[GPSCC-chat] Fwd: [gpca-forum] Who in the party has worked most on anti-death penalty and on amend three strikes?

[Spencer Graves]

Hi, All:


On 10/8/2012 6:23 PM, Valerie D. Face wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I have been somewhat involved, but really only sporadically over the last few years (depending on job commitments, other issues I'm working on and such).  I wouldn't be surprised if there are other Greens in the state who have been more involved, and for more years.


       I reviewed the literature on this in the 1970s.  I have not 
followed the more recent developments in detail, but I think the 
following is clear:


             (1) Some studies have found a modest deterrent effect from 
capital punishment.  Others have found no statistically significant 
effect.  I'd be surprised if there were any serious studies that found a 
large deterrent effect for capital punishment.


             (2) There are reasonable numbers of former death row 
inmates walking free today, because subsequent investigative journalists 
found someone else who admitted to the crime.  Other former death row 
inmates are free today, because other (e.g., DNA) evidence came to light 
to establish they were wrongly convicted. The record of these and other 
cases make it fairly clear that many convictions (including in capital 
cases) have been obtained on the basis of coerced perjury and falsified 
evidence.


             (3) The US today has the largest prison population per 
capital in the world.  The primary contributor to the increase in the 
punitive nature of US law has been changes in the structure of the 
mainstream commercial media:  The increased concentration of ownership 
of the media has meant that commercial media compete less on content -- 
especially news content.  This has enable a drastic reduction in money 
spent on investigative journalism.  The space has been filled by 
increased reliance on the "police blotter". Reporting on elite crimes is 
generally a losing proposition, because the commercial media company 
could easily lose advertising that would not likely be recouped by 
increase in the size of the audience -- and they could be sued for 
libel.  However, if the alleged perpetrator is poor, the media can 
disseminate whatever they want, because they won't lose any advertising, 
and the alleged perpetrator will not likely sue for libel.  Also, the 
best data on crime in the US is the National Victimization Survey:  This 
is a random sample survey asking people about whether they have been a 
victim of crime.  Changes in law and incarceration rates are not 
correlated with actual victimization rates but are correlated with 
changes in the structure of the ownership of the media and with the 
accompanying editorial policy.  (Potter and Kappeler 1998 Constructing 
Crime:  Perspectives on Making News and Social Problems, Waveland Pr.).  
It's also known that states and nations with high rates of abortion have 
falling crime rates 15 - 20 years later:  States with very restrictive 
abortion laws have higher crime rates 15 - 20 years later because the 
immature girls who might otherwise abort don't do a very good job of 
parenting (Levitt and Dubner 2005 Freakonomics, Harper Torch, pp. 141-142).


             (4) The primary use of capital punishment from the dawn of 
human history to the present day has been political.  Jesus of Nazareth 
was tried, convicted and lawfully executed.  In his day, the established 
government had reason to be concerned about potential attacks on 
authority.  A group know as the Zealots were actively assassinating 
governmental officials (Wikipedia, "Zealotry").  Capital punishment has 
no more justification today than it did 2,000 years ago.


BOTTOM LINE:  Changes in public opinion and law on many issues including 
crime are driven first and foremost by changes in the editorial policies 
of the media.  Changes in incarcerations and capital punishment are not 
correlated with actual crime rates.


       Spencer


p.s. If you like this, I can polish it a bit more, update my literature 
search, etc.  See the Wikipedia article on "Capital Punishment".
>
> Best wishes,
> Valerie
>
>
> ~*~*~*~
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>
> ---------- Original Message ----------
> From: fred Duperrault <fredlois2 at gmail.com>
> To: Gerry Gras <gerrygras at earthlink.net>
> Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2012 18:08:29 -0700
> Cc: GPSCC <sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org>
> Subject: Re: [GPSCC-chat] Fwd: [gpca-forum] Who in the party has worked most
> 	on anti-death penalty and on amend three strikes?
>
> I think Valerie Face has focused on the "death penalty" issue more
> than anyone.
>
> Fred D.
>
> On Oct 6, 2012, at 3:30 PM, Gerry Gras wrote:
>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: [gpca-forum] Who in the party has worked most on anti-death
>> penalty and on amend three strikes?
>> Date: Sat, 06 Oct 2012 12:46:38 -0700
>> From: Mike Feinstein <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
>> To: GPCA Forum <gpca-forum at cagreens.org>
>>
>> The state party is putting together press releases on Props 34 and 36
>> and would like to quote people who have been active on these issues
>> within our party for a long time
>>
>> Prop 34 - end death penalty
>> http://www.cagreens.org/elections/propositions/34
>>
>> Prop 36 - amend three strikes
>> http://www.cagreens.org/elections/propositions/36
>> _______________________________________________
>> gpca-forum mailing list
>> gpca-forum at cagreens.org
>> http://lists.cagreens.org/mailman/listinfo/gpca-forum
>>
>>

-- 
Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
President and Chief Technology Officer
Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
751 Emerson Ct.
San José, CA 95126
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