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Show WESTER?! Ferials Ord?r D3artm,jnt University of Utah Fait L0k8C it y, ' Utah M 84112 t IJ- Z- VOLUME 16, umber: SALT. LAKE CITY, UTAH MONDAY, MAY 1, 1972 Law Day Debate t The country cant get along as well without No, Says An you. Ardent Foe TB k iBBienf Capita ,'Y ' Yes, States v Atty. Gen. By Vernon B. Romney By Mildred M. McAlister Whether you want things in our country to change a lot, or change just a little, the way to let the country know is by working within rather than against the system. In a presidential year, a year in which millions of voters are enfranchised for the first time, this means your voting. In commemorating Law Day U.S.A. on May 1, Americans everywhere will reflect on the values of living under a system of law that protects individual freedom and promotes a free society. Then, on November 7th, theyll go to polling places all over the country and work within that system to effect the changes they want Be among them. Things just wont work as well without you. A growing number of Americans is convinced we should abolish the death penalty entirely. The time has now arrived for the U.S. Supreme Court to put the issue to the test About four years ago Joseph P. McCormack, Massachusetts Parole Board ChairmaYi, requested the president of the state Bar Association to establish a legal test of the constitutionality of the death penalty. It was an important step toward removing this shameful practice in the United States. Executions were being stayed in both California and Florida until the question could be decided. Since then all executions have been stayed in the U.S. The following four points are under consideration: 1. Is execution a cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the VUIth Amendment to the Constitution? 2. Why should persons opposed to the death penalty be barred from juries? 3. Why is the decision for deciding life or death (as well as guilt or innocence) given to juries and without providing them proper guidelines? 4. Why shouldnt the state provide counsel to the indigent condemned to appeal the sentence? California recently found it to be unconstitutional a giant step toward encouraging other states to do the same. At last the barbaric legal statute may be discontinued. It has plagued persons of good conscience for years. Perhaps there is still a chance for the several hundred persons presently languishing on death rows throughout the United States. (See table A.) TABLE A: Men on death row In states practicing capital punish- - The Daily Record Wishes To Thank The Contributors The Daily Record wishes to thank those who submitted articles for this special Law Day edition. Law Day, perhaps more than some other popular national observances, is a time for all of us to reflect on the American political and legal system. Some of the authors of today's articles point out that there are some faults in the system, but overall it is a remarkably viable and vigorous creation that Americans can be proud of. Consumer Law Firm Aided - A law NEW YORK (ACCN) project that will represent the Interests of consumer, environmental, and other unrepresented domestic groups in international economic and social matters ranging from import quotas on oil, textiles, and other products to oil pollution and ocean fishing agreements has been established with the aid of $218,000 Ford Foundation grant announced, April 26. The grant will support a small team of lawyers at the Center for Law and Social Policy, a Washington, D.C. public interest law firm. half-hou- . . Vernon B. Romney Utah State Attorney General Mildred M. McAlister . May 1st Is Law Day PROCLAMATION During this critical period in our nations history of special trial and challenge, it is more important than ever before that we recognize the vital role and essential place of the rule of law to national stability and individual freedom. It has been said that the law is the strongest link between man and freedom. Our present day liberties are the result of the sacrifices and dedication of those who came before us and persevered to give us individual rights under law. In a government in which the individual is the key, the citizen must exercise his franchise wisely, give of his time and efforts for the betterment of society and the advancement of mankind, be informed on important state and national issues, and teach the principles of good citizenship, by example, in the home and in the community. The Congress of the United States and the President, by proclamation, have designated Monday, May first as LAW DAY USA. On the occasion of the 15th nationwide observance of Law Day, let each of us seek an increased understanding of, and respect for, the rule of law and the role of law. THEREFORE, I, CALVIN L. RAMPTON, Governor of the State of Utah, do hereby proclaim Monday, May 1, 1972, as LAW DAY USA in the State of Utah, and call upon all citizens of this State to join in its observance through appropriate ceremonies, programs and educational activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the State of Utah to be affixed. Done at the