In November, CJLF filed suit against the Secretary of California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation demanding that he stop dragging his feet and establish an execution protocol that the state can actually use, given the constraints imposed by existing injunctions. The suit is on behalf of two family members of murder victims, Bradley Winchell and Kermit Alexander.
The California Attorney General, representing the Secretary, filed a document called a demurrer. That is, in essence, an attempt to get the suit thrown out at the threshold, saying that even if every fact we allege is true, we still don't have a case. The hearing was last Friday. The day before, Judge Shellyanne Chang issued a tentative ruling, favorable to us on all the major points. After the hearing, she took the matter under advisement, but I saw no indication that anything in the oral argument changed her mind.
The California Attorney General is an advocate representing a client, but also a public official representing the public. She has, at times, declined to advocate positions she considered contrary to the public good, even if legally supportable. What I find particularly offensive here is the argument that victims of crime have no standing, as if they were complete strangers to the underlying criminal cases. The people enacted Proposition 9 in 2008 to refute that notion, and nationwide victims of crime are gaining recognition as people with real, legitimate interests in seeing justice done.
KOVR, the local CBS affiliate on channel 13, sent a cameraman to record the hearing and to interview us on the courthouse steps afterward. Update: There was a brief segment on the 6:00 Friday newscast. Some still shots of the interviews are posted after the break.
The California Attorney General, representing the Secretary, filed a document called a demurrer. That is, in essence, an attempt to get the suit thrown out at the threshold, saying that even if every fact we allege is true, we still don't have a case. The hearing was last Friday. The day before, Judge Shellyanne Chang issued a tentative ruling, favorable to us on all the major points. After the hearing, she took the matter under advisement, but I saw no indication that anything in the oral argument changed her mind.
The California Attorney General is an advocate representing a client, but also a public official representing the public. She has, at times, declined to advocate positions she considered contrary to the public good, even if legally supportable. What I find particularly offensive here is the argument that victims of crime have no standing, as if they were complete strangers to the underlying criminal cases. The people enacted Proposition 9 in 2008 to refute that notion, and nationwide victims of crime are gaining recognition as people with real, legitimate interests in seeing justice done.
KOVR, the local CBS affiliate on channel 13, sent a cameraman to record the hearing and to interview us on the courthouse steps afterward. Update: There was a brief segment on the 6:00 Friday newscast. Some still shots of the interviews are posted after the break.
Here are still shots of the courthouse steps interviews. Click on the pictures for larger views. Bradley Winchell is in the first photo, with our crew in the background. Kermit Alexander is in the second, looking dapper in the red shirt. Third is some other guy, squinting because he is looking right into the sun.
Are you planning to do a lot of discovery? Or are the facts relatively undisputed and go straight to summary judgment?
Personally, I'd love to hear what CDCR PMK has to say regarding the 8 year quest to develop a workable execution protocol.
Good for CJLF and good for you.
PMK?