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Show br Salt iakf Sribtuu Wednesday Morning Section January 22, 1986 A Page 10 Fault Not in Jury Procedures But in Capital Punishment No one yet has found a workable tal crime jurors who adamantly opsolution for reconciling deep, abiding pose the death penalty would simply differences over capital punishment. say: Well, thats for the penalty phase At the outset, its difficult to see how a jurors to worry about, Ill ignore the recent Utah 3rd District Court deci- question? Especially if its known sion on jury selections materially sim- jurors all condone the penalty-phas- e death penalty? How is society protectplifies the search. ed in such a situation? With what has been legitimately described as a landmark ruling, 3rd Judge Daniels said its proper to District Judge Scott Daniels last week death qualify penalty phase jurors held that jurors hearing murder cases because they must be prepared to cardont need to be death qualified. The ry out the law decreeing death as a principal, extraordinary effect of this possible penalty for committing cerconclusion is that people cannot now tain crimes. But how does that make be automatically excluded from such this two jury procedure any fairer? a jury simply because they reject the Using the reasoning accepted by the death penalty. judge, wont the deck be just as The argument accepted by the stacked against the defendant in a death qualified penalty phase jury judge is plausible enough. How his solution significantly changes matters is as it arguably was with a death qualified not quite so clear. phase jury? is The judicial system is obviously Judge Daniels ruling that while n inbetween bases. which determines guilt or the jury caught in a nocence could very well include If capital case jurors are exclusively people who oppose the death penalty, those who accept the death penalty, the jury which decides if that penalty conceivably defendants are denied a g should be imposed should not. Doesnt thoroughly fair trial. But death penalty opponents onto capital that imply two separate juries? - If it does, how much of the case case juries doesnt seem to perfectly would a second, death qualified jury balance the scales of justice as long as hear? All of the original evidence pre- these people know there will be a penand alty jury loaded with capital punishsentation, guilt-innocen- run-dow- shoe-hornin- testimony, prosecuting defense attorney arguments? Or would a transcript of the proceedings be sufficient? Would a defendant get a fair penalty phase hearing from just a transcript? The judge said he agreed that if the original jury included only those who accepted the death penalty, chances were greater for conviction and that this deprived the accused of a fair trial. Thats reasonable as far as it goes, but it may not go far enough. Is it sensible to assume that capi Mexico. Theyre now restricted to a tiny and shrinking group that lives in the mountains north of Los Angeles. Until early this year, the flock of wild birds had consisted of six condors. However, the only known breeding female in the group died last week from lead poisoning. She is believed to have ingested the lead by swallowing lead bullets while feeding on the carcasses of game animals which had been shot by hunters. Realizing that the species was approaching the brink of extinction, a captive flock of 21 California condors has been assembled at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo. These captive birds guarantee that the condors will survive, if only in a zoo, and offers the possibility of some day raising enough of the birds to try reintroducing them to the wild. Determining how many condors to leave in the wild and how many to capture for breeding programs has been a controversial topic for many years. Biologists breeding the birds want as many individuals as possible to maintain the genetic diversity re- quired for the species long-terhealth. Field biologists want birds left m Great Compromiser Reagan Is Still on Top New York Times Service As he enters the sixth WASHINGTON year of his presidency and the 76th year of his life, Ronald Reagan is undoubtedly the happiest politician in Washington. And no wonder. George Gallup, who measures happiness, among other things, tells him that 63 percent flaky and as a terrorist who had in effect declared war on the United States. But when Secretary of State George Shultz, usually the moderate in his Cabinet, recommended military action against Libya, and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger opposed it, the president sided with Weinberger, imposed economic sanctions against Libya, condemned the allies for not going along, and James Reston ment advocates. Quite likely, the fault lies not with trial procedures but in the death pen- alty itself. Americans everywhere, including Utah, differ greatly about imbedding this punishment in law and official policy. Legislators, judges, attorneys and others struggle endlessly to settle these differences while somehow preserving the penalty. No such effort has yet succeeded. Its doubtful the kind suggested in Judge Daniels decision will, either. Save These Big Birds There are just five California condors left in the wild. Depending on the outcome of a legal battle between the Audubon Society and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there may soon be none. Elimination of the wild population would be a mistake and almost certainly signal the demise of this nations largest bird. The condor population, which was never large, has plummeted since European settlers arrived in southern California and the Baja peninsula of Please try to refrain from further outbursts in the classroom in the wild to provide an inceptive for preserving the condors habitat and serve as flock mates when the cap- tive birds are released. The goal of maintaining both captive and wild flocks was pursued until early in 1986 when the Fish and Wildlife Service decided the wild flock had become too small to maintain itself and announced plans to trap the five remaining birds. At the same time, according to the