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Marching against state's death penalty
Pair stops in county on way capital
Photos by Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff Jeff Ghelardi of San Diego leads a county contingent on part of an 800-mile Walk to Stop Executions in Ventura on Thursday. He is accompanied by Richard Carlburg.
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More from Local NewsTwo anti-death penalty activists walked through Ventura on Thursday on an 800-mile trek to air their convictions and deliver a message to the district attorney: "Stop seeking death sentences."
Jeff Ghelardi of San Diego and Richard Carlburg of Fountain Valley made their way to Ventura on foot from their most recent event in Los Angeles on Oct. 5. At the Ventura County Government Center, where District Attorney Greg Totten's office is located, they were joined Thursday by about 15 local supporters, and the group continued on to Ventura College.
They carried signs reading, "Don't kill for me" and "Execute justice, not people."
It was part of the Walk to Stop Executions, whose sponsors include Amnesty International, Death Penalty Focus and the American Civil Liberties Union. The men began walking in San Diego on Sept. 15 and will finish Nov. 30 in Sacramento.
The two contend that seeking the death penalty is more costly than pursing life in prison without parole, and prolongs the suffering of victims' families.
California halted executions in 2006, while the state waits for a U.S. district judge to rule on the legality of its lethal injection protocols.
Among local walkers was Vera Ramirez-Crutcher of Oxnard, whose 22-year-old son, Donald Crutcher, was murdered 29 years ago. His killer was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Ramirez-Crutcher has since been active in speaking out against the death penalty. "A life is a life," she said. "I know how my family felt — the hurt — and I can imagine a mother and father going through the same thing we did."
More killing via the death penalty is not the answer, Ramirez-Crutcher said. "It doesn't bring anybody back. It doesn't solve anything. It doesn't give you closure."
Ghelardi said Totten was invited to hear the group's arguments, but like all of the other district attorneys invited to events along the walk's route, he declined.
James Ellison, chief assistant to the district attorney, said the group has a right to express its point of view, but his office would not be swayed. "The laws have been set up by the Legislature and the people who vote for the Legislature, and it's the DA's job to enforce the laws that have been set up," he said.
Carlburg, of Amnesty International, cries foul at that line of reasoning. "He has discretion. There's nothing that says he has to go for the death penalty."
David Howard of Ojai, who spoke on behalf of Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions, said more than 100 death row inmates have been exonerated since the early 1970s. He compared the death penalty to war and murder, saying the debate about capital punishment "is about violence in general."
The next stop on the walk will be in Santa Barbara on Oct. 19.
Posted by lowintense on October 12, 2007 at 5:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There is not a single shred of evidence that executing murderers is more costly that supporting them in prison. If anti-death penalty activists are going to continue to use that argument, then perhaps they should offer something other than rhetoric to convice us.
Posted by AnnaWhaat on October 12, 2007 at 6:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
While I do believe in the death penalty . I also feel that it shouldn't be done immediately. I have seen so many men on death row for decades then to find out they were innocent and didn't commit the crime. I think my God....They have taken ten,twenty years of this mans life and then let him go because they have found out he is innocent. HOW can that happen.......... Its a no win situation. I would hate to find someone didn't commit a crime only after we have put them to death. Although in some cases there is a NO DOUBT situation where the individual is definately guilty and I feel that death is in order. SO I guess what I am saying is Im just unsure........
Posted by surfing93035 on October 12, 2007 at 9:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
When was the last time somebody was executed by the state of California? Wanna be thugs and little gutless gangsters execute innocent people everyday. Of course it is always by an accident youth who is really a good kid, just a little mis-guided. How about that hatchet job on the 6 yr. old in T.O., last month? Prison over crowding?..The problem with society is we don't punish enough. Now we give "Time Outs" starting at a very early age. Why not Televise executions? Make them Pay-per view and give the money to the victims family? You bleeding hearts make me want to puke!We worry so much about the criminals rights that we have forgotten the victims. I say empty out "Death Row" and rid the prisons of the "5-Time offenders" There is no deterrent for crime, so people commit a lot of crimes because they know the punishment is a slap on the wrist if they get caught. You start giving people the needle of the gas and put that on TV, maybe someone will think twice before shooting some kid for his shoes or because they felt disrespected!
