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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

NYADP's May Newsletter

1. The Death Penalty: Costs and Responsibilities by David Kaczynski, NYADP Executive Director
2. Profile: Les Ulm, Syracuse Organizer
3. The Death Penalty Trump Card: U.S. Attorney General, by Susan Schindler

While we are waiting for the State Senate to act (or not) on death penalty legislation that was voted out of committee in early March, NYADP staff have been active in the usual ways: building a stronger, larger, more inclusive coalition of New Yorkers opposed to the death penalty through speaking tours, regional events, public education - in effect, developing a public conversation on capital punishment that is deeper, more thoughtful and better informed than has ever taken place in the past. This conversation is not only among lawyers, public officials, scholars, criminal justice experts and media voices (although it is that too), but also among people in all walks of life who had never given much thought to the death penalty as an issue that concerned them. The developing consensus is that the death penalty system is broken and unfixable. Those who morally oppose the death penalty have been joined by many new converts who oppose it for practical reasons, so the line between moral and practical opposition has become much less distinct. After all, a system that imposes the death penalty inaccurately and unfairly while diverting enormous resources from other worthwhile programs represents an ethical as well as a practical problem. In this way, our practical concerns with the administration of the death penalty inevitably evolve into ethical concerns as well. Ultimately, it seems, we circle back to those voices in the faith community who have been saying for such a long time: We shouldn’t try to play God - and by the way, just look at the mistakes that happen when we try.

Beyond the practical and ethical reasons to oppose the death penalty, however, lie the human reasons as well. Who benefits by the death penalty? Who is hurt? Experience has shown that the people who benefit are few - chiefly politicians who used the issue to get elected. Now, even the political wisdom about capital punishment is changing as more political leaders realize that supporting the death penalty does not help them. In fact, it might come back to bite them at the polls. As we analyze the human cost, the list of people harmed by the death penalty keeps growing. As victim advocate Janice Grieshaber pointed out in her Assembly testimony, the capital punishment system works in ways that re-victimize murder victims’ family members, whereas a sentence of life imprisonment without parole represents a swift, sure and severe punishment that allows victim families to move on with their lives. As former Sing-Sing warden Steve Dalsheim pointed out to legislators, executions take a serious emotional toll on correctional staff who must carry them out. In fact, he said, the last two executioners in New York committed suicide. Those who have heard me speak, or who have heard Bill Babbitt speak, will have some sense of the agony inflicted by the system on mothers, fathers, sisters, children and other family members of the condemned. Defense attorneys stand not only to lose a case, but their client’s life. How does that feel? Some prosecutors (we can only imagine) experience qualms as the legal case with its briefs, arguments and gamesmanship finally ripens toward an execution date. I’ve heard former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno say that she felt “deeply compromised” by the capital prosecutions she approved. In my view of the universe, murders and executions are both horribly demeaning to humanity - but the executions implicate us all.

There’s a great distance between the governor’s mansion, the halls of the state legislature, the vaulted chambers of the high court and the small, cramped death chamber that stands, waiting, at Greenhaven prison. It’s the distance between a mental construct and a human reality. A number of pro-death penalty legislators have told me: “Don’t worry, David. It’s never going to happen in New York.”� Assembly minority leader Jim Tedisco likened the chances of the death penalty coming back to New York to a comet hitting the state capitol. As much as I liked Jim’s prediction, I had to wonder why he wasted time, effort and political capital in attaching a hostile amendment to an unrelated Assembly bill in a failed effort to bring the death penalty back.

Perhaps it was politics as usual. Or perhaps it was a failure to understand how our words, thoughts and actions today contribute to tomorrow’s reality. The death penalty in America thrives on exactly this attitude of denial. Words and thoughts flow easily, but they have real consequences. The time to accept responsibility is now. Let us insist that our political leaders think realistically and accept responsibility for what they say and do.

I was hired in mid-March 2006 by New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty to assume the part time position of Syracuse Organizer. A long time youth services administrator, I bring a set of planning and advocacy skills to the table. Most recently I worked for the United Methodist Conference with regional offices near Syracuse. I was responsible for planning, promoting, and fund-raising for their camps, conferences, and retreat centers, namely, Casowasco, on one of the Finger Lakes an hour west of Syracuse and Aldersgate, an hour north of Utica and just inside the western edge of the Adirondack Park.

