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Death Penalty Proposal Blasted From Both Sides
Senator Would Put Va. Foes on the Spot
A state lawmaker from Fairfax County is drawing criticism from those on both sides of the death penalty debate for suggesting that those who oppose capital punishment be allowed to specify -- if they are ever murdered -- that their killer's life be spared.
The catch: Those who sign the Death Penalty Opposition Registry would be required to sign over their estates to the Virginia Board of Corrections to help cover the cost of incarcerating their murderers.
"It's like putting their money where their mouth is," said state Sen. Warren E. Barry (R-Fairfax), who filed Senate Bill 10 for consideration in the General Assembly session that begins Jan. 9.
Barry, an ardent supporter of capital punishment, calls his proposal a "preemptive move" to prevent the national campaign for a moratorium on executions from gaining momentum in Virginia.
"If there's somebody who's willing to say, 'I don't believe in the death penalty, and even if I'm a victim, I don't believe in an eye for an eye,' I think it's a little crazy. . . . But if they feel that strongly enough, we ought to give them some type of outlet."
Barry's bill has been
derided by those who oppose Virginia's death penalty and by some who support
it. The Catholic Diocese of Richmond called the bill "cynical." And a spokesman
for Attorney General-elect Jerry W. Kilgore (R), who supports capital punishment,
criticized the
bill because it would
give a private citizen the power to decide whether a defendant is eligible
for the death penalty.
"Is it possible to really have serious thoughts on this bill?" said Del. Brian J. Moran, an Alexandria Democrat. "Warren has submitted legislation in the past that some thought was more symbolism than substance and it gets through. Somehow we can't take anything lightly that he submits."
Several lawmakers and criminal justice specialists expressed doubt the bill would pass, for reasons ranging from constitutional to ethical.
Legal specialists said
that allowing a murder victim to determine a criminal's penalty would be
unconstitutional because the state holds authority to prosecute crimes.
Families of murder victims can influence prosecutors' decisions on whether
to seek the death penalty and can
testify before juries
during sentencing, but their views are not legally binding.
Gov.-elect Mark R. Warner (D), also a supporter of capital punishment, and Kilgore both expressed reservations about the bill yesterday. Warner transition press secretary Ellen Qualls said Warner "doubts the bill will survive legislative scrutiny." Kilgore spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Kilgore "does not agree with the bill's intent."
"It's hard to take a bill like this seriously," said Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group that opposes capital punishment.
The death penalty, reinstated in Virginia in 1975, has a 70 % approval rate in the state, recent polls show. 2 men were executed this year and 8 in 2000.
Barry is an outspoken lawmaker who has sponsored successful legislation in recent years to require a moment of silence and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in Virginia's public schools. Last winter, he used the phrase "spineless pinkos" to refer to those who didn't want strict punishment for students refusing to say the pledge.
Yesterday, he said he has received calls of support from some lawmakers and constituents.
17 states have considered bills to impose moratoriums on executions while they examine a variety of issues, ranging from DNA evidence to whether the process treats every race fairly.
Virginia's General Assembly instead has taken a more cautious approach, passing a law last winter that allows death row inmates and other felons to appeal their convictions based on DNA evidence found after a 21-day deadline for submitting new evidence.
With Virginia's shaky finances sure to take center stage in the General Assembly, many lawmakers consider new death penalty legislation unlikely this year.
"What is Warren doing?" Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), said with a laugh. Stolle, chairman of the State Crime Commission, said the bill is flawed because it can be construed as an attempt to discourage criticism of the death penalty.
(source: Washington Post)
Opposed to the death penalty?
If you're the victim of a capital murder, a
proposed Virginia law
would prohibit your killer from being executed.
The proposed law was prefiled
by Sen. Warren E. Barry, R-Fairfax, for the
2002 General Assembly.
Barry is the senator who, in this year's
legislature, called opponents
of mandatory punishment in his Pledge of
Allegiance bill "spineless
pinkos."
His new proposal has a big catch.
It would allow a Virginian
to register his or her opposition to the death
penalty with a central
Death Penalty Opposition Registry. If the
registrant is slain in
a capital murder, the killer then would be
ineligible for the death
penalty.
However, the death penalty
opponent must make arrangements for his or her
entire estate to be turned
over to the Virginia Board of Corrections to
defray the cost of the
killer's imprisonment.
"We're a death penalty
state," Barry said. "I believe we need a death
penalty, and I believe
most Virginians do. But right now there's a
movement to do away with
the death penalty. I figured, if there are those
who are truly against
the death penalty, then we'll give them an option
to opt out.
"I think it's fair to
everybody. It gives somebody who is truly opposed
to the death penalty
an option to say, 'I want to put my money where my
mouth is,'" he said.
Such an arrangement apparently
would be unique in the nation, said
Richard Dieter, director
of the Death Penalty Information Center.
Henry Heller, of Virginians
for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said
"I commend the senator
for part of it at least."
