Death penalty politics in the 14th

This post from Wally Edge offers some pretty interesting speculation on whether the Democrats might want to shield Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein from having her committee review a death penalty repeal bill. The notion is that the Democratic leadership would move the legislation to a different committee to spare her having to take a high-profile stance on a difficult issue in a district that includes Hamilton (considered a bulwark of death-penalty support) — and to keep from angering death penalty abolitionists.

Supporters of ending the death penalty are worried that Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein’s tenuous hold on her own competitive legislative district — past polling has shown support for the death penalty, especially in blue-collar Hamilton Township — and her fear of tough stands, might make her less likely to support their cause.

Amazing what an issue-based story can do for the political process (yes, I am patting the Post on the back).

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More on the 14th and the death penalty

Politics NJ’s Wally Edge has some thoughts on our story on the death penalty. His notion is that Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein “waits to see how her Republican colleague, Bill Baroni, votes before she makes a final decision” on legislation.

He then takes her to task for having no position on the death penalty and likens it to her abstention on an Assembly resolution “opposing the Bush Adminstration’s plan on Iraq.”

Refusing to take positions on core issues like Iraq and the death penalty won’t help her gain enthusiasm among Democratic base voters for her re-election campaign.

While I agree that her non-position is vexing to say the least, and a bit off-putting, I doubt that Democrats will be abandoning her at the polls. The logistics of electoral politics and the importance of maintaining a majority end up overshadowing any misgivings voters have about candidates.

This is especially true in the wake of the 2000 presidential race, one lost by a sitting vice president because he didn’t carry Florida. There are still Democrats who are angry at Ralph Nader for cyphoning votes in Florida and a couple of other close states and possibly tilting the vote toward then-Gov. George Bush.

I doubt that declared Democrats would be willing to allow something like to happen to Greenstein, no matter how angry they might get.

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A foolish proposal

This just smacks of political opportunism — and seems fiscally foolish, given the dire straits of the state’s finances. Taking any revenue stream and directing it toward a dedicated expense can only create problems down the road.

But then, this is the staet group of legislators who have shown little political courage in tackling the problem over the years.

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More doubts on the death penalty

The Star-Ledger comments today on the case of Byron Halsey, who had his double-murder conviction overturned earlier this thanks to DNA evidence tying the crime to someone else — someone who had testified against him during the 1988 trial.

The Ledger correctly notes that

The case is cause for grave concern about police interrogation tactics, lie detector tests, confessions and the overall well-being of the justice system.

The Halsey case is another in a long line of cases in which seemingly incontrovertable evidence — in this case a confession — proves not to be so incontrovertable, after all, the confession apprently coming after a long, difficult interrogation.

That confessions aren’t always what they appear to be is yet another lesson. To many, it seems almost incomprehensible that suspects would confess to crimes they didn’t commit, but criminologists say false confessions are not as rare as some believe.

Halsey’s lawyers had argued that the length and circumstances surrounding his interrogation made his statements unreliable.

It’s a lesson that the federal government should take to heart as it attempts to justify its torture program at Guantanamo and one that should be factored into the debate over the death penalty here in New Jersey.

One of the striking things about this case is that the crimes committed are exactly the kinds of crimes that those who support the death penalty regularly point to as a reason to preserve capital punishment. Halsey was sentenced to life in prison — the death penalty was sought by prosecutors because the murder victims were children and apparently raped, but the jury opted not to impose it.

Consider the candidates for state Senate and Assembly from the 14th District. Four of them — the three Republicans, Assemblyman Bill Baroni, who is running for state Senate, and Assembly candidates Adam Bushman and Tom Goodwin, along with Democratic Assembly candidate Wayne D’Angelo — express doubts about the death penalty, but believed it should be retained for cases of terrorism, child murder and the killing of prosecutors, police or witnesses in criminal cases.

“Can you imagine if a convicted terrorist were allowed to stay alive, letting him continue to rally and support his cause?” (Mr. Bushman) said.

Then again, wouldn’t putting a terrorist to death turn him into a martyr? That, however, is a side issue. The question here is whether we can eliminate doubt from the process, whether we can ever be completely certain of the guilt of the men and women being sentenced to death.

There are other issues surrounding capital punishment — moral and ethical concerns, its effectiveness as a deterrent, etc. — but the question of guilt or innocence and our inability to ever be 100 percent sure seems paramount (and tied back to the moral and ethical issues).

Human nature being what it is, there is no way to ensure that we are not sentencing an innocent man or woman to death. That being the case, how can we not abolish capital punishment?

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