City of Salt Lake City, Utah, this 13th day of April, in the, year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-two. Hon. Calvin L. Rampton Governor of the State of Utah The recent cour decision in California found the death penalty unconstitutional. And New York's law was abolished recently by their State Legislature. Out off 3,859 persons executed in the United States since 1930, fifty-thre- e percent were black people. Among the condemned on death rows at the present time is an Sioux Indian, a North Carolina girl and a mentally retarded man in Utah (Darrell Devere Poulson). He was a child when he normal contracted Measles followed by a case of Encephalitis. The high fever caused brain damage. His IQ has been estimated to be that of an y ear-ol- d mentality. Most Likely The poor, the weak, the uneducated, and members of minority groups are most likely to be convicted and sentenced to death than are those with influence. He can hire a good attorney and chances 8-- are the death penalty will never be applied. Former Warden Clinton Duffy of San Quentin has never Continued on page 12 Attorney General, State of Utah It is a tragic fact that murder occurs in this country at least once r, every day and night, week in and week out. This rate is higher now than it has ever been in our known history; and ironically, this comes at a time when capital punishment has been suspended nation-wid- e and has been eliminated in a number of states during the last several years. , The answer to crime in America will never come from a softening of the penalties for criminal acts any more than it will come from a mass repeal of criminal statutes. I think almost any sensible person would agree that the essence of a successful system of criminal law lies in minimizing human suffering through maintaining a framework of peace and order. As applied to the death penalty this premise presupposes this question: Which course of action will ' serve the true humanitarian purposes of .the criminal law? We must weigh the legal execu--. tion of the murderer against the loss suffered by his victim and possible other victims of the same or other potential murderers. Impulse Dissipates Where punishment for murder is almost certainly the death of the murderer, and this widely known and believed, the impulse to commit this act is to some extent dissipated. If, on the other hand, only a prison sentence of a relatively brief duration can be anticipated, the impulse to kill is much less inhibited. The proponents of the abolition of the death penalty are hard-preto make meaningful propaganda out of statistics which show a convincing correlation between lessened punishment and higher killing rates. In the United States 56 persons were executed for murder in 1960: 42 in 1961 and 47 in 1962. During these three years the ratio cf homicide to the population actually declined. However, from 1963 on a general pattern was established which resulted in less frequent use and at ultimately the abandonment, least for the present, of the death penalty. A graph line during the same period shows a general and nearly steady rise in homicides. For example, in 1964, legal executions dropped to 15 and the murder rate per 100,000 population increased from 4.5 to 4.8. In 1965, with seven legal executions, the rate went to ATTEST: CLYDE L MILLER Secretary of State Juvenile Court System Good in Utah, Judge Says By Judge Judith F. Whitmer Second District Juvenile Court Utah can be very proud of its unique Juvenile Court system. Only four other states have a state Juvenile Court. Because we are a state-wid- e court with a state administrative office, we are able to standardize procedures and practice as well as collect data more efficiently. By the end of this year we expect to have one of the most sophisticated computer systems in the country. We even hope to be able to predict recidivism. The court is governed by a Board Of Judges made up of the eight judges representing the five Juve- nile Court districts. General policy ion. Judith F. Whitmer Judge, Second District Juvenile Court ss 5.1. Murder Rate Climbed Shockingly, in 1968, when no legal executions occurred in the United States, the murder rate climbed to 6.8 per 100,000. And in 1970 It reached the astounding rate of 7.8, according to the FBIs Uniform Crime Report These facts confirm an elementary process Of logical thought, the conclusion of which is that the less severe the penalty, the greater the frequency of killing. And, unfortunately, not only does the softer element of our society wholly resist the notion of the death penalty altogether, but it also opposes in the alternative the idea of life sentence without parole. Can we call the elimination of the death penalty a humanitarian act, after all, when it clearly encourages greater and greater frequency of murder, and the accompanying brutalization of our people? Fewer Executed 1968 .It is hard to associate oneself with the joy felt by opponents of the death penalty in the realization that there were 47 fewer murderers executed in 1968 than in 1962, when, it is observed that there Were 5,250 Continued on page 5 |