Changing attitudes toward capital punishment open way for Bush's death row reprieve

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When an ardent death penalty supporter such as GOP presidential hopeful George W. Bush begins raising questions about the inherent fairness of the legal proceedings leading right up to the moment of execution, it is a sure indication that the politics of capital punishment are changing.

Bush insists that the 30-day reprieve granted Thursday to Texas death row inmate Ricky Nolen McGinn was done on procedural -- not emotional -- grounds. The delay -- the first such reprieve the Texas governor has issued since he took office more than five years ago -- will allow defense attorneys to seek DNA testing of crime scene evidence.

"To the extent that DNA can prove for certain innocence or guilt, I think we need to use DNA," he told reporters during a Wednesday campaign stop in Phoenix.

The increasing trend toward the use of such science-based evidence has reshaped the national debate over capital punishment. Although both Bush and his Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, support the death penalty -- as do nearly two-thirds of the public -- polls suggest a steady decline throughout the 1990s in preferences for capital punishment, amidst increasing use of DNA testing and growing concern over whether innocent people are being executed.

Perhaps with that in mind, the McGinn case presented Bush with an unexpected opportunity to demonstrate his philosophy of "compassionate conservatism."

Bush -- who governs a state that has executed more prisoners than any other in the nation since the Supreme Court reinstated procedure in the 1970s -- quickly signalled his intention to grant the reprieve.

"It's a case where we're dealing with the man's innocence or guilt," Bush said Wednesday.

But the move caused some to claim the presidential hopeful was simply pandering to moderate voters.

Bush's recent comments reflect a new sensibility from just a few months ago, when, during a GOP debate, he stated emphatically: "There's no doubt in my mind that each person who has been executed in our state was guilty of the crime committed."

The Texas governor has not yet spared any death row inmate, and two years ago rejected a direct plea from the Vatican to spare the life of Karla Fay Tucker, who became the first woman put to death in the Lone Star State since the Civil War.

During the GOP primary season, Bush was quoted in a magazine interview as mocking Tucker's 11th-hour plea for a reprieve. He also raised some eyebrows by apparently chuckling -- nervously, supporters said -- in response to a debate question on seeming racial inequalities in death penalty cases.

Bush opted to stay on the stump Thursday, rather than returning to Texas to grant the reprieve himself. In his absence, that power was transferred to state Senate President pro tempore Rodney Ellis -- a Democrat who had not discussed the case with Bush.

"I'm not willing to say Gov. Bush is making this a political issue," said Democratic consultant Paul Begala, who spearheaded President Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign efforts. Criticizing the Texan for not returning home, Begala added: "What bothers me more is this will remind us of his cavalier attitude toward the death penalty."

A reversing trend?

Ten years ago, the political mainstream whole-heartedly supported capital punishment, and the candidate that did not did so at his own political peril. Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, a death penalty opponent, found that out the hard way in 1988 when he was trounced by then-Vice President George Bush.

In 1992, then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton interrupted his presidential campaign to return home to oversee the execution of Ricky Rector, who shot and killed a police officer. At the time, Clinton's decision drew criticism from liberal groups, but served to shore up the candidate's image as a "new Democrat" -- a moderate who would be tough on crime and support the death penalty. These so-called new Democrats include California Gov. Gray Davis and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and New Hampshire Gov. Jean Shaheen -- who recently vetoed state legislation to abolish the death penalty. Shortly after Rector's execution, Clinton deftly proved himself a new Democrat without alienating his party's liberal constituencies when, during a speech to a predominantly black audience, he said: "Last night, I thought of Mr. Rector and also of Robert Martin, the police officer who was killed in cold blood ... and I prayed that I had not made the wrong decision."

Proving himself equally adept at locating the political middle ground, Bush concurrently boasts about his death penalty record while promising to support DNA testing to "erase any doubts" about guilt.

"This will help him with moderate Democrats, moderate Republicans and ticket-splitters," said Mike Lawrence, associate director of the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.

Bush may benefit because there are growing doubts about the fairness with which the death penalty is applied, sometimes from surprising sources. "What's happened is an unequal application of justice that weighs heavily on minorities, African-Americans particularly," televangelist Pat Robertson said recently.

Because of new DNA evidence, in recent years the state of Illinois released more wrongly convicted people from death row than it executed. As a result, Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, has imposed a moratorium on executions pending further study.

"I don't know anybody who wants to put an innocent man to death," Ryan said. A recent Illinois poll indicated that two-thirds of the state's voters approved of the moratorium.

And on Thursday, Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, another Republican, ordered new DNA testing for a convicted rapist and murderer. Gilmore maintained that no eyebrows should be raised when a governor chooses to take a second look at a murder case. "All three of us -- Gov. Bush, Governor Ryan and myself -- are all chief executives. We're the people every day who have to make decisions, some of them life-and-death decisions," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MORE STORIES:

Friday, June 2, 2000

• Gore unveils child support proposals; Bush attends governors' conference
  
• Specter of impeachment haunts Rep. Jim Rogan's re-election effort
  
• Hillary Clinton offers support for gun licensing bill; Lazio wraps up three-day bus tour
  
• Video: Candidate makeovers make for good politics
  
• Video: The 'Political Play of the Week'
  
• Changing attitudes toward capital punishment open way for Bush's death row reprieve
  
• Torricelli supporter pleads guilty to campaign finance charges
  
• Bill Press: Don't be fooled. Rick Lazio is not pro-choice
  
• U.S. issues first list of international drug kingpin suspects
  
• Billings, Dayton chosen for GOP platform meetings
  
• LBJ speechwriter, confidant Horace Busby dead at 76
  
• Arkansas state senator sentenced to more than 6 years in prison
  
• Clinton considering Hot Springs retreat to go with library
  
• Delaware's Roth becomes official Senate candidate
  
• Democrats hope gun debate will help Gore, but evidence mixed
  

ARCHIVES