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January 22, 2008

DENHAM: SENATE RULES COMMITTEE LEADERS WANT TO PACK PAROLE BOARD TO GET MORE CONVICTED KILLERS RELEASED

Transcript and Audio Tape from Meeting Reveal Conspiracy to Refuse to Hold Hearings on “Law Enforcement” Type Appointees

MERCED — State Senator Jeff Denham (R-Merced) today ripped into Senate Rules Committee leaders and their plan to pack the Board of Parole Hearings with “Jesuits” and others who might be more sympathetic to releasing killers from prison than would Californians with a “law enforcement” background.

“First the Governor wants to give early release to 22,000 allegedly non-violent criminals. Now, leaders on the Senate Rules Committee are plotting ways to rig the system so more hard-core killers will be let out of prison!” Denham said. “The foolhardiness of some elected officials these days to feel they can play Russian Roulette with the safety of California families. They seem to favor the wants of criminals over the safety of law-abiding Californians.”

The early release for convicted killers plan was revealed and recorded toward the end of last week’s (January 16) Senate Rules Committee hearing during a discussion on the confirmations of Stanley Kubochi and Michael Prizmich to the Board of Parole Hearings:

 

Senate President pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland):  “You guys (Kubochi and Prizmich) were both in law enforcement.  You spent your careers doing that.  I think there’s a natural bias in this administration – as in many other administrations.  The previous guy (Gray Davis) was a Democrat.  He wasn’t any better – to continue to keep the deck stacked.

 

“I’d like to see a Jesuit or somebody on there.  Well, maybe not a Jesuit.  You know, 3 out of 548 (killers released?), the law of averages is the probably better than that.

 

“So, I’m very frustrated by this.  And as a practical matter, we are not going to hear any more of these confirmations (of “law enforcement” types) after today until we start seeing some kind of a change.”

 

Senator Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles):  “Clearly, it seems duty-bound – and I applaud you, Don Perata, Mr. Pro Tem – that we should not hear any of these any more, because I’m not prepared to vote for any of them anymore, and mistakes shouldn’t be made.”

 

“I strongly encourage the Governor to call the bluff of the Senate Leaders and appoint persons who will put public safety first, regardless of their career background,” said Denham. “If the Senate Rules Committee refuses to set a hearing for these appointees, so be it. At least they will get to serve a full year on the Board before their term expires. Then, the Governor can simply replace them with another appointee who also sees the value in protecting law-abiding Californians.”

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Death Penalty Deters Murders, Studies Say
 

NEW YORK, June 11, 2007

(AP) Anti-death penalty forces have gained momentum in the past few years, with a moratorium in Illinois, court disputes over lethal injection in more than a half-dozen states and progress toward outright abolishment in New Jersey.

The steady drumbeat of DNA exonerations — pointing out flaws in the justice system — has weighed against capital punishment. The moral opposition is loud, too, echoed in Europe and the rest of the industrialized world, where all but a few countries banned executions years ago.

What gets little notice, however, is a series of academic studies over the last half-dozen years that claim to settle a once hotly debated argument — whether the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. The analyses say yes. They count between three and 18 lives that would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer.

The reports have horrified death penalty opponents and several scientists, who vigorously question the data and its implications.

So far, the studies have had little impact on public policy. New Jersey's commission on the death penalty this year dismissed the body of knowledge on deterrence as "inconclusive."

But the ferocious argument in academic circles could eventually spread to a wider audience, as it has in the past.

"Science does really draw a conclusion. It did. There is no question about it," said Naci Mocan, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. "The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect."

A 2003 study he co-authored, and a 2006 study that re-examined the data, found that each execution results in five fewer homicides, and commuting a death sentence means five more homicides. "The results are robust, they don't really go away," he said. "I oppose the death penalty. But my results show that the death penalty (deters) — what am I going to do, hide them?"

Statistical studies like his are among a dozen papers since 2001 that capital punishment has deterrent effects. They all explore the same basic theory — if the cost of something (be it the purchase of an apple or the act of killing someone) becomes too high, people will change their behavior (forego apples or shy away from murder).

To explore the question, they look at executions and homicides, by year and by state or county, trying to tease out the impact of the death penalty on homicides by accounting for other factors, such as unemployment data and per capita income, the probabilities of arrest and conviction, and more.

Among the conclusions:
 

  • Each execution deters an average of 18 murders, according to a 2003 nationwide study by professors at Emory University. (Other studies have estimated the deterred murders per execution at three, five and 14).

     
  • The Illinois moratorium on executions in 2000 led to 150 additional homicides over four years following, according to a 2006 study by professors at the University of Houston.

     
  • Speeding up executions would strengthen the deterrent effect. For every 2.75 years cut from time spent on death row, one murder would be prevented, according to a 2004 study by an Emory University professor.

    In 2005, there were 16,692 cases of murder and non-negligent manslaughter nationally. There were 60 executions.

