Mark Warner making good?
Via day-old Kevin Drum, The WaPo has some good stuff on Warner's last days as governor:
Newly tested DNA from rapes committed more than 20 years ago has exonerated two Virginians who had each spent more than a decade behind bars, reigniting a national debate about post-conviction testing of biological evidence.
Warner said the discovery of two innocent men among the 31 newly examined cases compels an even more sweeping review. He ordered that 660 boxes containing thousands of files from 1973 through 1988 be examined for cases that can be retested using the latest DNA technology. There is no estimate on how long that would take or how much it would cost.
"I believe a look back at these retained case files is the only morally acceptable course, and what truth they can bring only bolsters confidence in our system," Warner said in a statement.
...Virginia's review marks one of the first instances in which a governor has ordered a broad examination of DNA cases and places the state at the forefront of a national debate over post-conviction DNA. Virginia has executed more people than any state except Texas since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Like other states, its judicial system has been rocked by exonerations from DNA testing in several high-profile cases.
The death penalty -- and the re-opening of criminal cases in general -- is an awful subject for Democrats, particularly for Democratic governors in red states with very high execution rates. People don't like the idea that the system might be fallible (I don't) and are likely to punish pols who make them think about the possibility. Meanwhile, Republicans are always excited by the prospect of bashing a Dem as more sensitive to criminals than to victims of crime.
The article suggests that the biggest test of Warner's willingness to take a 2008 risk is still ahead:
...Warner has also spent more than three years deciding whether to test the DNA of Roger Keith Coleman, an inmate who was executed in 1992 for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Aides to Warner said the governor is likely to make a decision in that case before he leaves office Jan. 14.
OK, so this isn't a decision it ought to take three years to make. (The WaPo has editorialized as much here. And by the same token, granting clemency to Robin Lovett, given the facts of his case, wasn't a decision that warranted several will-he-or-won't-he days of "thorough and prayerful consideration".) But, squirminess aside, Warner and Kaine are doing their part to put capital punishment, and the bigger, related problem of "the finality of a wrong verdict", back on the table as national political issues, just in time for 2008 pre-primary season. That takes some guts and some morality. And in 2007, it will probably serve Warner better among with liberals searching for a palatable centrist than will recent decisions by a fellow DLCer to put comparative non-issues like video game violence and flag-burning back on the table. It's worth noting that HRC is down a bit in the newest Cook poll from her mid-year invicible-front-runner status. Maybe she should start thinking a little bigger.
Update: Of course, she's up again in the newest CNN/Gallop poll. Polls are evil; that's why I love them so.
Newly tested DNA from rapes committed more than 20 years ago has exonerated two Virginians who had each spent more than a decade behind bars, reigniting a national debate about post-conviction testing of biological evidence.
Warner said the discovery of two innocent men among the 31 newly examined cases compels an even more sweeping review. He ordered that 660 boxes containing thousands of files from 1973 through 1988 be examined for cases that can be retested using the latest DNA technology. There is no estimate on how long that would take or how much it would cost.
"I believe a look back at these retained case files is the only morally acceptable course, and what truth they can bring only bolsters confidence in our system," Warner said in a statement.
...Virginia's review marks one of the first instances in which a governor has ordered a broad examination of DNA cases and places the state at the forefront of a national debate over post-conviction DNA. Virginia has executed more people than any state except Texas since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Like other states, its judicial system has been rocked by exonerations from DNA testing in several high-profile cases.
The death penalty -- and the re-opening of criminal cases in general -- is an awful subject for Democrats, particularly for Democratic governors in red states with very high execution rates. People don't like the idea that the system might be fallible (I don't) and are likely to punish pols who make them think about the possibility. Meanwhile, Republicans are always excited by the prospect of bashing a Dem as more sensitive to criminals than to victims of crime.
The article suggests that the biggest test of Warner's willingness to take a 2008 risk is still ahead:
...Warner has also spent more than three years deciding whether to test the DNA of Roger Keith Coleman, an inmate who was executed in 1992 for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Aides to Warner said the governor is likely to make a decision in that case before he leaves office Jan. 14.
OK, so this isn't a decision it ought to take three years to make. (The WaPo has editorialized as much here. And by the same token, granting clemency to Robin Lovett, given the facts of his case, wasn't a decision that warranted several will-he-or-won't-he days of "thorough and prayerful consideration".) But, squirminess aside, Warner and Kaine are doing their part to put capital punishment, and the bigger, related problem of "the finality of a wrong verdict", back on the table as national political issues, just in time for 2008 pre-primary season. That takes some guts and some morality. And in 2007, it will probably serve Warner better among with liberals searching for a palatable centrist than will recent decisions by a fellow DLCer to put comparative non-issues like video game violence and flag-burning back on the table. It's worth noting that HRC is down a bit in the newest Cook poll from her mid-year invicible-front-runner status. Maybe she should start thinking a little bigger.
Update: Of course, she's up again in the newest CNN/Gallop poll. Polls are evil; that's why I love them so.
2 Comments:
I remember seeing a pretty infuriating Learning Channel piece on a Navy guy in Virginia who was in jail for a rape/murder that he pretty obviously didn't commit. It was someone else's DNA, his confession didn't fit the crime scene and was extracted after an incredibly long interrogation (9 hours, if I remember correctly!), and somebody else confessed to the crime later on. I hope he's among the freed people today.
Republicans are always excited by the prospect of bashing a Dem as more sensitive to criminals than to victims of crime.
I'm guessing that DNA testing plays better than other measures that prevent people from being severely punished. When there's a serious argument that the person might be innocent, you might be able to trump the soft-on-crime argument.
That, and maybe also changing views on the death penalty. Kerry took support for capital punishment out of the platform -- with a formal request to amend the plank and everything -- and it wasn't even an issue in the 2004 campaign.
I don't think Warner and Kaine are heros. It would be enough for me if they're just smart pols who know the right time to put a social issue abandonned by Dems back into play. It might suggest triangulation isn't an end unto itself...
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