Death
penalty politics
THE BOARD OF Supervisors vote last week to support District
Attorney Kamala Harris in her decision not to seek the death penalty
for the killer of police officer Isaac Espinoza was a no-brainer. The
death penalty is wrong; Harris is right. And sadly, since a wide range
of state and federal officials, starting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
have politicized Espinoza's death by demanding the death penalty, the
supervisors had an obligation to respond.
So we were startled to see Sup. Gerardo Sandoval, a former public defender
who has a generally progressive voting record, opposing the resolution.
Sandoval isn't a great fan of Harris, who four years ago managed the
campaign of Sandoval's opponent, Rev. Amos Brown, but that shouldn't
matter: we haven't always been Harris fans either (we endorsed her opponent
last fall), but she is absolutely right on this issue, is suffering
under a high-profile attack, and deserves support. Sandoval should know
better.
Meanwhile, the belligerence, bordering on thuggery, coming out of Gary
Delagnes, head of the Police Officers Association, has gotten way out
of control. Delagnes has every right to speak his mind as a union leader,
and is free to voice his own opinions about the district attorney. But
the threats and bullying bring discredit on the rest of the department's
rank and file, not to mention the top brass who keep associating themselves
with the POA. Chief Heather Fong needs to make clear that Gary Delagnes
does not speak for her or for the SFPD.