Audubon Society, the federal agency stopped its attempts to a critiacquire the Hudson Ranch cal foraging area for the condors. If the ranch isnt acquired by the government it will be sold to developers and lost as a reliable source of clean food for the condors. The Audubon Society has filed suit to prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from trapping the birds. Biologists with the Audubon Society claim at least two of the wild birds are showing an interest in mating and fear the capture operation could disrupt their breeding. They also believe the capture would eliminate any chance of acquiring the Hudson Ranch and taking other steps to preserve the condors habitat. The est solution to the condor problem appears to be a compromise. Two or three of the wild condors should be captured for a breeding program but at least one pair of the huge birds should be left to soar in the wild. This would help expand the genetic diversity of the breeding population and still leave birds in the wild. Only through a successful breeding program and preservation of its natural habitat does the California condor have a chance of surviving. of the American people think hes doing a good job, and that not even President Eisenhower was as popular after five years in the Oval Office. The doctors tell him not to worry about last years cancer scare, and the Russians, on the eve of his birthday, have suggested that maybe the United States and Soviet Union could work out a deal to rid the world of atomic weapons by the end of the century. The president's reaction was interesting. Some of his advisers thought it was a trap, but the president took a different view. Its just about the first time, he said, not quite accurately, that anyone has proposed actually eliminating nuclear weapons . . . Were very grateful for this offer. Were studying it with great care. His use of the word grateful troubled his colleagues in the Cabinet, but its clear that Reagan is no longer the prisoner of his militant rhetoric of the past or of his advisers, but is being very cautious and beginning to think about his role in the last act of his administration. Of course you can never tell from month to month where hes going, but lately he has been emerging not as "the Great Communicator of domestic and military policies, but as the reluctant compromiser with the Congress, the allies and even, hoping he can do so, with the Russians. There is a difference between what the president says and what he does. He condemned Col. Moammar Khadafy of Libya as pens. Maybe thats why Reagan, going into the last years of his second term, retains his popularity. He deals with problems one day at a time. When he came out of the hospital from his latest physical examination, thumbs-uas usual, he flew off to Camp David and gave his weekly optimistic report on the state of our affairs. p sent his aircraft carriers into the Mediterranean but held their fire. The question now is whether he can come to terms with General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow on the control and elimination of nuclear weapons. How he handles this, even more than how he handles his budget and trade deficits, is likely to determine the record of his presidency. All his predecessors in the White House Whoop Up on United Press International WASHINGTON Bugs Bunny observes 50 years of animated cartoon splendor, the Grand Ole Opry celebrates 60 years of country-music splendor, George Burns is saluted tor having turned 90 and the Bloody Mary cocktail is now 30 years old. That string of zeros was broken, however, by the first celebration of Martin Luther s leader would Kmg Day. The late have been 57. civil-right- One of the cultural patterns I've always rejected is the tradition that an anniversary isn t truly meaningful unless it can be divid- ed by 10. By custom, ones 90th birthday is more significant th an the 91st and a marriage that has lasted 50 years is deemed more worthy of commemoration than one that has endured for 53 years. Odd-Number- Universal Press Syndicate Now that eight young black men have been found guilty here of the vicious murder last February of Catherine black mother on her Fuller, a way home from work, we know again what was the matter, dont we? Black slums where the underclass groans with emptiness and hopelessness; fatherless homes; no money, no job; no love from whatever "family is around Well, the fascinating fact that has suddenly arisen out of the grisly, tragic Fuller murder by far eclipsing here in Washington news of (international) terrorism or the is that those were not the Ogre of Libya reasons" at all. The old paradigm about crime and the city poor was shattered all at once like glass in this important story that is virtually unknown around the country. Oh, the Washington Post did headline its story of Jan. 5 on the neighborhood s Fuller Killers Bred by with, Mean Streets." But then, in a telling analysis for our times, the article showed that it was not mean streets that were to blame at all. To the contrary, if anything, the killers were formed by but indulgent WASHINGTON hard-workin- g mothers, grandmothers and girlfriends, who became in their way masochistic vehicles for the spoiled criminals they created. Consider only a touch of the massive evidence the trial revealed. One was still getting $60 a week from his mother, in Georgie Anne .... hard-workin- g Geyer who often worked two jobs. Many of the women left for work at 5:30 in the morning, working hard while their sons hung around a park at 8th and H where they stole, drank, bragged, shot dope and robbed only the most helpless people to pass by. Pat Press, a talented black Washington writer who knows the area well from living there herself, wrote in a Post column that, contrary to all the old "wisdom about such boys being mistreated at home, Home is a warm and protected environment provided Anniversaries ed The Bloody Mary milestone, incidentally, was brought to public attention by the Vodka Information Bureau, which also supplied recipes for the Mexican Mary the Oriental Mary and the Smoky Mary. I would have thought the Smoky Mary