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# Death penalty debate strikes close to home
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/death-penalty-debate-strikes-close-to-home/
- Published: 2002-08-20T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:40:12.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Santa Monica has signed on with other California cities asking the state to put a temporary hold on executing inmates to make sure its death penalty system is fair.

The Santa Monica City Council voted 5-1 last week to send a letter to California Gov. Gray Davis asking him to place a moratorium on the state’s execution of those on death row.

The city’s Social Services Commission had asked the council to send the letter to show that, though the death penalty is a statewide matter, it has local implications as well. Similar letters have been signed by other California cities, such as Santa Cruz, Berkeley and Oakland, among others.

Mayor Mike Feinstein believes Santa Monica plays a direct role in the state’s death penalty system.

“Understandably, law enforcement locally takes actions that have state implications,” he said. “We are part of that process and like the state, we have a responsibility to step back and review that power.”

Many death penalty supporters and detractors have come to agree that the state’s system is seriously flawed and needs to be addressed before more executions take place. Only a few counties in the state contribute to the number of inmates on death row, making the number of convictions of black and Latinos disproportionate throughout the state.

“There are so many problems with the death penalty in California that it is time to call a time-out,” said Christopher Calhoun, an American Civil Liberties Union member. “There is a great risk of innocent people being put to death in California.”

> “There are so many problems with the death penalty in California that it is time to call a time-out.” — — CHRISTOPHER CALHOUN ACLU

California’s error rate on death row is nearly 8 percent, the second highest percentage in the country, Calhoun said.

Santa Monica a death penalty case of its own. Los Angeles County prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for David Thomas Wright, who stands accused of the brutal 1998 rape and murder of a 20-year-old Santa Monica woman.

Wright, a convicted felon, who’s DNA has linked him to the murder of Aviva Labbe — found sodomized and murdered in a walkway of a vacant Santa Monica home — on June 14, 1998.

The case remained unsolved until a sampling of Wright’s DNA matched evidence from the crime scene through the U.S. Department of Justice database system. Wright has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Local members of the ACLU and the Progressive Jewish Alliance passionately pleaded for the council to take the matter seriously because as more cities sign the letter asking for a moratorium, the more it will be taken seriously in Sacramento.

“We all know the death penalty has many cracks in it,” said Rita Lowanthal, a local member of the Progressive Jewish Alliance. “It is a moral issue and we request we join … in sending a strong message to Gray Davis.”

A few residents believe the issue is beyond the reach of the city council. Some critics said the council should be concentrating on issues closer to home.

481,“You should not even be considering this tonight,” said Chuck Allord, a Santa Monica resident and city council candidate. “This is an issue that needs to be brought to the voters in the form of a statewide ballot initiative, not a council writing a letter.”

Councilman Bob Holbrook agreed and voted against the measure because he does not believe the council was elected to represent residents on statewide issues.

“I never campaigned on this issue. When I was talking with residents I never discussed their views on the death penalty,” he said. “So I feel I don’t have the right to represent the people of Santa Monica on this issue.”

Councilman Ken Genser said the city’s support on the moratorium is warranted.

“I think that the death penalty is morally wrong an ineffective,” he said. “Violence just begets more violence.

“The death penalty says that we as a society say that it is OK to kill,” he added, “and that’s not the message I want to send.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 20, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082002.pdf?ref=smdp.com)