Two Viewpoints Merge in Opposition to Death Penalty

By TChris, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 08:12:52 PM EST
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Mike Farrell, the actor who achieved a measure of fame in M*A*S*H, and Don McCartin, formerly known as "the hanging judge of Orange County," team up in this call for an end to California's death penalty. Hollywood actors are often liberal, but why is McCartin taking an anti-death stance?

Don McCartin, having sentenced nine men to death and then watched as the system examined, re-examined and finally overturned all of his convictions while executing none of them, now believes the death penalty is a hideously expensive fraud. It tortures the loved ones of murder victims by dragging them through the years of complex appeals required by the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to protect the innocent.

Farrell's point: [more ...]

"When stripping away the remaining shreds of one's humanity and killing him while helpless and defenseless is called `justice' by the leaders of our state and nation, a lesson is taught," says Farrell. "Unfortunately, that lesson is being played out today, not only in our cities, but by young Americans in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram and 'black sites' run by the CIA across the world, again with the full authority and approval of those who pretend to leadership."

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Two Viewpoints Merge in Opposition to Death Penalty | 2 comments (2 topical)

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I was on a jury under Judge McCartin (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by ruffian on Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 09:33:53 PM EST

back in my other lifetime in California. It must have been 1985 or so, remembering the job I had at the time. It was a murder case, and after we the jury were selected, on the morning the trial was supposed to start, the defendant waived a jury trial to try the case before Judge McCartin alone. Guess he liked his chances with "the Hanging Judge" better than with us. I remember the judge well - he seemed like the model of a judge to me at the time - very calm and humorous, and fair and polite to everyone in the courtroom. We had a long voir dire process because it was a death penalty case that had gotten some publicity, and he asked us a lot of questions himself.

It was a horrible story - childhood friends, now in their 20's, allegedly got involved in dealing drugs together, and had a falling out. One of them, the defendant, was allegedly piloting a small plane while a third man pushed the friend out of the airplane over the ocean near Catalina. From what I remember, the third man who did the pushing was the 'snitch' we were going to be hearing from as a witness. We got a lot of questions in voir dire about whether we would credit the word of a snitch who was an admitted drug dealer.

The whole thing was disturbing for innocent young me in my 20s. On one hand I was glad not to have to hear the case and make those decisions, but on the other hand it would have been a very interesting experience. I think the judge found him guilty, but I never heard the result of appeals. I will have to look up some of these stories and books about Judge McCartin and see if he talks about it.

Very interesting to see his opinions about the death penalty now.

two solutions (none / 0) (#2)
by diogenes on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 11:25:11 PM EST

One solution is to stop the death penalty. The other is to stop the interminable appeals. Judge McCartin feels that interminable appeals are hard on the family, but endless requests for parole or clemency are hard too. Also, many families are spared the burden of a trial because murderers plea bargain to life in exchange for not being tried for death.