Readers React: Death penalty deja vu

Before anti-death penalty forces celebrate too soon, it must be noted that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling swings both ways. This case reminded me of a death penalty affirmance I won before the California Supreme Court. (“Supreme Court says IQ cannot determine mental fitness in capital cases,” May 27)

In 1982, gang member Anderson Hawthorne shot to death two guys playing dice in a South L.A. parking lot. He was sent to death row. But on habeas appeal, his attorneys demonstrated that his IQ was about 70 and he was therefore immune to execution.

My response was to argue, as have now the liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court, that these lines should not regarded as so fixed as to establish a disability and that what should be controlling is the functioning of the person in question. The gate swings both ways.

Robert S. Henry

San Gabriel

The writer is a retired capital case coordinator with the California attorney general’s office.