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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1984)
Page 2, Portland Observer, October 24,1964 Death penalty divides churches by M eg Roland O n F rid a y a fte rn o o n (he C ity C lu b o f P o rtla n d to o k a stand which recommended a ‘ No* vole on the upcom ing death penalty issue. Sunday a fte rn o o n a sm all ra lly gathered at the South P ark Blocks to dem onstrate against reinstating the death p en alty here in O reg o n. But polls ind icate that these c iti zens may represent a m inority opin ion among Oregon voters. Ballot measures 6 and 7 are com panion measures which, if both are passed, w ill result in the reinstate ment o f the death p en alty in O re gon. The death p en ally , abolished in Oregon in 1964, has been claimed by m any to he d is c rim in a to ry against Blacks and low -incom e people. “ N o murderer has been executed in Oregon who has had enough mo ney to hire his ow n la w y e r ," says P au l W ic h m a n , c o o rd in a to r fo r Oregonians Against the Death Pen a lty . C itin g a n a tio n a l statistic W ic h m a n points out th at " I f you are convicted o f murder and happen to be black, you are five times more likely to be sentenced to d eath ." T h e O reg o n B ill o f Rights c u r re n tly p ro h ib its the use o f " c ru e l and unusual p u n is h m e n t" in sen tencing crim inals. Measure 6 would amend the state constitution so that the execution o f convicted m u rd er ers w o u ld be exem pted fro m this guarantee against excessive punish m ent. M easure 7 w ould requ ire by law execution by lethal injection fo r anyone unanim ously convicted o f aggravated murder. " I am very much opposed to these m e as u res," says Ron H e rn d o n , co -c h a ir o f the Black U n ited F ro n t. " T h e death p en alty is the kin d o f punishm ent relegated to the poor and typically to people o f co lor.” A study done in F lo rid a in 1977 indicated that race was a factor in d e liv erin g a sentence o f death to convicted m urderers. A Black per son w ho m urdered a w hite person was fa r m ore lik ely to receive the death penalty than in the reverse sit uation. Concerned O reg o nian s fo r Jus tice, h ow ever, support the death p en alty in itia tiv e and believe that the facts deserve a closer look. " F if t y percent o f all murder vic tims are minorities even though they o nly m ake up 10% o f the p o p u la tio n ," says Dedi Streich, chairper son fo r Concerned Oregonians for Justice. " I n 9 5 % o f these cases the o ffen d e r is o f the same race as the vic tim ." " I am not saying that m inorities are dangerous p e o p le ,” says Streich, " b u t rather that i f we are re a lly concerned about justice fo r minorities we should be looking for ways to reduce the number o f m ur d e rs ." A cco rd in g to S treich , the murder rate in Texas was decreased by 33 'A % the year the Texas death p en alty law was c o n firm ed by the Supreme Court. But the Religious C om m unity for E q u a l Justice, opponents o f the death penalty measures and organiz ers o f Sunday's rally, cite a study by the N a tio n a l Academ y o f Science which states that there is no useful evidence on the deterrent effect o f capital punishment. "P eop le are scared," says M yron H a ll, spokesperson fo r the R e lig ious Com m unity for Equal Justice. " I understand th a t, but the death penalty w ill not m ake people any safer.” " T o stop murder you need to p ro vide a just society that provides equitable rights for a ll," says H all. H e rn d o n asks, " W h a t i f a m is take is made? There can be no ap peal a fte r a person has been exe cuted." Measure 6 and 7 have divided the religious co m m un ity in their o p in ions on the m o rality o f imposing a death p en alty. O reg o n's R om an Catholic bishops recently released a pastoral letter to all C a th o lic p a r ishes in the state denouncing the death penalty. " T h e death penalty does not de ter; it is discriminatory; it is fallible; it is costly; it is real; it is fin a l; its ultim ate victims are all o f us,” the statement said. " O u r fa ith in G od calls us to 'choose life, not d eath ." C lerg y C oncerned fo r B ib lical Justice, a coalition o f conservative Christian pastors, endorses 'he mea sures and cites a number o f biblical passages to support th eir view. " G o d m andates th at m a n , o rg a n ized co lle ctive ly in g o vern m en t, exact death upon the m u rd e r e r ," the committee recently stated. T h e R eligious C o m m u n ity fo r Equal Justice, representing Protes tant pastors, C a th o lic bishops and Jewish Rabbis has opposed the mea sure because it is, in their view, both discrim inatory and m o rally wrong. They too base their views on biblical passages. M ik e K a tz , m em ber and past president o f the Portland C ity Club, served on the com m ittee appointed to research M easures 6 and 7 fo r Friday's C ity Club debate. Katz was o rig in a lly in fa v o r o f the death penalty but the research done by his com m ittee strongly convinced him to change his m ind. "A c c o rd in g to the E co n om ist (a L ondon-based econom ic jo u rn a l), there are three main w hite-ruled countries that still execute people as part o f their legal justice system: the Soviet Union, the U n io n o f South A fric a an d , to my b itte r sham e, the U n ite d States o f A m e ric a ," said K atz at the Friday discussion. " I n South A fr ic a last year there were 100 executions, 99 o f w hich were Blacks. T h is gives you an idea w hy I feel so strongly that this is company we ought not to be k e e p in g ," said K a tz in a later interview. T h e C ity C lu b voted on F rid a y , by a sub stan tial m a rg in , to adopt the m a jo rity report o f the research co m m ittee w hich recom m ended a ‘ No* vole on both Measure 6 and 7. Curls ♦25°° Good Until Octobar 31 TCB Curt. Hag 136 00 Now «26 00 Relaxer Open M on.