YES TO THE DEATH PENALTY: PROBLEMS CAN BE FIXED – BY BRENDA VAN DAM

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/2016/06/still-waiting-for-justice.html

Still Waiting for Justice

June 27, 2016 12:16 PM | Posted by Marissa Cohen | 1 Comment

Brenda Van Dam's life changed forever 13 years ago when her seven-year-old daughter, Danielle, went missing from her bedroom and was later found murdered.  Danielle's killer, David Westerfield, was convicted of kidnapping, murder, and possessing child pornography and was sentenced to death.  Today, over a decade later, he continues to sit on California's death row.  In this powerful op-ed penned by Van Dam in the San Diego Union-Tribune, she writes,

Now, 13 years later, he still waits for his sentence to be carried out, living at taxpayers' expense, the taxes I pay, at San Quentin's death row. And we who loved Danielle, searched for Danielle, wept for her and sat through every moment of the trial also still wait for that sentence to be carried out. We wait still for justice.

Sadly, we are not alone either. While Westerfield has been on death row for 13 years, there are others who have committed terrible crimes against innocent people, including against those who serve and protect us in law enforcement, and against our children, who wait on death row. And their families, like us, wait for justice to be done.

Our legal system, which is supposed to work for the people, has evolved into a frustrating patchwork of legal blockades and stalling tactics that has allowed attorneys for death row inmates to abuse the system to drag out and delay death sentences from being carried out for, in some cases, several decades. Some convicted death row inmates even outlive the family members of their victims. The family members die never having seen justice done to those who changed their lives forever.

Fortunately, the people of California have an opportunity to change that. Thanks to the hard work of a number of law enforcement professionals, public safety officials and elected officials, the California Death Penalty Reform & Savings initiative was submitted to elections officials throughout the state in order to qualify a reform measure for the November ballot.

The effects of the measure, Van Dam says, are simple, fair, and common sense: Expanding the pool of available defense attorneys in an effort to ensure justice for victims and due process for defendants, requiring that defendants sentenced to death are appointed counsel immediately rather than several years later, obligating death row inmates to work and pay restitution, allowing the CDCR to house inmates in less costly housing, and doing away with death row inmates' special privileges, just to name a few.  Van Dam concludes,

For Danielle, and for all the other victims and their families who have known the pain and loss that we know every day, we encourage everyone to support this measure to restore justice to the death penalty in California. Our families, and those we've loved and lost, deserve at least that.

Categories:

• Death Penalty

1 Comment

federalist | June 27, 2016 6:10 PM | Reply

Brenda and Damon Van Dam bravely stood up for justice for their daughter.

The actions of defense counsel in that case were appalling. More appalling--that the dishonesty they peddled was not sanctioned by the California bar. 

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jun/27/death-penalty-vandam/

Yes to death penalty: Problems can be fixed

By Brenda Van Dam | 6 a.m. June 27, 2016

  

Damon and Brenda Van Dam, release a dove for their daughter, Danielle. — Nelvin C. Cepeda / SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

Californians may be faced with two competing death penalty initiatives in November. A measure to repeal the death penalty has already qualified for the ballot. A second initiative aims to preserve and reform the death penalty by speeding up executions. Below the San Diego mother of a girl whose killer is on death row makes the case for the second measure. For an opposing view, go here.

Thirteen years ago, on a February morning, my life changed forever. That was the morning that we went to look for our 7-year-old daughter, Danielle, in her bedroom but found her missing. She was nowhere in our home. She wasn’t anywhere in our neighborhood.

We began to search, family, friends and neighbors, to try to find Danielle. The police were called and the search became even bigger. Eventually, many thousands of volunteers joined the effort, spanning large parts of San Diego County, but still no trace of Danielle. Those long days turned into long weeks, enduring the agonizing and frustrating ordeal of waiting and not knowing.

Finally, on Feb. 27, Danielle was found. She had been a victim of murder, but in a very real way, so had everyone else who loved her. The void and pain of losing your child is devastating in a way that can’t even be adequately put into words. But she wasn’t truly “lost” … she was wrested away from us by the violent and deliberate actions of another human being. All we had was the possibility of seeking justice for Danielle by prosecuting, convicting and punishing the man who committed the crime, David Westerfield.

That summer Westerfield was put on trial, and thanks to the evidence of the case and the strong work on behalf of the case’s prosecutors, he was convicted of kidnapping, murder and possessing child pornography. That next January, the judge in the case followed the recommendation of the jury and sentenced Westerfield to death.

Now, 13 years later, he still waits for his sentence to be carried out, living at taxpayers’ expense, the taxes I pay, at San Quentin’s death row. And we who loved Danielle, searched for Danielle, wept for her and sat through every moment of the trial also still wait for that sentence to be carried out. We wait still for justice.

Sadly, we are not alone either. While Westerfield has been on death row for 13 years, there are others who have committed terrible crimes against innocent people, including against those who serve and protect us in law enforcement, and against our children, who wait on death row. And their families, like us, wait for justice to be done.

Our legal system, which is supposed to work for the people, has evolved into a frustrating patchwork of legal blockades and stalling tactics that has allowed attorneys for death row inmates to abuse the system to drag out and delay death sentences from being carried out for, in some cases, several decades. Some convicted death row inmates even outlive the family members of their victims. The family members die never having seen justice done to those who changed their lives forever.

Fortunately, the people of California have an opportunity to change that. Thanks to the hard work of a number of law enforcement professionals, public safety officials and elected officials, the California Death Penalty Reform & Savings initiative was submitted to elections officials throughout the state in order to qualify a reform measure for the November ballot.

The effects of that measure, if passed, would be simple but fair: ensure justice for victims as well as due process for defendants by expanding the pool of available defense attorneys, requiring that defendants sentenced to death are appointed appropriate counsel immediately rather than waiting for years, requiring death row inmates to work and pay restitution, permitting the state Department of Corrections to house inmates in less costly housing with fewer special privileges, and more.

This is common sense, and we hope that when this measure appears before the voters of California, they will not only maintain their long standing support of the death penalty, but that they will also back our measure to make the death penalty an effective part of our criminal justice system.

For Danielle, and for all the other victims and their families who have known the pain and loss that we know every day, we encourage everyone to support this measure to restore justice to the death penalty in California. Our families, and those we’ve loved and lost, deserve at least that.