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.
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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.