A VOTER'S HANDBOOK

For news and updates please visit Judge Jim Gray


9/13/2011 Judge Gray on KFI-640Am with Bill Handel Regulate Pot like Wine
8/27/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Uncle Jim is more than a namesake
8/6/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: When it comes to our failings, pick a card
8/4/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Trip to the 'Promised Land' has a profound effect
8/4/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: A chance to support regulating marijuana
7/17/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Making peace, even while in prison
7/17/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Fundamentals are the answer to the recession
7/17/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Hall of Famers give back to younger players
6/15/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Remember the four Cs when making friends
6/15/2011 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Time to privatize out government work
6/3/11 JUDGE GRAY: Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Initiative by Judge Jim Gray

6/3/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Take in a bit of history with your theater
6/3/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT A GRAY AREA: o much fun, history on Balboa Island
5/15/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT A GRAY AREA: Live and preserve your heritage
5/4/11 THE DAILY JOURNAL Professional Tools for Litigators: Direct and Cross-Examination
5/4/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT A GRAY AREA: Let parents make best school choices
4/25/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT A GRAY AREA: Are we watching? Do we care?
4/17/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT A GRAY AREA: Political Correctness Pulls us Apart
4/15/11 OC REGISTER DAVID WHITING Judge works to legalize marijuana
4/10/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Regulate marijuana like wine
4/1/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: An open letter to Rep. John Campbell
3/28/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Governments need to outsource services
3/22/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Interpreting the 14th Amendment
3/14/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Justice must come before
3/4/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: A worthy celebration of the justice system
2/21/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: With our help, the brain-injured can thrive
2/14/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: St. Valentine's Day — past and present
2/8/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Save the date for this year's music festival
1/30/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Pursuing a truly lost cause
1/25/2011 The London Garcia Show
1/25/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Honest appraisals in our times of need
1/24/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Ways to protect your home
1/8/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Why liberty is so important to us
1/3/11 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Politicians should take a real risk
12/27/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Correcting mistakes of Prop. 13
12/18/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: When it comes to kids, teach and love them
12/14/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Are TSA procedures really making us safer?
12/9/10 FOXNEWS.COM America's Third War: Tracking Cocaine, One Kilo at a Time
12/2/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Gratitude for 'Cups of Tea' author
12/2/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: It's A Gray Area: 'Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies'
12/2/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: It's A Gray Area: Gratitude for 'Cups of Tea' author
12/1/10 Freedom Files with James Burns JB Radio Show
11/26/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: The spirit that moves them at Vanguard
11/26/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: It always comes back to values
11/11/2010 FACEBOOK: End the War on Drugs
11/11/2010 VIDDLER: WATCH JUDGE GRAY'S VIDEOS
11/6/10 VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CA Judge James Gray Lauds Vanguard in Daily Pilot Article
11/2010 LEAP: LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAIST PROHIBITION JUDGE JAMES GRAY
10/31/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: It's as 'sound as the dollar'
10/31/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: The trick of current welfare system
10/26/10 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL George Soros: Why I Support Legal Marijuana
10/26/10 LA NOW Multibillionaire investor George Soros backs Proposition 19 [Updated]
10/25/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: As you live your life, let it be a dance
10/25/10 KFI-AM-640 with Bill Carroll
10/16/10 Dispenceries Online Conservative Judge on why criminals DON’T support Prop.19
10/15/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: On becoming a peacemaker
10/15/10 OC NOW Judge Gray: The dirty tricks of welfare
10/14/10 40/29TV.com Forum Discussing Legalizing Drugs
10/11/10 Judge Gray will be on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles; 98.7 discussing Prop. 19
10/11/10 KPFK promoting Judge Gray's books for fund raising
10/3/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Let's make pot boring
9/28/10 OC REGISTER Dershowitz & Gray: Prop. 19: We should say yes to legal marijuana
9/21/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Braving heart problems together
9/16/10 THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Legalized pot's effect on crime debated
9/15/10 THE DAILY PILOT Judge Gray supports Prop. 19 The Daily Pilot
9/13/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Promote our heritage
9/13/10 Listen to Judge Gray Tim Conway Jr. KFI
9/12/10 CSPAN-BOOKTV - A Voter's Handbook
9/11/10 Billy Blunt Book Review: A Voter’s Handbook
9/8/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Gov't needs to step out of center debate
9/1/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Geothermal hot in sustainable world
8/31/10 THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Debate held on marijuana proposition
8/23/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Tribute to a life well lived
8/20/10 THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Marijuana advocates flock to Anaheim expo
8/20/10 Jim Gray radio interview with Chris Reed KOGO 600am
8/18/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Where fire meets ice
8/16/10 The Louie b. Free Show
8/13/2010 C-SPAN U.S. Drug Policy JudgeGray talked about the failure of current drug prohibition policies.
8/8/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Breaking the cycle of poverty
8/8/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Dachau death camp revisited
8/8/2010 oc register.com Judge Gray's guide for overhauling government by John Seiler
8/2/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Effective fights for freedom
8/20/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Canada has the right idea
7/12/10 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Look to Mexican example of crime prevention
7/10/2010 oc register.com/opinion
7/7/2010 DAILY PILOT Retired Judge James P. Gray, wrote Chapman U.'s fight song that debuts this fall
7/7/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Beginning to see the light by Judge Jim Gray
7/8/ - 7/10 Judge Gray will be speaking on education at Freedom Fest 2010 in Las Vegas
6/28/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Living his masterpiece daily
6/20/2010 Liberty Watch Radio with Charles Heller Tuscon, AZ
6/17/2010 10 a.m.-12 p.m AirTalk WITH LARRY MANTLE: Legalizing Pot? California Voters Choose
6/14/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Proactive approach to gangs needed
6/14/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: The corrupting of traffic citations
6/1/2010 CALIFORNIA POLITICAL NEWS AND VIEWS Stephen Frank's California Political News and Views book Review of A Voter's Handbook: Judge Jim Gray: "A Voters Handbook"
5/31/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Right to be 'Rule of Law' city
5/24/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Reality in Pelican Bay Prison
5/16/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Reject cynicism - vote
5/2/2010 THE DAILY PILOT: IT'S A GRAY AREA: Prisons lacking proper care

