Lynn Woolley
Monday, Aug. 20, 2001

We refer to the death penalty, a hallowed, (almost) uniquely American institution that comes under fire on several major fronts: This criminal is too young; this one is too insane; this one had a lousy lawyer; this criminal is too poor; this one is a minority.

Forget the extremism of Bianca Jagger and other ideologues who call the United States a rogue nation because "civilized” countries don’t execute their "citizens.” Let’s just assume for the moment that removing certain genes from the pool is an honorable practice – IF we can get it right.

The "too young” defense rings hollow from the start. I remember asking my parents at a very early age if God would punish me when I did wrong. Their answer to my question was wise beyond words. "There is an age of accountability,” they told me. "God knows when you know better.” That was somewhat chilling because I knew that by asking, I was demonstrating that I was already there. The sovereign states of this nation have the ability to define that age. Fifteen seems about right.

Ah, the "insanity defense” and its companion, the "mental retardation defense.” First, let’s stipulate that you have to be nuts to go on a killing spree in the first place, but we can’t count that or everyone could automatically plead. On the same hand, lots of people – lots of women – suffer from depression and never hurt anyone. Again, a standard is needed to define those who are truly mindless killers – killing in the same way that a wild animal would.

But someone who plans, buys a knife or a gun to do the deed, or systematically drowns five children before dialing 911 and saying "I did it!” deserves no such consideration. Likewise, the truly retarded and childlike person would seem to be too dim to commit the heinous rape that usually accompanies the murder. So set a high standard; if the murderer has any understanding of what he did, then he’s accountable.

The "bad legal representation defense” is one that should be taken quite seriously. It is very disturbing to see lawyers falling asleep during trials. This must stop, and it’s up to the presiding judges to police it. The judge should fire the lawyer and start the trial over.

The problem of legal representation for poor minorities and poor people in general is the most serious of all the problems in death penalty cases. Justice suffered when California officials never even tried for the death penalty against O.J. Simpson because they knew that his celebrity and his money would prevail. Poor people, regardless of color, have no such clout and often have court-appointed lawyers that are no match for prosecutors whose job it is to get convictions.

There’s only one way to fix this problem, and that is to appoint better attorneys in death penalty cases. That’s right – lawyers who have made it big in the legal profession shouldn’t mind being called on to represent some poor slob who hasn’t got a dime to hire a decent lawyer.

The fix for abolishing racism on juries is tougher. After all, it was racism that got Mr. Simpson off the hook. However, we’d be off to a good start if we’d stop letting lawyers ask endless questions of the jury pool. Simply take the first 12 people who aren’t related to the defendant, don’t know him, and will swear to uphold the law. Many cases these days are won at the time of jury selection, and that must stop.

Finally, why not remove the death penalty equation from the courtroom altogether? The old Texas penal code used to charge a defendant with "murder with malice” or "murder without malice.” Either the killer had a good reason (like self-defense) or he didn’t. Under such a scenario, the grand jury could bring a true bill of murder with malice for those who killed purposefully and maliciously. A guilty verdict would automatically bring the death penalty. For kids under fifteen, the truly insane or severely retarded, or other mitigating circumstances, the DA could seek an indictment for murder without malice which would leave room for a variety of punishments – but not death.

These reforms aren’t perfect – but they may be about as close as we’re ever going to get.

Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based radio talk show host and columnist. Her e-mail address is lynn@belogical.com.