P.O. Box 11622
Oakland, CA
94611
The County-Wide Campaign For a Death Penalty MoratoriumBy Gary Sirbu (A History) |
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(November 2001) At their Thursday, October 18th, 2001, meeting MGO members unanimously approved a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions in California. The resolution states that a moratorium is necessary "because of the substantial risk that: 1) innocent persons may be executed; 2) direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, county of prosecution, or economic status may affect the choice of who should receive a death sentence, and 3) unfair and unreliable death sentences may be imposed as the result of inadequate representation by defense counsel and/or improper conduct by the police and prosecution".
The resolution was drafted by the Club’s Criminal Justice Committee (CJC), which was formed last spring by action of the Executive Board. The members of the committee are Judy Belcher, Audie Bock, Karen Friedman (acting co-chair), Frank Pare, Lucy Sells, and Gary Sirbu (co-chair). It has met at least continuously since April.
In late July the CJC organized and presented a public forum on the administration of death penalty law in Alameda County. Over seventy persons packed the community meeting room of the Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church to hear county district attorney Tom Orloff, county public defender Diane Bellas, private attorney James Giller, chair of the Court-Appointed Attorneys Panel, and Lieutenant Paul Berlin, Oakland Police Department Chief of Homicide. The event was covered by The Montclarion and the widely-read daily legal newspaper, The Recorder.
With the resolution approved, the CJC is now working to organize a county-wide coalition to bring this issue before the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. We will ask other Democratic clubs throughout the county to join us in identifying persons and groups in their own communities willing to join the coalition. They will also be asked to lobby their own city councils.
If you’d like to be involved, please contact Judy Belcher, at 510-655-8658. Judy is keeping a database of potential volunteers.
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(Feb. 2003) Death Penalty Moratorium Campaign |
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For More Information:
Death Penalty Proven Ineffective
- talking points
(from Death Penalty Focus)
Californians for a Moratorium on
Executions
Santa Clara
County Endorses Moratorium
Hayward Democrats
Support Moratorium
Oakland Tribune: on
the Moratorium Campaign
Alameda County Democratic
Lawyers Support Moratorium
Sacramento Bee: Bar Raised for Death Penalty
Lawyers
Also,
There is an incredible permanent exhibition on the history of the Death Penalty in California on display at the Golden State Museum (1060 10th St at O St., Sacramento)
It explains the seesaw story including election posters and written documents. There is an excellent piece on Rose Bird. The museum is next to the Secretary of State Building, which is also a sight to see.