FCL NEWSLETTER -- January, 1999
Death Penalty Bills - by Steve Birdlebough
FCL's Legislative Priorities
FCL-Interfaith Coalition Lobby Day - March 23
Ken Cory
What Ever Happened To?
Articles in Prior Newsletters
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Edith Haynes has long been the heart of Southern California's FCL. If you wanted a place to stay, to connect with Clerks of Southern California meetings, to transmit FCL messages to local organizations, you called Edith. You called Edith because she got results. A super volunteer, Edith guided, shepherded, nursed the FCL from its inception.
A lifelong Quaker, Edith grew up in rural Nebraska. Upon graduation from college, she devoted some time to AFSC in Philadelphia where she completed a training session at Pendle Hill. She subsequently moved to Southern California, where for many years she taught in local schools as well as participating in the education of young Friends.
When FCL was organized in 1952, Roscoe Warren, a Quaker architect, headed the Southern California committee. At the time, peace issues were the bedrock concern of the fledgling organization. In those early days, activity focused on the Korean war and the draft but disarmament and a nuclear test ban also drew attention.
By 1955, the agenda had broadened to include fair employment, the loyalty oath, and civil rights. Edith assisted in the Committee's efforts whenever she could; her husband, Gerald, was an early and valuable member of the FCL's Executive Committee. Despite the demands of work and motherhood --the Haynes had three children -- Edith contributed handsomely to the work of the organization, especially in the areas of criminal justice, juvenile justice, and the death penalty. These concerns have always claimed particular importance with Edith.
Once the children had grown, Edith's involvement with FCL expanded; she became clerk of the Southern Regional Committee in 1972 and also served as field representative for the area for ten years, carrying out that important and demanding job as an unpaid volunteer. In that role Edith was tireless. She carried the FCL program to the community in general. She gave talks to church groups, service clubs, schools, colleges, and other organizations. She set up telephone trees of seven to ten people each to spread the word on issues emphasized by Sacramento's FCL or Washington's FCNL. She kept in close touch with groups on issues of special concern to them, thereby winning their active support and cooperation on FCL issues; at election time she raised funds to promote propositions of special concern to the statewide Committee.
Edith Haynes' talents, her energy, and her unique contributions have not gone unrecognized or unappreciated. One publication says of Edith, "She is the one in touch, she knows, she does, she loves. Edith Haynes is a Quaker lady in every sense of the word." And a book dedicated to her adds, "Her vitality and devotion are a banner for us all."
We deeply regret that health problems have forced Edith to relinquish her activities associated with FCL. We feel the loss acutely, although that sense of loss is tempered by the memory of and profound gratitude for her selfless and enduring contributions to FCL and to the larger community.
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Five death penalty expansion bills hit the hopper on the Legislature's opening day. Three of them -- AB 3 (Roy Ashburn, R., Bakersfield), AB 4 (Steve Baldwin, R., El Cajon), and SB 31 (Steve Peace, D., El Cajon) would extend the death penalty to the intentional killing of a person under the age of 14. AB 34 (Tony Strickland, R., Oxnard) extends the death penalty to second rape and child molestation offenses and AB 54 (Jim Battin, R., LaQuinta) would make juveniles over the age of 15 who commit capital offenses eligible for the death penalty.
FCL will work against all of these measures; happily we will not be alone. While we have to contend with the perception that most Americans favor the death penalty we take comfort in the fact that opposition to state killing has grown markedly in the past decade. Other encouraging portents include:
The electorate's rejection of the attempt to tar Gray Davis with the "you were Chief of Staff for Jerry Brown who opposed the death penalty" brush during California's gubernatorial election.
Public reaction to Texas' execution of "born-again Christian" Karla Faye Tucker. Many former death penalty advocates were moved to modify their stand.
Lawyers, who know the frailties of our legal system best, have persuaded The American Bar Association to advocate a moratorium on executions until serious due process problems are remedied. In California, for example, the clemency process, created to give the executive branch the power to override shortcomings in the courts, appears to be paralyzed by political considerations.
A 1995 survey by the Hart Research Corporation showed that chiefs of police have low regard for the deterrent effects of capital punishment, although most support it.
A random poll by University of California Santa Cruz professors Craig Haney and Aida Hurtado found that over two-thirds of Californians preferred that murderers be sentenced to life in prison without parole rather than execution. Other studies from other states have yielded comparable results.
With over 500 condemned prisoners already on death row, and two more death penalty measures qualified for a vote at the March, 2000 primary election, one would think that legislators could find other problems or issues in more urgent need of attention. Actually, we see big trouble -- and a big opportunity -- ahead.
With term limits now fully in effect, the 1999-2000 legislature has 40 newcomers. Four statewide officeholders are also starting afresh. All of these fledglings are vulnerable to arguments and appeals -- especially ones that deal with capital punishment.
We will oppose the death penalty measures identified above and any others that may crop up, but in order to be effective we need your help.
Please write, telephone, or e-mail each of the authors stating your opposition to these measures. Your speaking out may help convince them to rethink and perhaps abandon their position.
Subscribe to the Newsletter so that we can keep you informed of developments. (Recommended subscription donations: $20 per year; $7 low-income; address subscription requests to FCL at 926 J Street, Ste. 707, Sacramento, CA 95814.)
Tell others about us and urge them to support our work.
Contribute to the FCL so that the work can go on. Your financial help is urgently needed and vital to our ability to carry the anti-death argument to the lawmakers.
- Steve Birdlebough
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Plan now to come to Sacramento on March 23 to take part in the annual FCL/Interfaith
Coalition Legislative Briefing Day. You will be briefed by FCL staff on criminal justice,
health, and human services issues. You will hear representatives from a wide range of
faiths speak on behalf of political, social and economic justice. And you will have the
opportunity to join with other advocates to inform your elected representatives about
your views.
Please sign up by calling (916) 443-3734 or e-mail fclinfo@cwo.com.
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Long-time FCL supporter and three-term State Controller Ken Cory
died in November. He is remembered by colleagues as an extremely
bright individual blessed with a robust sense of humor and deep
sense of concern for ordinary people. The FCL is especially
indebted to Ken and his wife Carole for their generous and
enduring help. The several fund raisers held at the Cory home
meant a great deal to FCL.
Ken was a civil libertarian to the core, had a sure feel for
justice, and an acute sensitivity to intrusiveness on the part of
the government. He made a seminal contribution to all
Californians by authoring a ballot measure that added ?privacy?
to the roster of constitutional rights. His lucid explanation of
the measure in the ballot pamphlet has been the basis for
expanding our rights in dozens of judicial decisions. It has led
to greater protection of a woman?s right of choice, curtailed
police surveillance of students, protected employees from
polygraph examinations, and protected the privacy of medical
records.
Ken?s accomplishment, immortalized in the State Constitution, is
a living and vital reminder of the great blessings his life has
bestowed upon us. He will be fondly remembered.