    The studies' conclusions drew a philosophical response from a well-known liberal law professor, University of Chicago's Cass Sunstein. A critic of the death penalty, in 2005 he co-authored a paper titled "Is capital punishment morally required?"

    "If it's the case that executing murderers prevents the execution of innocents by murderers, then the moral evaluation is not simple," he told The Associated Press. "Abolitionists or others, like me, who are skeptical about the death penalty haven't given adequate consideration to the possibility that innocent life is saved by the death penalty."

    Sunstein said that moral questions aside, the data needs more study.

    Critics of the findings have been vociferous.

    Some claim that the pro-deterrent studies made profound mistakes in their methodology, so their results are untrustworthy. Another critic argues that the studies wrongly count all homicides, rather than just those homicides where a conviction could bring the death penalty. And several argue that there are simply too few executions each year in the United States to make a judgment.

    "We just don't have enough data to say anything," said Justin Wolfers, an economist at the Wharton School of Business who last year co-authored a sweeping critique of several studies, and said they were "flimsy" and appeared in "second-tier journals."

    "This isn't left vs. right. This is a nerdy statistician saying it's too hard to tell," Wolfers said. "Within the advocacy community and legal scholars who are not as statistically adept, they will tell you it's still an open question. Among the small number of economists at leading universities whose bread and butter is statistical analysis, the argument is finished."

    Several authors of the pro-deterrent reports said they welcome criticism in the interests of science, but said their work is being attacked by opponents of capital punishment for their findings, not their flaws.

    "Instead of people sitting down and saying 'let's see what the data shows,' it's people sitting down and saying 'let's show this is wrong,"' said Paul Rubin, an economist and co-author of an Emory University study. "Some scientists are out seeking the truth, and some of them have a position they would like to defend."

    The latest arguments replay a 1970s debate that had an impact far beyond academic circles.

    Then, economist Isaac Ehrlich had also concluded that executions deterred future crimes. His 1975 report was the subject of mainstream news articles and public debate, and was cited in papers before the U.S. Supreme Court arguing for a reversal of the top U.S. court's 1972 suspension of executions. (The court, in 1976, reinstated the death penalty.)

    Ultimately, a panel was set up by the National Academy of Sciences which decided that Ehrlich's conclusions were flawed. But the new pro-deterrent studies have not gotten that kind of scrutiny.

    At least not yet. The academic debate, and the larger national argument about the death penalty itself — with questions about racial and economic disparities in its implementation — shows no signs of fading away.

    Steven Shavell, a professor of law and economics at Harvard Law School and co-editor-in-chief of the American Law and Economics Review, said in an e-mail exchange that his journal intends to publish several articles on the statistical studies on deterrence in an upcoming issue.

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    DOJ Report: Most Violent Felons Have Priors

    Posted: August 8th, 2006 01:32 PM PDT
    By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
    Associated Press Writer

    More than half of those convicted of violent felonies in large urban areas between 1990 and 2002 had previous convictions, the U.S. Justice Department reported Sunday.

    Nearly four in 10, or 38 percent, had some type prior felony conviction, while an additional 18 percent had a prior misdemeanor conviction, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said.

    Fifteen percent were guilty of a prior violent felony - murder, rape, robbery or assault. Rapists were least likely to have a prior conviction.

    The study released Sunday by the Justice Department examined crime figures from the nation's 75 most populous counties, ranging from Los Angeles and Pima County, Ariz., to Pinellas County, Fla., and Montgomery County, Md., just outside Washington.

    About half of all the violent crimes reported nationwide occur in these areas, the report said.

    The study found that 70 percent of violent felons convicted during the period had a prior arrest record, though not necessarily a conviction, and that 57 percent had at least one prior arrest for a felony. Sixty-seven percent of murderers and 73 percent of those convicted of robbery or assault had an arrest record.

    Nearly all the violent felons, 91 percent, were male; 41 percent were black.

    Majorities of the convicted robbers and murderers were below age 25 - 56 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Forty percent of those convicted of assault and one-third of the rapists were under 25.

    Youthful offenders were not a significant percentage of those committing violent acts.

    Ten percent of the murderers and 12 percent of robbers were 18 and under. In the categories of assault and rape, 4 percent of each of those crimes were committed by offenders under 18.

    A total 180,298 crimes were committed between 1990 and 2002, but the largest category involved drugs. More than 69,000 drug crimes were reported, for 38.3 percent of the total.

    Property crimes were next, with more 59,000 offenses or 32.7 percent of the total.

    Violent crimes ranked third; more than 32,000 cases accounted for 18.2 percent of the total.

    When it came time to judge cases and hand down punishment, most violent felons, 88 percent, were convicted through a guilty plea rather than at trial. Most, 81 percent, also were incarcerated.

    At the time of their convictions, 59 percent of violent felons were represented by public defenders and 21 percent had private attorneys.

     

    GALLUP POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR DEATH PENALTY
    STRONG AND STEADY

     

     

     

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