A group of 450 attor­neys par­tic­i­pat­ing in the Conference of Delegates of the California Bar Association has urged a mora­to­ri­um on the death penal­ty in California until the state reviews whether cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment laws are enforced fair­ly and uni­form­ly. ​“If you make a mis­take, it’s not like you can go back and cor­rect a mis­take because the per­son is dead,” said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers, sup­port­er of the mea­sure and a mem­ber of the Bar Association that rep­re­sents pros­e­cu­tors, crim­i­nal defend­ers and civ­il attor­neys from dozens of bar groups through­out the state. The group called on California law­mak­ers and Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar to impose a two-year mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions and to cre­ate an inde­pen­dent com­mit­tee focus­ing on race, the reli­a­bil­i­ty of con­vic­tions and whether the con­demned had ade­quate legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion. It also request­ed an inquiry into the finan­cial cost of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and whether cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment is imposed too often. Executions are rare in California even though it has the nation’s largest death row of 640 inmates. One rea­son for the delay is that more than a quar­ter of those on California’s death row have not been giv­en a lawyer for their first and manda­to­ry appeal to the state’s Supreme Court. The state has car­ried out 10 exe­cu­tions since the death penal­ty resumed in 1976. (Associated Press, October 17, 2004) See Representation, Costs, Race, and Innocence.

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