TIME TO STEP UP
During the weeks that followed the July 14, 1998, "Bastille Day" execution of Tho-mas Thompson, a couple of mainstream media types told me that executions and their attending vigils-barring a "fresh angle"-are no longer considered news events. Coverage of executions at San Quentin by the major news media is expected to drop off rapidly and be limited to San Quentin's immediate environs and the county of commitment.
This point was underscored in a recent "This Week in Northern California" program on KQED, the Bay Area PBS outlet. When asked if he thought the death penalty abolitionists had been given due coverage during past executions, a panelist opined that executions are now routine; if the abolitionists want coverage, they should make news.
While many of us on the row appreciate the execution-eve vigils and realize that an execution is a strong focal point, we also realize that it is too little, too late. Ultimately, it is the State that makes the final point of the night, and the vigilists are disheartened.
Perhaps it is time to change the venue of protest and demonstration.
·The purposes of death penalty abolitionists may be better served by taking their protest to the seats of power rather than to the site of extermination. Why not direct demonstrations against those responsible for the process-local district attorneys, the legislature, state capital offices, department headquarters, and federal, state, and county courthouses-and do so more often than on execution days?
·Capital crime trials are going on almost everyday somewhere in this state, prosecuted at the whim and caprice of the local district attorney. Capital crime is also discussed endlessly in the state capitol building. Why not make these the focal points for protest and demonstrations?
·California has the largest population of condemned on death row in the nation. It also has a significant foreign tourist industry. Hit-and-run demonstrations at local centers of commerce and tourism may prove newsworthy and beneficial to the abolitionist cause. Why not play up the human rights angle and alert tourists that their tourist dollars translate into tax dollars spent on executions that violate international human rights agreements?
The pro-death forces have the upper hand at the moment, and the pace of executions will likely quicken in the coming years. But this is not the time to give up. It is the time to step up. It is the time to make the minority voice on this issue heard. It is the time to point out that a state willing to take a life belittles and endangers all human rights within its boundaries.
Life-the most basic human right of all-should not be subjected to judicial termination.