 



PERSPECTIVE  •  Aug. 26, 2010
The Death Penalty: Facing the Facts

By James P. Gray

The death penalty is certainly an emotional issue that affects many people in lots of different ways. While all people are fully entitled to their own opinions in this or any other matter, no one is entitled to his or her own facts.

Typically the proponents of the death penalty present five justifications for its implementation. First, this is the appropriate punishment for the offender of such a serious crime. Second, this is rightful societal vengeance (often cited as an "eye for an eye"). Third, this reduces to zero the chances that the offender will return to society. Fourth, this deters against future violations by other offenders. And fifth, this provides closure for the families of the victims.

Let's first discuss the possibility of offenders returning to society. As you know, when a person is convicted of a "special circumstance" murder, the only two sentences allowed under California law are the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole. In times past, a person receiving a "life" sentence could still be paroled, but now if an offender receives life without parole, parole is not possible without a pardon from the Governor - which is extremely unlikely. Furthermore, to my knowledge no one serving such a sentence has ever escaped from prison. As a result, this is probably no longer a justification for the death penalty.

Regarding the issue of closure for the victims' families, consider that California has had only 15 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978. But currently, there are more than 660 convicted offenders on death row. Of those offenders, 30 have been there for more than 25 years, 119 for more than 20 years, and 408 for longer than 10 years. The last two people executed were Clarence Ray Allen and Stanley "Tookey" Williams, both of whom were executed about 26 years after their offenses were committed. As a result, "closure" for the families, if it comes at all, comes after keeping the books open for decades.

Moreover, the death penalty keeps the families of the victims on an emotional roller coaster. Because of the appeals and occasional re-trials, the families are forced for years to relive the grisly details of their loved one's death - over and over again. In many ways, this is actually using the grieving families as bit-players in a long-continuing political drama. And when it comes down to it, does it furnish much satisfaction to see the object of one's hatred simply go to sleep when hooked up to a needle? So maybe what we are doing is the opposite of closure for those victimized people.

In addition, since many people view it as an "insult" to the memory of the deceased victim not to invoke the maximum punishment, there is a perceived obligation to seek the death penalty regardless of the costs, either human or financial. But if the maximum punishment were to be a sentence to life without the possibility of parole, the families would more likely be satisfied with that result and move on with their lives.

And what about deterrence against future offenders? Probably the only circumstances in which deterrence would be a factor would be offenses like murder for hire (both for the people paying for the deed to be done and for the killers themselves), murder after laying in wait, kidnapping in which the victim is killed, multiple murders or murders while already serving life without the possibility of parole, and treason. These involve situations in which the acts are well thought out in advance.

But the large majority of offenses subject to the death penalty are offenses that are not planned. For example, most burglars and robbers do not plan in advance to kill anybody, but things get out of control and people are killed as a result. And the offenders that do make prior plans are often involved in heavy emotional situations (jilted lovers) or suffer from severe psychiatric disorders. These individuals are not focused on the deterrence effect of the death penalty. Those realities, coupled with the fact that most offenders never feel that they will be caught at all, negate the effects of deterrence for most offenses.

As a practical matter, if a person knows that he has committed an offense that would qualify him for the death penalty, that person tends to feel with some justification that he has nothing more to lose. That belief results in the perpetrator killing witnesses to the offense to keep them from testifying against him, and also killing the police officers attempting to arrest him. So in effect, what we end up with is the opposite of deterrence.

As for the punishment of the offender, I have no particular wisdom to suggest to you other than saying that in many ways, serving a sentence of life without the possibility of ever being released would be more severe for most offenders than execution.

Last but not least is social vengeance, which is a complicated and multifaceted issue. On the one hand, there is historical and biblical rationale that the proper penalty for wrongly taking the life of another is to forfeit one's own life. On the other hand, it is hard to justify our country as being the world's champion of human rights if it is so at odds with much of the rest of the world on the issue of capital punishment.

For example, since California reinstated the death penalty in 1978, no fewer than 60 other countries have chosen to abolish it. Although there are dozens of countries that still have the death penalty on the books, only six of those countries, including the United States, are responsible for 90 percent of all of the executions. The other five are China, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the Sudan. As such we are keeping pretty lowly company in the area of human rights.

I realize that this can be an emotional subject, and that many people who present information like this are considered to be "bleeding heart liberals." But I was a trial court judge in Orange County from 1993, when I was appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian, until January of 2009, and I wanted to share for your consideration the facts as I have seen and observed them.

James P. Gray is a retired judge of the Orange County Superior Court, works as a private mediator for ADR Services Inc., is the author of "A Voter's Handbook: Effective Solutions to America's Problems" (The Forum Press, 2010), and can be contacted at [email protected] or through www.JudgeJimGray.com.

**********
© 2010 Daily Journal Corporation. All rights reserved.

 


6/30/10 printed with premission

 
 
Text, images and audio materials © 2020 The Forum Press | Respective Owners | All Rights Reserved | No unauthorized reproduction in any form without publishers written consent