Bradley Says He Would Name Only Judges Who Accept Death Penalty

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said Monday that as governor, he would ask prospective judges to promise him that they would impose the death penalty “in the right circumstances.”

Bradley made the statement when he was asked about capital punishment in an early evening television interview, a day before he was scheduled to announce his candidacy for governor. The Democratic mayor again declined to disclose his position on California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, whose confirmation on the November ballot is opposed by death penalty advocates on grounds that she has frustrated implementation of the capital punishment law.

Bradley said he “will make a statement” on Bird within 60 days.

His statement on judges, made in one television interview and repeated in another, seemed to anticipate and possibly deflect reporters’ questions on the Bird issue during his two-day statewide announcement tour.

Detract From Message

Bradley aides have privately expressed concern that questions about the mayor’s position on Bird might dominate the tour, detracting from the message Bradley has planned.

Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, a strong Bird foe, has been accusing Bradley of lacking leadership for not taking a stand on Bird.

After declining to give his position, Bradley went on to talk about how he would pick judges if elected governor.

“I will first of all make a determination about their intellectual capacity, their experience, their ability to tell me they, in fact, follow the death penalty law,” he said.

“I am in favor of the death penalty, and I want them to commit to the fact that they impose it in the right circumstances.”

When he was asked about his statement after the interview, Bradley said he would want his judicial appointees to pledge that “they will follow the law and they will impose it (capital punishment) in appropriate cases.”

The mayor did not elaborate on what he meant by “appropriate cases.”

Made It Clear

Bradley made it clear that he intends to campaign this year as an outspoken death penalty advocate.

He said, “Something must be done to remove these heartless criminals of the streets of the city.”

That is a switch from his 1982 campaign against Deukmejian, when he merely said he would enforce the death penalty law and avoided ringing endorsements of capital punishment.

In 1978, Bradley was chairman of a statewide committee for Bird, who was narrowly affirmed by the voters that year.

This time, some of his advisers are urging him to handle the Bird issue by saying that he supports a proposal to create a committee that campaigns for confirmation of all Supreme Court justices on the ballot on the grounds that the judiciary must be independent.

‘Important Concept’

When interviewer Christine Kraft brought up the subject of judicial independence, Bradley said, “Yes, that is an important concept. It has been with us since the beginning of this country, and it should remain so.”

In his tour today, Bradley will announce his candidacy at a breakfast in Sacramento, after meeting with Democratic legislative leaders, and then travel to San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno, San Diego and Irvine over a two-day span.