But "as far as the requirement
being that their estate go to the state
for [the killer's] upkeep,
we should probably remind the senator that it
costs more for the state
to kill that killer than it would be to keep him
in prison for life,"
Heller said.
Kathleen T. Kenny, with
the Office of Justice and Peace with the Catholic
Diocese of Richmond,
asked, "Is that a serious bill, or is it just sort
of a stick-it-in-your-face
bill" aimed at capital punishment opponents?
She said she believes
"it's a very cynical bill."
Kenny said there is a
national program called the Declaration of Life, in
which people opposed
to the death penalty can ask that their capital
murderer be spared the
death sentence. She said you can keep a card in
your wallet and fill
out a notarized form and put with your "end-of-life
papers."
The declaration carries
no legal weight, but presumably, she said, it
could be used in the
penalty phase of a capital murder trail by the
defense.
Dieter agreed with Heller
that "the ironic thing is that it's the death
penalty that's costing
people [more]. People should have to pay for the
death penalty, not the
other way around.
"Every study that has
been done on the death penalty has concluded it's
much more expensive.
This isn't just propaganda, it's pretty
well-established," Dieter
said.
A study by the Death Penalty
Information Center found that capital trials
are longer and more expensive
at every step than other murder trials.
Pre-trial motions, expert
witness investigations, jury selection and the
necessity for 2 trials
- 1 on guilt and one on sentencing - make capital
cases extremely costly,
even before the appeals process begins.
Barry disagrees. "It's just a twist of the facts," he said.
He said he believes trials
would have to be held for life imprisonment
cases - to also be followed
by lengthy appeals - and that it would cost a
lot less to execute someone
than it would to house the person for one
year. He also said he
found Kenny's characterization of his bill unfair.
Barry's bill calls for
anyone wishing to join the registry to do so with
his or her local circuit
court clerk. The registry would be maintained by
the Virginia Supreme
Court.
If passed by the General
Assembly, the proposal would become law on Jan.
1, 2003.
In the last General Assembly
session, Barry sponsored a bill requiring
public school students
to recite The Pledge of Allegiance or face
mandatory suspension.
The bill passed but made recitation of the pledge
optional.
Barry, a retired Marine,
blasted those who favored removing the initial
punitive aspects as "spineless
pinkos."
(source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
A legislator from northern
Virginia is proposing a law he says would make
opponents of the death
penalty accountable for their opinions.
Sen. Warren E. Barry,
R-Fairfax, has prefiled a bill for the 2002 General
Assembly that would allow
Virginians to register their opposition to the
death penalty with a
central registry. Should those registered be
murdered, their killers
would be ineligible for execution.
However, the death penalty
opponent must make arrangements for his or her
entire estate to be turned
over to the Virginia Board of Corrections to
defray the cost of the
killer's imprisonment.
"I believe we need a death
penalty, and I believe most Virginians do,"
said Barry, who last
year called those who opposed punishing students who
refused to recite the
Pledge of Allegiance in schools 'spineless pinkos.'
"But right now there's
a movement to do away with the death penalty. I
figured, if there are
those who are truly against the death penalty, then
we'll give them an option
to opt out."
Barry described the proposal
as fair. "It gives somebody who is truly
opposed to the death
penalty an option to say, 'I want to put my money
where my mouth is,'"
he said.
Such a law would be unique
in the nation, said Richard Dieter, director
of the Death Penalty
Information Center.
Henry Heller, of Virginians
for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, noted
that "we should probably
remind the senator that it costs more for the
state to kill that killer
than it would be to keep him in prison for life."
Kathleen T. Kenney, with
the Office of Justice and Peace with the
Catholic Diocese of Richmond,
called Barry's bill "cynical."
"Is that a serious bill,
or is it just sort of a stick-it-in-your-face
bill?" she asked.
Kenney said a national
program called the Declaration of Life allows
people to ask that their
potential murderer be spared the death sentence.
The declaration carries
no legal weight, but could presumably be used by
defense lawyers during
sentencing.
Dieter also pointed out
that executions cost the state more than keeping
the inmates in prison
for life.
"Every study that has
been done on the death penalty has concluded it's
much more expensive.
This isn't just propaganda, it's pretty well-
established," Dieter
said.
A study by the Death Penalty
Information Center found that capital trials
are longer and more expensive
at every step than other murder trials.
Pre-trial motions, expert
witness investigations, jury selection and the
necessity for 2 trials
-- 1 on guilt and 1 on sentencing -- make capital
cases extremely costly,
even before the appeals process begins.
Barry, a retired Marine,
disagreed. "It's just a twist of the facts," he
said.
Barry's bill would allow
people to join the registry through their local
circuit court clerk.
The registry would be maintained by the Virginia
Supreme Court.
If passed by the General
Assembly and signed by the governor, the
proposal would become
law Jan. 1, 2003.
(source: The Virginian-Pilot)
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