Former spe­cial pros­e­cu­tor Kenneth Starr recent­ly voiced con­cerns about the way the death penal­ty is being applied. Starr, who now serves as Dean of the Pepperdine Law School, is assist­ing in the rep­re­sen­ta­tion of death row inmate Michael Morales. Morales is sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on February 21 in California.

Starr said, ​“Society is not equipped to han­dle death penal­ty cas­es because of resources. Large law firms are not will­ing at this stage to take these cas­es on, at a cost of many thou­sands of dol­lars, in order to make sure that if the pub­lic wants the death penal­ty, it is not admin­is­tered with arbi­trari­ness and caprice.”

He said he sup­ports cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, ​“reserved for the most heinous crimes but enshroud­ed with the most exquis­ite safe­guards. … This is not frontier justice.”

Regarding his client who is fac­ing exe­cu­tion, Starr said, ​“It will be an act of ille­gal­i­ty for this exe­cu­tion to go for­ward next week, and peo­ple should be upset about that.” 

(San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 17, 2006). See New Voices.

Citation Guide