In previous positions working with high risk/high need children and adolescents, I had contact with various social service systems and the courts, always in the role of advocate. Early in my career I organized six local churches in starting a runaway house in the Washington, DC suburbs. This experience led to my involvement in founding the National Network for Youth with offices in Washington, DC.

Over a twenty year career in West Virginia, I organized an association of 30 residential centers for youth and registered as a part time lobbyist during that state's legislative session. It was in that context that I became involved in opposing reinstatement of the death penalty in West Virginia. I worked closely with the executive director of the WV Council of Churches who showed me the ropes in working behind the scenes with key legislative committees and their ranking members. I have often been involved in letter writing campaigns on a variety of public policy issues and specific bills.

Since beginning this work in Syracuse, I have connected with affinity groups such as the Catholic Diocese, Jail Ministry, Syracuse Peace Council, the local League of Women Voters, and faith based organizations. No stranger to public witness through rallies and marches, I took my teenage son to his first anti-war march in New York City in August 2004 where half a million protesters voted with their feet.

I am enthusiastic about this new work and have enjoyed attending three local speaking events featuring David Kaczynski, hearing his personal story, and collecting signed post cards sent to attendee’s legislators. Currently, I am reading Sister Helen Prejean’s book “Dead Man Walking”. Please feel free to contact me through NYADP. I look forward to hearing from you.

By Susan Schindler

With increased frequency the US Attorney General has ordered federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in New York. The 2004 ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals to overturn the state’s statute and the subsequent decision by the New York State Assembly not to reinstate, apply only to the state’s criminal justice system. The Attorney General has ordered federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in 9 cases and in several other cases prosecutors are awaiting orders.

According to Russell Neufeld, a founder of the New York Legal Aid Society Capital Defence Division, a policy change at the Justice Department that began during John Ashcroft’s term in office “led to the increased politicization of capital prosecutions and forum shopping.” The Justice Department is taking on cases that might otherwise have been prosecuted in state courts. One example is that of Ronell Wilson; Mr. Wilson was accused of murdering two undercover NYPD detectives during a gun sting operation. After the New York State Court of Appeals decision in 2004, the Staten Island District Attorney asked the United States Attorney to charge Wilson. If prosecuted by the Staten Island District Attorney, the maximum sentence Mr. Wilson could have received would have been life without parole. Attorney General Gonzalez ordered the US Attorney to seek the death penalty in the case of Mr. Wilson.

Attorney General Ashcroft stated that the death penalty should be applied equally in all states. This policy has led U.S. Attorneys to increasingly seek the death penalty in New York cases or wherever else there is no functioning death penalty. In the 13 death eligible cases where a Federal jury in New York convicted the defendant, the jury refused to vote for a death sentence. (The list includes cases of multiple homicides as well as that of the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania which resulted in 224 deaths).

In late 2004, the Innocence Protection Act (IPA) was passed by the United States Congress; both New York Senators Schumer and Clinton voted in favor of the bill. The purpose of the IPA was to guarantee inmates access to post conviction DNA testing and to provide grants to states in order to improve the quality of capital trials. More recently the Streamlined Procedures Act has been introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives. This legislation is designed to eliminate federal review of criminal cases for the stated purpose of speeding up executions. It would strip federal courts of jurisdiction to consider cases in which a prisoner's constitutional rights may have been violated and would apply to all criminal cases. Many innocent people on death row who were granted relief in federal courts would have been executed had the Streamlined Procedures Act been in effect.

Our work to keep the state system death penalty free is ongoing. We are concerned that Senators Schumer and Clinton are not paying attention to polls showing that the majority of New Yorkers oppose the death penalty and that an overwhelming majority prefers life without parole to the death penalty. To learn more, or to express your views (and we hope you will), you can find Senators Schumer and Clinton as well as your representative at http://capwiz.com/lwvny/state/main/?state=NY ; scroll down to My Elected Officials.