Deukmejian Wants ‘House of Death,’ Bird Says

California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird on Thursday accused Gov. George Deukmejian of trying to turn the state Supreme Court into a “house of death” and of favoring a code of justice that has more in common with “the law west of the Pecos” than with the rule of law.

Bird’s “house of death” allusion came in a morning press conference in San Diego. Later in the day, she told reporters in Los Angeles that she regretted the “colorful language,” but said she meant it when she used the words “house of death.”

“What else is a Supreme Court that is given orders to do nothing but affirm death cases?” Bird asked. “Justice (Joseph R.) Grodin has affirmed, depending on what rule you use, either three, six or seven death cases. That was not enough for Gov. Deukmejian. . . . Does he want the Supreme Court to look at the law and follow it?

“At the moment,” she added, “what he says to Justice Grodin and Justice (Cruz) Reynoso is, ‘Unless you bring out a lot more affirmances . . . I’m going to not support you.’ That’s not the rule of law,” Bird said. “That’s the law west of the Pecos.”

Associate Justices Grodin and Reynoso, along with Bird, are facing organized opposition mainly because of their many votes to reverse death sentences handed out by lower courts. The three justices are among six of the seven-member Supreme Court who are up for election Nov. 4.

Bird’s remarks Thursday are evidence of an increasing tendency to make the governor the main target of her counterattack against court critics.

The chief justice argues that it is Deukmejian’s desire to control the judiciary, and not the debate over the death penalty, that is the main issue in the election. To that theme, Bird added a new twist Thursday, saying that Deukmejian was seeking more executions in order to advance his political career.

Deukmejian, after a political appearance in Riverside on Thursday, termed Bird’s charges “ridiculous.”

“I think that she ought to recognize that the majority of people in the state are indicating they are very unhappy with her record,” the governor said. “It’s not a matter of party. It’s not a matter of any one person’s political future; it’s just broad, bipartisan opposition.”

Sensitive about her use of language at the San Diego press conference Thursday, Bird said in reference to her house of death comment: “What I was trying to say and what I hopefully can say in a more precise way is that the governor does not have a full appreciation of the separation of powers. He does not have a full appreciation of what the three branches of government are all about. He does not have an appreciation of what the judicial process is all about.

“It’s not about trying to influence a third branch of government that is a house of justice.

“Just think for a moment when you say to a jurist: ‘Don’t follow the law; I just want to see some executions. Don’t follow the law; I just want to see some cases that are pro-corporation.’ That’s a basic misunderstanding of what we are all about.”