-El?s execution drew closer. Baltimore's former mayor Kurt Schmoke – a former prosecutor and death penalty supporter – and State Delegate and chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Howard (Pete) Rawlings, ran a joint letter urging Glendening to halt executions as an ad in The Baltimore Sun. Members of Congress Elijah Cummings and Albert Wynn joined together with Delegates Marriott and Carolyn Howard, chair of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus, to sign and place full-page ads in local papers that urged Marylanders to lobby Glendening to "immediately impose a moratorium on executions."

Faced with mushrooming momentum for a moratorium, the governor commuted Colvin-El's sentence to life in prison without parole just a few days before his scheduled death. Trying to walk a political tight rope, Glendening insisted that his decision was based solely on his lingering doubts about Colvin-El's guilt and not "newspaper ads."

Yet pressure for a moratorium has continued to build since the governor?s commutation. The executives of the state's most populous counties – Wayne Curry of Prince George's County and Doug Duncan of Montgomery County – released their joint letter to Glendening to the press in late June. They, too, urged the governor to impose an immediate halt to executions, concluding that "the stakes are simply too high to proceed without a thorough review of the system."

The drive for a Maryland moratorium is bound to gain more steam with four executions potentially slated for later this year or early in 2001. Urge Governor Glendening to halt executions at least until the study of race and the death penalty is complete! Call or write him at State House, Annapolis, MD 21401; phone: 410-974-3901 or 800-811-8336 (Maryland only); fax: 410-974-3275 or 800-811-8336 (Maryland only); governor@gov.state.md.us.

return to top

Just like the summer temperatures, the moratorium movement in Texas is heating up. We have reaped extensive press attention by taking advantage of the national campaign spotlight on Governor Bush?s execution record.

We rented a booth at the state Democratic Party Convention on June 9-10 where we lobbied hard for passage of a moratorium resolution. We distributed 1,500 sample resolutions. Over 4,000 delegates wore our stickers, "Moratorium Now!" The Democratic Party?s moratorium resolution passed out of committee handily (30 to 1), but at the last moment, it was pulled from a vote on the convention floor.

Moratorium organizing, under the banner of Texas Moratorium Now!, is this year's major project for the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) and the Austin chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. These groups are joined in Austin by Unitarian Universalists Against the Death Penalty (UUADP), Amnesty International, and the ACLU. Death penalty orientation meetings are held once a month for new activists. UUADP's goal is to create a moratorium action center at each Unitarian church in Texas.

Press Coverage

After Odell Barnes' execution on March 1, we turned out 350 people to surround the Governor?s mansion. A group of young people mobilized us into the streets for vigils and rallies shouting, "The whole world is watching?. Moratorium Now!"

After the execution of Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham), 15 people staged a sit-in at the Governor's gate and were hauled away to jail. That morning, Bianca Jagger held a press conference for Graham in the Capitol building in Austin. There were also demonstrations and vigils in Huntsville, Houston, and San Antonio.

Before we had time to regroup, the execution of Jesse Carlos San Miguel was upon us on June 29. His jury had been invited to consider him dangerous because of his race. To highlight this blatant racism, we called an impromptu press conference in front of the Governor's Mansion in the blazing noon heat on Miguel's execution day – the 28th anniversary of the Furman v. Georgia decision, where the U.S. Supreme Court declared executions racist and arbitrary. We passed out information packets, as the press is eager to learn more about the death penalty.

The Texas A & M/College Station group held a press conference on May 17 to announce its resolutions. Its members will join legislative strategy meetings with TCADP, Pax Christi, The Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Dominican Sisters, and the Texas Criminal Defenders Association. This coalition of Texas forces will lobby for bills that protect mentally disabled and youthful offenders from execution.

Current Status

We have people beating the bushes for resolution signatures in Corpus Christi, Huntsville (home to Texas's death row), Waco, and El Paso. Dallas TCADP and Amnesty members were successful with their resolution at the state Green Party Convention. Organizers are planning to introduce moratorium resolutions to numerous city councils, including San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. Rollingwood and Hays city councils have already endorsed the call.

Additionally, San Antonio TCADP rented a bus to go to Huntsville to show support for the family of Oliver Cruz, a mentally retarded prisoner. Cruz and Brian Roberson were executed on August 9.

The Texas Campaign to End the Death Penalty also arranged a bus trip to Philadelphia, taking Texans to demonstrations at the Republican National Convention.

In all, the organizing in Texas is envigorating new and old activists alike, and they have gathered almost 100 resolutions to date!

return to top

In just one year, the DC Area Books to Prisoners Project (Books to Prisoners) has grown from a seedling of an idea to an active project of Equal Justice USA at the Quixote Center. The project has four basic objectives:

Already, Books to Prisoners has collected over 3,000 books via donations and book drives. The plan is to organize them into a permanent library by the spring of 2001. A group of volunteers gather monthly to pack and ship the books to the prisoners who have requested them. (New people are always welcome.) To date, the project has fulfilled almost 500 requests from prisoners in the DC metro area and many other states.

Books to Prisoners is maintaining an up-to-date list of restrictions by institution as there is little consistency from prison to prison in the rules governing the review of reading materials. Hence, books do occasionally manage to "get lost." To track our shipments, we include a response card in each package, and prisoners are asked to send it back to us with future requests.

Prisoner literacy and education are the primary issues Books to Prisoners hopes to address as we step up our involvement with local prisons. Presently, we serve the portion of the prisoner population who have limited reading skills. This excludes, according to The Sentencing Project, the 19% of prisoners who are illiterate and the 40% who are functionally illiterate (meaning, for example, that they cannot write a business letter or resume). In an attempt to better serve those who are struggling to educate themselves in prison, we are working with several prison librarians and teachers, including Brenda Vogal, author of Down For The Count (A Prison Library Handbook). We hope to work with programs that tutor inside the prisons. Look for our first newsletter on prison issues in the coming months.

If you can donate instructional books, including dic-tionaries, and other introductory reading and writing material, please send them to:

DC Area Books to Prisoners Project/Quixote Center
PO Box 5206
Hyattsville, MD 20782

We also welcome tax-deductible monetary donations for publications that we purchase in bulk. Make donations payable to DC Area Books to Prisoners/Quixote Center. To volunteer your time, contact us at 301-699-0042 or bookstoprisons@mutualaid.org.

Columbia Study Finds Error	ABA President Pushes Moratorium
Arizona Moratorium Movement	Moratorium Mounts in Maryland
Texas Movement Heating Up	National Tally of Moratorium Supporters
Moratorium Organizing Contacts	Books to Prisoners Project