Rally to decry execution of mentally disabled

The Coalition of Arizonans for the Abolition of the Death Penalty will host a rally tomorrow night to protest the execution of developmentally disabled criminals, event coordinator Mike Clarken said.

The Fourth Annual Celebration of the Spirit demonstration will be held at 7 p.m. in St. Cyril's Church, 4725 E. Pima St., at the corner of Pima and North Swan roads.

Human rights advocates Ron Barber, of the Department of Economic Security, and Judy Muller, the parent of a mentally disabled child, are scheduled to speak.

"There's more possibility of executing someone who's innocent when that person is not mentally competent," Muller said. "Many times a person with mental retardation will just sign something (such as a confession) that's given to them without understanding it."

Muller said all murderers should be taken off the street, but care should be taken to ensure those with mental disabilities are not wrongly convicted.

The process of training mentally disabled people to assimilate into society often leaves them vulnerable, Muller said. They are taught to obey rules and do what they are told, which can lead them to confess to acts they did not commit.

Clarken said underprivileged groups are more frequently put on death row.

"Increasingly, the (U. S.) Supreme Court is not ensuring that the Constitution is applied equally to all people regardless of race or (economic) background," he said, adding social status is the biggest indicator of who gets the death penalty.

"If you're rich and white you're not gonna get the death penalty," he said.

UA political science senior Davis Moore said that from an African American perspective, the death penalty is unfair.

"It's easy to say, 'Yeah, we should just kill them all,' but the majority of African Americans will receive the death penalty, while someone else will receive a life sentence," Moore said.

He said rich people who do something "atrocious" are more likely have the means to hire a good lawyer and avoid a death sentence than someone of lesser income.

Clarken also said the cost of executing a criminal is higher than imprisoning them for life. He said condemned inmates' rights to appeal convictions all the way to the Supreme Court causes court costs to skyrocket.

"People think if people are not given the death penalty then they'll be back on the street," Clarken said. "There's always the possibility of life without parole."

While the death penalty does not deter crime, it can be appropriate on occasion, said first-year UA law student Maria Elena Avino.

"I don't think it's necessarily a deterrent to violent crime," she said. "As far as fairness, I think that some crimes are so cruel, cold and done in such a calculated manner that the death penalty is justified."

Donna Grossetta, an accounting and finance sophomore, said capital punishment makes sense.

"I think the death penalty can deter crime and in some instances is a fair pun-ishment," she said.

One of the rally's purposes is to give the public information about the injustice of executing criminals for serious offenses, Clarken said.

"They (supporters) argue that the death penalty is a deterrent to someone committing murder, but there's no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent," said. "It is just part of the cycle of violence."

Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, spoke at the first such rally three years ago.

"She suggested making the event a tradition," Clarken said.

Michael Lafleur can be reached via e-mail at Michael.Lafleur@wildcat.arizona.edu.