July 26, 2000
Page A4
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A rtic le s do not
necessarily reflect or
represent the view s o f
Federal death sentences
highlights racial gap
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Joy Ramos
W hite defendants in federal capital cases are m ore likely than blacks to
negotiate plea bargains that spare their lives, according to an analysis o f
146 cases prosecuted since Congress reinstated capital punishm ent.
Sixty percent o f w hite defendants avoided capital punishm ent through a
negotiated settlem ent in cases in w hich the Justice D epartm ent chose to
pursue the death penalty. Typically, those plea bargains result in either
life sentences or long prison terms.
For black defendants in those cases, 41 percent reached an agreem ent with
prosecutors, according to the Federal D eath Penalty Resource Counsel
Project, a private group that receives federal funding to track federal
capital cases.
“T his raises a red flag,” said D avid Baldus, a U niversity o f Iow a law
professor who has studied race and the death penalty. “T he sam ple on
the plea agreem ents isn’t so sm all at all, and the m agnitude o f the disparity
is very strong.”
The analysis parallels a Justice D epartm ent study o f geographic and racial
differences in the im position o f the death penalty. This m onth, President
Bill C linton ordered the postponem ent o f the first federal execution in 40
years, scheduled for Aug. 5, until the Justice D epartm ent could com plete
the review and establish clem ency procedures.
A ttorney General Janet Reno said last w eek she expects the results soon.
Justice D epartm ent spokesm an M yron M arlin said the statistical disparity
alone does not necessarily dem onstrate racial bias by federal prosecutors.
“Plea bargain num bers alone can be m isleading,” M arlin said told the
C hicago Tribune. “They do not show how often pleas are offered o r the
rates at w hich they w ere rejected or accepted... O ne cannot tell the severity
o f the offense involved, the strength o f the case or considerations
affected by ju d icial rulings during the course o f the trial.”
Powers becomes GOP’s
attack dog against Hillary
Clinton
r e a t iv e
D
ir e c t o r
Shawn Strahan
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King,
Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1
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Letter to the Editor _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
To the Editor
The people o f the third district o f
O regon should be proud o f Rep. Earl
B lum enauer for his recent efforts to
r e d u c e w a s te f u l g o v e r n m e n t
spending.
O n Ju ly 11, he v o ted fo r an
a m e n d m e n t th a t w o u ld h a v e
elim inated $7 m illion in handouts to
w estern ranchers. The D epartm ent o f
A g ric u ltu re ’s W ild life S erv ice s
program uses hard-earned taxpayer
dollars to hunt and kill coyotes and
o th e r p re d a to rs . H o w e v e r, th e
program is not effective or efficient.
D espite a 47 p ercent increase in
funding from taxpayers between 1984
and 1997, livestock losses have not
declined. Further, the efforts to kill
p red a to rs have led to num erous
deaths o f household pets.
T he costs ofW ildlife Services lethal
predator control program are bom e
prim arily by taxpayers and not by the
ra n c h e rs th a t b e n e fit fro m th e
p r o g ra m . C u r r e n tly , liv e s to c k
ranchers and other beneficiaries o f
W ildlife Services contribute less than
Sincerely,
Jill Lancelot
Legislative Director
B nr
Seeyour \
business
advertised
here, call
ijinrtlattb
©bsertier
at 288-
0033
1% annually to the costs o f the
program.
Although the am endment failed, Rep.
B lum enauer deserves the gratitude
o f taxpayers for his attem pt to end
this governm ent handout.
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A ssociated P ress
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A M arine Corps veteran w ho pulled
N ew Y o rk ’s Republican Party up by
its bootstraps a decade ago, W illiam
Powers has becom e the G O P ’s attack
dog in the battle against H illary
Rodham C lin to n ’s run for the U.S.
Senate.
A ccording to Pow ers, the only first
lady to ever run for public office is
“cold-blooded and hotheaded” and
“a shrill and schem ing person” w ho
is “opportunistic, hypocritical and
egotistical.”
N ot to m ention that she is “polarizing
and pow er hungry.”
