Lawyer Shortage in Capital Cases
Re “An Even Longer Wait on Death Row,” April 3:
Can there be more convincing evidence to justify the ambivalence that society exudes toward our criminal justice system? As if the sentences that are regularly handed down in criminal cases aren’t lenient enough, the convicted murderers who do receive the ultimate crime deterrent are able and supposedly have a right to use the state’s precious prison capacity while they search for the most qualified appellate attorneys available, because “it is incredibly demoralizing for people on death row to be without counsel, without access to the outside world.” That is exactly what it should be. One does not obtain a space on death row by aspiring to become a valued, moral member of society.
The lack of boundaries is the inherent problem within the current system of convicting and sentencing criminals. It seems reversed that if a defendant is found not guilty there are no further avenues prosecutors can take in attempting to seek justice, but if the same person is found guilty there are years worth of appeals to be scrutinized. When do courts need to be found accountable for the verdicts they accept and the sentences they render without leaving endless holes opened to question?
Finality is nowhere in the criminal justice system.
ROBERT APSEY
Santa Barbara
* Inadvertently the citizens of California have stumbled upon the perfect punishment for these detestable wretches. Understand that I am totally opposed to the death penalty, because the state should not be in the business of killing anyone, and incidentally, it is stupidly expensive; but it seems that it is not going to change soon, considering the blood thirst of the public.
In devising the present system, we have invented the perfect punishment, uncertainty. Dangling hope and then snatching it away, not only once, but again and again. Think about it; it is exquisite punishment, much more suitable than death. Let’s leave it as it is until the public figures our how much it costs.
CHUCK WELCH
Los Angeles
* Your article on death row lawyers incorrectly states there are “many reasons” for the long delays in finding qualified counsel.
Actually, it boils down to one word: money. Supreme Court justices have imposed niggardly time and expense limits on everything from research to client phone calls to investigation. Any time spent in excess of court guidelines is usually on the attorney’s own dime.
The word is out that death penalty lawyers who want to do quality work will do so at their own financial peril. (I myself got out of court-appointed work after going broke at it.) If the pay were fair, finding qualified lawyers would be easy.
DANIEL A. DOBRIN
Pomona