-Sat. 9-5. $17“ (By appt. only) JANAE’S HAIRSTYLES FOR Men and Women 4711 N . In te rs ta te 249-8440 MRS. C’s WIGS Betty Cibine Proprietor Now Thru October 30th Rally urges Reagan defeat November 6th ANDAI DOUGLAS n a t a m i c o l i o m k . m a i i A rti r s by L am ta Duke G R A S S R O O T N E W S . N .W . — Pioneer Courthouse Square glowed O cto b e r 20th w ith the new P o lit i cal Pioneers — the Rainbow C o a li tio n — at a R a in b o w ra lly to end Reaganism. Speakers covering the entire spec trum o f concerns and issues warned the 300-person crow d w ith a co m mon theme. "E n d Reaganism!" H e rb C aw th o rn e, a C ity C ouncil c a n d id a te , said Reagan does not share his vision o f A m erica. " R e a gan does not believe every child de serves a q u a lity e d u c a tio n . T hey have cut the p ro g ram fo r g ifte d c h ild re n , those one or tw o years b eh in d in read ing and m a th , the h an d icap , vo cation and technical education." Danni N ita Brueggeman, Northwest sec retary-treasurer fo r A m algam ated C lo th in g and T extile workers, pre dicted, " I f Reagan is reelected the U .S . w ill invade N ic a ra g u a .” She added her visit to N ic a ra g u a dis- spelled R e ag an ’ s c o n te n tio n th at only one political party was allowed to th riv e in N ic a ra g u a . "S e v e n p arties are on the b a llo t and the people participate and support their governm ent." R a m o n R a m ie re z, d ire c to r o f Now Rag. 836.00 Reg. 818.96 MRS. C’s WIGS 707 N.E. Fremont 2 8 1 -6 5 2 5 Closed tun. A Mon. 0 F IN Tuea. thru tat. 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM Despite heavy ralna, an eatlmated 300 people came to proteet the Reagan Admlniatratlon Set- W illa m e tte V a lle y Im m ig ra tio n P ro je c t, co m p lem en ted Bruegge- man's analysis. "Reagan has a solu tion to the high unem ploym ent o f Hispanic youth — rhe A rm y ............. T h is w ay he w ill have an arm eu fo rce w ith c u ltu ra l and language similarities with the people they are righting." R o n n ie H e rn d o n , c o -c h a ir o f the Black United F ro nt, called Rea gan's n a tio n a l and fo reig n policy " a shakedown racket." “ He goes to those who are defenseless and says, if you d on 't give it up I'm going to hurt yo u .” urday In Pioneer Square, IPhoto by Richard J. Brown) H e said d u rin g the Reagan A d ministration a m ajor redistribution o f income had occurred. " H o u s e holds w ith incomes under $20,000 lost $20 b illio n in b en efits fro m Reagan's tax cuts. But those house holds over $ 8 0 ,0 0 0 per year have gained $30 b illio n ." Herndon questioned the so-called reduction in the unemployment rate by poin tin g out that the slight de crease fo r w hite w orkers occurred because they w ere fo rced to take lower paying jobs. In te rn a tio n a lly , he said Grenada represented a threat to the current p ow er stru c tu re in th at regio n. " G re n a d a was the only co u ntry in the West Indies where they reduced u nem ploym ent fro m 40 to 12 p er cent. A ll children received free ed ucation and everyone had access to free health care. That was the mes sage they d id not w ant spread to m illio n s o f p oo r people on the islands.” H e rn d o n advised the cro w d to give Reagan a long rest " i n the bunkhouse, maybe in the outhouse, but d e fin ite ly not in the W h ite H o u se." Salvadoran rebel addresses local group O n the eve o f scheduled peace talks in El Salvad or, a representa tive o f the S alv ad o ran o pp o sitio n met in Portland with leaders o f the Oregon Rainbow O rganizing C o m m ittee. Jose Escobar o f the F D R - F M 1 .N re p o rte d on hum an and civil rights abuses which have been institutionalized by the US-backed Salvadoran government. Accorrding to Escobar, El Salva d o r ’ s n a tio n a l C o n s titu tio n bars Blacks from entering the country if they do not p erfo rm certain fu n c tions (i.e. politicians, athletes, etc.). Thus, Jesse Jackson was allowed en try into El Salvador where he deliv ered the F D R -F M L N 's latest peace proposal to President Jose N a p o leon Duarte because as a politician, his entry did not violate the Salva doran Constitution. The country’ s legal code also per mits torture for the purpose o f o b taining info rm ation , and im prison m ent w ith o u t tr ia l fo r suspected anti-governm ent sympathizers, Es co b ar said. T h e New Y o rk Tim es $-1500 $2995 Now Cawthorne also urged a sister-city relationship w ith the city o f C o rin - to, Nicaragua: "P eop le in Portland care about the struggle you are try ing to make toward dem ocracy." O n the nuclear q u estion C a w th o rn e said P o rtla n d e rs need to m ake a lo c al statem en t to f u lf ill their o bligation to make the world safe and advocated a "N u clear Free Z o n e ." Joev Joaa Eacobar. aeated center on couch, meats with members of the Portland Rainbow organizing committee. (Photo by Richard J. Brown) has also reported the use of napalm against the civilian population. Escobar rem inded the R ain b ow supporters that the day the Reagan A d m in is tra tio n co m m its U .S . ground troops to defend "frie n d ly " d ic tato rsh ip s in C e n tra l A m erica, it will be Rainbow people — Blacks, Latins and low-income whites— who w ill be sent in the greatest num ber to fight an unwinnable battle in the name o f U .S . interests.
