ELECTIONS / 38TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Boland Attacks Allert’s Position on the Death Penalty

Assembly candidates Paula Boland and Irene Allert touted their law and order credentials Thursday, clashing over the death penalty and discounting each other’s police endorsements.

At a news conference at the Devonshire Division police station in Northridge, Boland, a Republican who strongly favors the death penalty, charged that her Democratic foe is ambiguous about it and would vote against legislation dealing with capital punishment if elected to the 38th Assembly District seat.

Allert later said in a telephone interview that she supports state-ordered executions in California but that it would be cheaper to sentence those convicted of capital crimes to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Boland, a Granada Hills real estate broker, is running against Allert, an educational consultant from Kagel Canyon, for the seat being vacated by Assemblywoman Marian La Follette (R-Northridge), who is retiring.

Boland, 50, said Allert answered “no” when asked in a newspaper questionnaire in May if she supported the death penalty. Boland noted that when her opponent was asked the same question in a similar questionnaire this month, Allert said she “supports the implementation of state law.”

In the same questionnaire, Allert, 46, said she opposes capital punishment for those convicted of importing or selling drugs.

Boland charged that Allert, if elected, would vote against the death penalty “every opportunity she gets.” Boland said she favors capital punishment for drug dealers who sell to minors who die as a result of taking the drugs.

Allert denied that she had flip-flopped on the questionnaires but said she is “personally ambivalent, like a lot of people” about the death penalty, given the high costs involved in lengthy court appeals.

She said it costs the state an average of $5 million to try, incarcerate and fight the court appeals of each inmate sentenced to death. By contrast, it costs $28,000 per year to house a prisoner, she said.

Sentencing those convicted of capital crimes to life in prison without possibility of parole “would break up the logjam in our court system and it would be less expensive. At the same time, it would give us a guarantee that criminals won’t walk the streets again,” Allert said.

Boland said she has been endorsed by Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block and six police officers associations. She also is backed by an organization of women prosecutors.

Earlier this month, Allert said she had been endorsed by six law enforcement groups, including the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents city police officers.

Boland said law enforcement groups back her because of her tough anti-crime positions. She charged that police organizations support Allert only because of the Democrat’s pro-union stance.

Allert retorted that the groups backing Boland did so after interviewing only the Republican. Allert added that although she is pro-labor, she is backed by police groups because they also approve of her stand on law and order issues.

At her news conference, Boland unveiled a “six-point plan to help law enforcement combat drug abuse.” Among her recommendations was the appointment of a state drug czar, with power to direct a coordinated, interagency attack on drug abuse in California.

Boland acknowledged that she took the recommendations from a report issued by the privately financed California Commission on Drugs. The commission’s executive director, Rob Wilcox, was defeated by Boland after a bitter fight in the GOP primary election in June.