EDITORIAL: JUSTICE BEFORE POLITICS

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By Assemblyman Joel Anderson

September 6, 2009 (San Diego's East County)-- Richard Allen Clements kept his foot firmly on the gas pedal as he watched two 9-year-old girls glance back at him and start running. Moments later, the short lives of Christie Turner and Adina Gonzalez ended.

 

Clements was fleeing the C.H.P. after an officer attempted to pull him over for driving erratically. The officers abandoned their pursuit when they saw him approaching Lemon Crest Elementary School at 1:30 on a school day. But Clements did not slow his getaway.

 

That was in 1998. Now, in 2009, Clements will likely walk free, just 11 years into a 32 year sentence, after a court overruled the legal theory behind Clement’s conviction.

 

Clements was convicted under a legal theory known as the “felony murder rule.” It says that a person may be charged with murder if they commit a felony that is inherently dangerous to human life and kill a person in the process, even if it was not the intent to kill.

 

The court ruling setting Clements free declared that fleeing an officer in a vehicle is not inherently dangerous to human life.

 

Many in law enforcement, including the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, strongly disagree with the court’s conclusion. They are the ones forced to witness such tragedies first-hand.

 

In a letter of support I recently received, the Riverside Police Officer’s Association described suspects evading an officer in a vehicle as “a one-ton, often out of control, missile.”

 

I introduced Assembly Bill 509 to correct this misguided court decision.

 

A.B. 509 simply declares that evading an officer in your car is inherently dangerous to human life.

 

This change would ensure that murderers like Clements will never again receive the same punishment as someone who kills a pedestrian after accidentally running a stop sign.

 

While such legislation may seem common-sense to you and me, A.B. 509 unfortunately faces a tough fight in the legislature.

 

Overcrowded prisons are currently a reality. My Republican colleagues and I have proposed solutions to address this issue responsibly. However, our bills are regularly killed in committee on a party-line vote. Unfortunately, the majority party is limiting the debate to their only solution – oppose any law that would put another person in prison and conduct a state-sanctioned jail break.

 

AB 509 deserves to be passed into law. It does not create a “new” crime. It simply prevents an out-of-touch court from eliminating an important standard of justice.

 

Christie Turner and Adina Gonzalez would be 19 this year, had they not been coldly murdered with a Ford F-150. Richard Allen Clements, a cowardly criminal with no regard for human life, will walk free this year at the age of 28, with a lifetime of freedom still ahead of him.

 

If you agree with me that allowing criminals to walk free is morally outrageous, then please send a letter of support for A.B. 509 to my office at Assemblymember.Anderson@assembly.ca.gov. I believe lawmakers have a duty to stop gross injustices and with your letters of support, we will send a clear message to the legislature that politics should take a backseat to justice.

 

For more information about supporting Assembly Bill 509, contact the office of Assemblyman Joel Anderson at (916) 319-2077
 

The opinions expressed in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. If you wish to submit an editorial for consideration, please contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.


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