The Harlan Ellison Hornbook: Essays by Ellison Harlan

Author:Ellison, Harlan [Ellison, Harlan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497604629
Amazon: 1497604621
Goodreads: 21856257
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 1990-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

INSTALLMENT 36 |

Interim Memo

In a 5-to-4 decision announced on 29 June 1972, the United States Supreme Court ruled (the cases considered were known by the lead case, Furman v. Georgia) that the death penalty was in defiance of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights’ guarantee against “cruel and unusual punishment.” The Burger Court’s decision struck laws in 35 states.

But earlier—in February of 1972—the California Supreme Court had already decided that the state’s death penalty violated the California constitution’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.”

At that time, there were approximately seven hundred men and women on Death Rows in America. Between the date of the California abolition of the death penalty, and the Supreme Court’s decision, one hundred of those inmates had been removed from Death Rows in California. They were dispersed throughout the California Penal System, many still on appeal.

One of those (actually 107) prisoners was Ronald Fouquet.

The Offender Information Branch of the

Administrative Services Division of the

Department of Corrections of the

Youth and Adult Correctional Agency of the

State of California in Sacramento has furnished me with a printout list of inmates on Death Row when the death penalty was overturned in 1972.

Item 72 on that list of 107 names identifies San Quentin prisoner B27954, Ronald Fouquet, as having been admitted to Death Row on 06/04/70. It shows that sometime between February of 1972 and 04/26/78 he was removed from the Row and was moved to another housing, either within Q or to another facility altogether.

Here’s what happened, as best I’ve been able to ascertain:

Barry Bernstein’s efforts in behalf of Ronald Fouquet’s appeal were successful. His first degree murder verdict was reversed, 23 July 1973, as I reported near the end of this installment.

He was set for retrial, having served only three years and change at that point.

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