Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Position is Nine-Tenths of...

Some good news today!

A group of prosecutors, and framers of the death penalty initiative, in California, wrote a letter to the state Assembly urging passage of a bill that would endorse a statewide moratorium on capital punishment. District Attorney Ira Reiner will debate actor, activist, and president of Death Penalty Focus, Mike Farrell, on the subject at the Disney Hall, in the Redcat Theater, Los Angeles, after a performance of "The Exonerated," on the evening of Thursday, January 12.

One can think of nothing that better demonstrates that the adage should be changed to read: "Position is nine-tenths of the law" than capital punishment. We need to take a closer look at who gets put to death, and why, as well as how many of them are innocent, but don't have the wherewithal to contest their dubious convictions, and instead find themselves in the hands of state-appointed executioners.

The senator from Kansas was right yesterday in his introduction to Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito; we need to foster a climate that is friendly to the right to life, not just for those yet to be born, but for the living, too.