Local lawyer hopes to defeat `queen of death'

Richard Ash has serious problems with the way District Attorney Lynne Abraham has performed her job.

"My hope is to end the reign of the queen of death," says Ash, a Center City attorney and Green Party candidate for DA.

Ash, like the other two candidates running against Abraham, is opposed to the death penalty and says that Abraham has turned Philadelphia into the "capital of capital punishment."

Arguments that the death penalty is racially and socio-economically biased are among the main reasons Ash says he is against capital punishment. However, the Penn Law School graduate also feels a life sentence to prison is a far worse punishment.

"My feeling is that if the judges and the district attorneys, those that were charged with law enforcement, I think they ought to have to spend about a week or so... in jail, and know what it's all about," Ash says. "It's not a pleasant prospect to say the least."

But primarily, Ash opposes the death penalty on moral grounds.

"It has no place in a civilized society," Ash says. "The society is the ultimate teacher of right and wrong and if the society takes life in the name of justice, aren't they teaching the average citizen, 'Look, if you get angry, maybe it's not wrong to kill the person that committed what you think is a wrong.'"

Ash has a history of running for office on a third-party ticket. In 1969, he challenged Arlen Spector, now a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, for the position of DA.

"I wanted to run because I was so concerned about the direction law enforcement was taking in this city," Ash says. "And then like an answer to my prayer, the Green Party called me and asked me if I would run as their candidate."

Ash says he believes laws exist to serve citizens -- and that the role of a citizen is not to serve the law. He claims that during his last bid for DA, the other candidates were taking tough stances on crime by insisting that people had to respect the law.

"Both of those candidates were saying 'the people must respect the law,'" Ash says. "And from my perspective, based on what I saw in the criminal procedure by being in court everyday, I thought that was the wrong message. To me respect is earned, not commanded."

This sentiment is repeated in Ash's 2001 campaign slogan: "People will respect the law if the law respects the people."

And based on this stance, Ash is proposing a whole range of new legislation and methods of law enforcement, including the passage of victims' rights laws, prosecution of crimes committed by police and drug decriminalization.

Ash argues that while the state is spending huge amounts on the construction of prisons, comparatively little is being spent to aid the victims of crime.

"My feeling is that we're spending billions on prison walls and prosecution," Ash says. "There should be meaningful compensation for the victims of crime."

Although Ash says he realizes that the district attorney does not have direct control over the passage of legislation, he would use his influence in the post to pressure the legislature to pass such a law.

But as DA, Ash says that he would make the prosecution of police abuse a top consideration. While noting that most police conduct their jobs well, Ash feels that those who do not must be punished harshly.

"Most police carry out a difficult and dangerous job honorably, but we know that there are some who abuse their trust," Ash says, "My position is that anyone who carries a gun or club in the community has to be strictly accountable for any misuse."

According to Ash, Abraham has not been willing to prosecute police who abuse their power.

"It ain't gonna happen under the queen of death, that I can tell you, because she doesn't do anything, essentially, where police are involved," Ash says.

In terms of dealing with the city's drug problems, Ash differs sharply with both Abraham and Bongiovanni, saying that he will not prosecute users, but favors rehabilitation.

"I don't see any point in putting them in a jail cell, and many of the people that are in jail today, it's drug-related," Ash says.

And while he says he would continue to prosecute kingpins as long as drug laws are in place, Ash does not believe that the war on drugs can be won.

"I see that, the war on drugs, as a sham," Ash says. "I think it has as much chance as draining the Atlantic Ocean with a teacup."

Ash also favors stricter gun control, upholding the rights of the accused, ending the practice of trying juveniles as adults and improving prison conditions.

While Abraham is widely expected to win an easily re-election -- having overcome Alexander Talmadge Jr., in the May primary with 59 percent of the vote -- Ash has been busy campaigning and trying to raise awareness of his campaign.

And even if he is unsuccessful, as is expected, he can perhaps take satisfaction in what he calls his "one political triumph."

"In 1968, I was elected as a delegate to the Democratic [National] Convention, pledged to Eugene McCarthy," Ash says. "The '68 Democratic convention was the last real political convention we've had in this country, because there was a real contest there of who was going to get the nomination."

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