The DA and the Death Penalty

May 29, 2004 by Dorothy M. Ehrlich, KQED

Throughout the sordid history of the death penalty, the official public executioner frequently has worked within earshot of a vengeful mob.

This history makes the shrill campaign by elected officials who have targeted District Attorney Kamala Harris’s courageous decision to seek life without the possibility of parole instead of the death penalty for the killing of a police officer, particularly unseemly. For it’s coming not from the mob on the street, but from elected officials who should know better.

Ignited by Senator Diane Feinstein, who turned a solemn funeral mass into a pep rally for an execution, the political bandwagon has been joined by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who provoked applause at a recent police memorial by threatening to have his office take over prosecution of the case; and by Senator Barbara Boxer, who is actually urging Attorney General John Ashcroft to step in and make this a federal death penalty case. And finally, a group of state legislators is even proposing to cut funds from San Francisco to punish District Attorney Harris for her decision.

This political chorus illustrates how willing politicians are to exploit the death penalty as an easy substitute for a thoughtful response to protecting public safety.

Before she was elected District Attorney Kamala Harris tapped into the research that consistently shows the death penalty does not deter crime such as the tragic loss of a young, dedicated police officer. Nor does the enormous cost and unfairness inherent in the death penalty add up to smart or effective law enforcement. Harris explained that while the desire for raw vengeance may be understandable as an emotional response, it does not justify the terribly flawed and irrevocable punishment of death.

San Francisco voters have twice rejected pro-death penalty ballot initiatives. We should be proud to have a DA who refuses to participate in the unworthy and reckless practice of exploiting the death penalty for political purposes.

With a perspective, I’m Dorothy Ehrlich