Posted by amycastillo78 on October 12, 2007 at 9:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Last time I checked, the death penalty, in every case, was imposed by 12 impartial citizens who voted on it based on evidence presented by both sides. Why do these two guys want to take away citizens' right to vote people off the island?
Posted by BeaHappi on October 12, 2007 at 11:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
People sittig on death row wouldn't be so costly to the state if the appeals process was reformed. Death sentence = mandatory appeals. I saw that after one appeal, two MAX...that's it! If they can't come up with any new evidence after that, well that's all she wrote.
No, taking a life does not bring one back but sometimes you just don't get to be here anymore. And closure for the victim's family & friends may very well be seeing the prisoner die.
Posted by ironwoman on October 12, 2007 at 7:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I bet all of you ANTI-DEATH penalty people would think differently if you were Polly Klause's and Samantha Runion's Parents, amongst other innocent children who have been raped, tortured and murdered.
Besides, at the rate the State is in fulfilling the death penalty, most die of natural causes. Sad, but when one who has killed themself after they commit a murder (Virginia Tech, Simi Valley, and many many others), they are doing all of us a favor.
Posted by ironwoman on October 12, 2007 at 7:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And by the way....why should we (Tax payers) pay $150,000.00 per year to house these society throw-aways?
Maybe these two "marchers" should contribute their money and time to the VICTIMS.
Posted by RavenSoft on October 12, 2007 at 8:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If there is DNA evidence or video evidence or some other irrefutable evidence that someone has committed a major crime (rape, murder for instance)then they should be taken out back of the court house and taken out. If the evidence is shakey, then I'd say life in prison BUT I would make the prisoners pay for their stay. Take away ALL their benefits and throw a chain around them and send them to work. $150,000 per prisoner to keep them in prison for a year? What in the hell does that money go too? Maybe we need to bring back public hanging or firing squad or gas chamber. Why are we so worried about how the criminal will feel when he/she dies? Once they commit a heinous crime they don't deserve any pity.
Posted by AnnaWhaat on October 13, 2007 at 7:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
surfing93035 ,OMG just suggesting that executions be put on TV makes me sick. But I guess alot of sick minds would like to see that. Some people kill just to see someone die. I sure wouldn't be watching.
Posted by ironwoman on October 13, 2007 at 2:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Surfing 93035- I agree but I don't know about watching an execution on TV.
I agree, too many liberals out there only caring about the criminal. Criminals thrive for that attitude...they love the "bleeding hearts". Heck, they can get a lot out of them.
If the bleeding hearts would only imagine being a victim and lose a loved one, maybe they would think differently. Who knows.
Posted by jayeldee on October 14, 2007 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Capital Punishment... "air their CONVICTIONS"????
The mad punster is running loose at the Star again.
Posted by Face on October 15, 2007 at 5:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have an idea, instead.. we can take all those folks that have been on Death Row for dozens of years and actually execute them to make room for newer incarcerations. Seriously, there should be a limit to the number of appeals and amount of time someone can stay on Death Row. I think in California most people on Death Row die of natural causes prior to execution.
Posted by AnnaWhaat on October 16, 2007 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think a Big problem is these Judges giving out way to harsh sentences for the little things. I think they enjoy the power they have a bit too much!. Not all, but yes I have seen people get way too much time for the crime committed.
Posted by steven555 on November 5, 2007 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The death penalty costs millions more than life without parole, with a majority of the costs occurring at the trial level - not as a result of the appeals process. According to state and federal records obtained by The Los Angeles Times, maintaining the California death penalty system costs taxpayers more than $114 million a year beyond the cost of simply keeping the convicts locked up for life. (Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2005). More than 124 men and women have been released from death row because they were found INNOCENT, some spending 15-20 years in prison before the discovery was made. Eliminating appeals would result in the execution of numerous innocent people. Life without parole is the answer. Not a single person in CA has ever gotten out who was sentenced to life without parole - except those 7 found to be innocent. Don't waste my tax dollars on the death penalty!
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