recipe would have called for a dash of smog, rather than barbecue sauce, but then I never mixed one. All of these cocktails are, strangely, made with vodka. For some reason, the Vodka Information Bureau didn't include a recipe for the Virgin Mary, which is essentially tomato juice with various sauces and garnishes, but no alcohol, added As noted above, I object to the practice of only commemorating anniversaries that end in goose eggs, whether toasted with cocktails or something else. Truisms that can be drawn 79 years later probably art as valid as they would be at 80. He keeps proclaiming anti-Sovie- t, his state and anti-welfa- policies, but he knows when to pull up, and tends to compromise in the end. Party This infuriates his most conservative supporters and baffles his liberal opponents, and they dont know quite what to do about it other than to wish him good health and a happy birthday. Indulgent Mothers Sons Raid Black Workers Dick West It since the last world war have puzzled over this presiding nuclear question of world politics, and all have failed. Now it is Reagans turn. Without the control of military expenditures, now costing more than $700 billion a year in the world, theres little chance of dealing with the budget problems of the industrial nations or the hunger of the poor nations. Gorbachev has made a spectacular but ambiguous proposal to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the end of the century. There are some promising aspects to it, but also some hookers. The Soviet leader seemed to be dropping his original demand that the United States abandon its research into outer-spac- e defensive weapons. He used a vague Russian word suggesting that while testing and deployment of these weapons was out of the question, research might go on. But the nuclear experts and the Russian-languag- e experts in Washington are warning the president that this is really no change, that Gorbachev is still insisting that there can be no compromise on the reduction of nuclear weapons unless Reagan abandons his research on defensive weapons in outer space. In his usual way, the president rejected both the most optimistic and pessimistic views of Gorbachevs proposal. Maybe it was genuine or maybe it was a fraud, the president seemed to be saying, but lets toss it to the negotiators in Geneva, and see what hap- So saying, I take note of a duplicated newspaper front page originally printed on Monday, July 15, 1907. Certainly there is nothing arithmetical to solemize that day this year. In 1986, July 15 doesn't even fall on a Monday. Yet, I was just as impressed as I would be next year by how little things have changed sinefe 1907. Here are three headlines that appeared lo, those many years ago: "AUTOS STILL DEAL DEATH FOUND SPIES IN OUR FORTS" BODY FOUND IN RIVER HAS MURDER SIGNS" Would modern newspaper readers be by any of those revelations? I think startled For documentation, check Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the recent rash of espionage arrests and the latest crime statistics. Fully 48 years ago, a newspaper from not. which I then drew salary checks was publishing items that read somewhat as follows: A partially nude body of an unidentified woman was found today beside a railroad track. "She had been shot twice, stabbed, d and beaten on the head with a blunt instrument besides being thrown in front of a train. Police suspect foul play. Is a body in this condition partially nude or partially clad? Like the old argument over whether a glass is half empty or half full, there are too many variables to make rules. any Depends, among other things, on the age and sex of the victim and whether blonde or brunette. gar-rote- hard-and-fa- Anyway, happy anniversary, And many happy the day, everyone. returns of by the women in their lives. Mothers, grandmothers, sisters and girlfriends who work, pay their bills, cook their meals, buy their clothes and in some cases support their nicotine and marijuana habits. It is the women in their lives who stepped forth, took the stand, pledged to tell the truth and provided alibis which at least one of the boys denied when he took the stand. Invariably, the women called these big, strapping, violent and lazy men "my little boy. Pat Press put those women's situation in harsh, but unfortunately terms. "The belief long held by blacks that the woman has been the savior of the race needs some fresh exploration because there is a pile of evidence collecting out there, that says it aint necessarlargely ignored ily so. The women, she concluded, are in desperate need of help. How much in need of help those women really are can be seen in all its horror by Catherine Fuller examining how was actually killed. Each one of the eight (at least) took turns stomping and slapping the slight woman who dared to resist their initial attempt to rob her. Then they took a long pipe (one shudders even to have to write this) and repeatedly jabbed it up her rectum, finally rupturing her colon. While they were doing all this, they sang and chanted a song about getting paid." You see, it was the first of the month, the day the women get paid at their jobs. Catherine Fuller was a woman much like their mothers, although unlike some of them she had a devoted husband and healthy family relationship. But she was, like their mothand dedicated. ers, Can their mothers not have noticed that what their sons did to her was what they would do to their own mothers and what in the spoiled span of their lives, they figuratively were doing to them? I personally wonder in some desperation what we can do for both black and white the teens who have the illegitiwomen mate babies, but also the mothers who aps parently want on some level to be to sons who underneath despise them how we can give them some and inner dignity Catherine Fuller, a good woman, is In her grave, and eight murderous are in jail. But the discussion has only begun. Perhaps we might start it with two questions. Where are the fathers? And why do so many women today hate not their bad boys but themselves so very much? hard-workin- g love-slave- self-estee- man-childre- n 4 |