A nd that is ju st from one letter he has
sent out to potential donors.
A second fund-raising letter that
surfaced T hursday said she w as “an
an g ry w o m an ” d riven by “b lin d
political am bition.”
T he letter w ent on to call C linton an
“ a m b itio u s , ru th le ss, sc h e m in g ,
calculating, m anipulating w om an”
w ho w as really one o f “the outsiders
w ho m ock our N ew York values and
s c o ff at ou r com m onsense
conservatism .”
A t a new s conference T hursday,
Pow ers said he w asn ’ t calling the first
lady nam es or being a male chauvinist,
ju st pointing out w hat he feels are the
facts about her. And, he prom ised,
there w as plenty m ore w here that
cam e from. Powers said he had three
m ore such letters ready to go.
T he letters, said Powers, are helping
him raise record am ounts o f m oney
for the party.
“ I'v e never seen a response to direct
m ail like w e’re getting from her,” he
told reporters.
T he letters are also serving to get out
attacks on the first lady that her new
Republican opponent. Rep. Rick Lazio,
does not w ant to personally utter.
T he congressm an from Long Island,
with his wi fe and two young daughters
often in tow , is seeking to project an
im age as a clean-cut, earnest, honest
fam ily man. He does not w ant to be
view ed as a street-fighting, take-no­
prisoners politician.
Pow ers has no such qualms. He, in
fact, seem s to relish the attention the
attacks are bringing him.
“ I kind o f like it. I talk about myself.
She talks about me. O ther people talk
about me. T h at’s good for me,” he
said.
Pow ers said he is also unconcerned
about the letters m ight backfire and
create the im pression that C linton is
a victim . W hen that happened during
the M onica Lew insky sex scandal
involving President C linton, the first
lad y ’s favorable poll num bers took a
jump.
“I t’s about m otivating your base,”
Powers said. “M y letters are going to
our base.”
In fact, Pow ers is o f the b elief that
C linton is such a polarizing figure
that Republicans and conservatives
w ill com e out in record num bers in
N ew Y ork this year ju st to vote against
her. That, he said, will not only help
Lazio, but could benefit Texas Gov.
G e o rg e W. B u s h ’s p re sid e n tia l
cam paign in N ew Y ork and other
R epublican candidates across the
state.
F or Pow ers, it m arks the latest in a
series o f political battles he has been
w aging for w ell over a decade. A top
aide to then-Sen. A lfonse D ’ A m ato,
Pow ers got h im self elected state
chairm an in the w ake o f the p arty ’s
d isa stro u s sh o w in g in the 1990
election for governor w hen G O P
candidate Pierre Rinfret collectedjust
22 percent o f the vote and D em ocrat
M ario Cuom o coasted to a third term.
Powers inherited a party deep in debt
and demoralized.
H e got in his car and began traveling
th e sta te , atte n d in g lo c al p a rty
functions and raising m oney. He
w ould stop hom e for clean clothes
and hit the road again. H e did little
else for the first year as chairman.
In 1992, he helped D ’Amato narrowly
escape defeat at the hands o f then-
s ta te A tto rn e y G e n e ra l R o b e rt
Abrams. In 1993, Powers played a key
role in helping elect R epublican
Rudolph Giuliani as m ayor o f N ew
Y ork City. The big p ay o ff cam e in
1994 when, with a big assist from
D ’A m ato, Powers helped a little-
know n R epublican state senator,
G eorge Pataki, topple Cuom o in the
governor’s race. A form er federal
prosecutor from Buffalo, Republican
D ennis V acco, w as also elected
attorney general.
Things have not been quite as rosy
for Powers since then. In 1998, Pataki
won a second term, but both D ’ Amato
and Vacco went dow n to defeat.
W hile there has been speculation
that Powers m ay step dow n from the
state chairm anship, he seem s intent
on at least one last battle against a
m ajor opponent w orthy o f the effort.
“I respect her,” Pow ers said.
"s
■ ■ ' ■
David l.abovitz
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