European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 a the stars and stripes Friday october 19,1990 columns Anthony Lewis apartheid continues to stalk South Africa a i believe the rights to property should be retained a Joe Slovon said. A it would be absurd for us to move into a Post apartheid society trying to eliminate the private sector foreign investment and so on. We know that they Arentt charities and they need Security they need the feeling that what they be got they re going to Joe Slovon is general Secretary of the South african communist party and a member of the executive committee of the african National Congress. He is on a visit to new York and spoke with me about the current talks with the government and about South africans future. A private property is not an Issue a he said. A the question is whether Well have the capacity in a new Constitution to take Steps to redress the inherited economic imbalances due to racism. There must be a certain degree of state intervention which does no to necessarily mean state ownership. A for example in the last 20 years 4 million people have been dispossessed a removed from their Homes and land. There a no Way we can move into the new period ignoring that racial How can you meet the White Community a desire for Security i asked if the state takes land or other property without compensation a i done to believe it should take anything without compensation a Slovon said a i really done to. The form of com a rec a Quot sensation will have to be Worl cd out very carefully so that there Isnit an enormous flight of capital a the compensation remains within the country and is in a form which encourages reinvestment. But those things can be worked Slovon said he believed in the Market system and in economic incentives. But he said the Black workers of South Africa have to feel they have a stake in increasing productivity a which Isnit the Case today. They have a feeling of Complete when it came to land he said there would have to the Greet escape part i be some redistribution to the Black majority a who Quot Dlf in 87 percent have been barred by Law from owning Lam of South Africa. But that has to be done while maintaining agricultural production and some efficient Large farms would remain undivided. In a pamphlet published last Winter a has socialism failed a Slovon said the one party state was not a marxist idea but a soviet idea that failed. Was he against a one party system in South Africa i asked. A absolutely a he said. A a it a a recipe for he said there should be no Issue Between the Anc and the government Over a political pluralism language culture religion. We be said Over and Over again that we re quite prepared to have those freedoms irreversibly entrenched in a Constitution subject to a justiciable Bill of for years in exile Slovon was chief of staff of the armed Wing of the Anc us Shonto we size. For that reason and perhaps also because he is White he was a particular hate figure for the government and its supporters. Liberals also criticized him severely As an unyielding communist now he is playing a leading a How he got along wit a role in the talks. I asked How he got along with the men on the government Side. Government ministers he said occasionally try to depict him As a Leader of a faction that disagrees with Nelson Mandela and does not really want peace. Just last monday he said at a meeting with president de Klerk a we reminded him that the Ancus decision to suspend the armed struggle a came As the result of a proposal i there is a a rather soured atmosphere Between the government and the Anc right now he said a a Strain on the peace process. But i would not like to think and i done to think that its reached a Point of no return. Both sides know what sat stake if these talks break de Klerk feels in his mind that a a there a no Way backs to apartheid Slovon said but his belief alone does not make the process irreversible. The number of Whites opposed to change is growing a and they be got presence at every level that counts in the state apparatus the army the police Force the civil service. And they could still help to reverse the Slovon returned to South Africa last May after 27 years in exile. What differences did he find i asked. A you walk Down the streets in Johannesburg a he said a the place i say is owned by the Blacks but they walk around As if they re about to own it. Which Wasny to the Case when i left in 1963. There was a Han dog submissive slightly fearful visage in those Days a but no c new Yorac time James Kilpatrick special Case against capital punishment Richmond a. A let me ask a favor. Take a couple of minutes if you will to read a letter from Joe Giarratano. He is on death Row in Virginia a prison at Boydton. On oct. 1, the supreme court ii Irna a re a it a a pm n u i to. I t turned Down his last Appeal. His leg Al Ler i roads have run out. If gov. Doug i refuses to intervene Joe will be executed before the end of the year. By Way of background on the unchallenged record Joe Giarratano was the product of a sordid childhood. He had a limited High school education. Those facts do not excuse but they help to explain. In february 1979, when this sad chapter began Giarratano was 21 years old a drug addict a drunkard a drifter working on a fish boat out of Newport news. No Man is worthless in the eyes of god but in 1979 Joe was right at the Bottom of the Heap. The ugly details of the crime Are now irrelevant. Joe was charged and convicted of the rape murder of a 15-year-old girl and the murder of her Mother. The Only evidence against him came from five separate confessions he signed in the hours immediately after the arrest. The confessions were internally inconsistent they smacked of poll a a l a11 i a _ _ studying Law and remaking his life. I Learned of the Case three years ago. I spent hours Reading the record and came away deeply troubled. I am not sure that Joe is guilty i am not sure he is innocent but i have spent 50 years covering courts and i am certain of this he was not convicted beyond a reasonable doubt. Now to the letter. It is dated oct. 8, 1990 keep fairly Busy. In be recently completed an article for the Yale Law journal a a cautionary tale fallibility is. Finality. It is in the final editing stages. And i am in the process of co authoring another Law review with professor Mike Mello Vermont Law school. The subject is the a forgotten ninth amendment of our Constitution. A i truly appreciate the efforts you have made on my behalf and for bringing my plight to the attention of the Public through your columns. Knowing that folks really care has been a real Boon for my morale. A Overall i am holding up Well and i lice coaching. Following a Brief non july trial a judge sentenced Hir a a a a. A a him to death. That was almost 12 years ago. He has been in prison Ever since. He has spent his time remain hopeful. The news from the . Supreme court came As no Surprise though it is terribly frustrating to see that procedural default mechanisms can outweigh the truth finding process in such an obdurate fashion. Even though i understand the judiciary a frustration with capital cases i really find it impossible to reconcile that imbalance with the Constitution state or Federal. The Ball is now in the governors court and i can Only Hope that he will exercise his executive authority. A in the meanwhile my Chin is up and i a Early in november 50 Law students from Georgetown and Maryland will be coming to the prison and i plan to talk with them about the ninth amendment and Lockean political theory and its role in the formation of the declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In be Given two talks like this in the past and i was amazed to discover How Little is known about the historical underpinnings of the Constitution. Amazed Isnit the proper word because my ignorance was on Par with theirs until just a couple of years ago. A anyway have rambled on enough. I simply wanted to Send you a note of thanks. If things work out for me i Hope we can one Day meet. Please do not feel obliged to respond to this letter. I know that you Are a Busy Man. Be Well and keep telling it like it is a a personal note i am not opposed to the death sentence. Given a killer in the weird Mold of Ted Bundy i see no reason for society to keep such a monster alive. The Prospect of capital punishment May not be a deterrent to rape or murder a i doubt that it is but that Issue defies Resolution. In truly heinous cases a death sentence ought to be available to a jury As an option. But let me ask what would be the Point in killing Joe Giarratano now in All of my instincts i am a Man of the Law. The judgments of a court ought not to be flouted. But Joe was convicted 12 years ago by a single trial judge on evidence of doubtful reliability. The confused suicidal drug addict of 1979 is gone. In his place one finds a Young Man with a Good mind and a healthy Outlook on life. How would killing him avenge the victims or sustain respect for judicial process some useful purpose ought to be served by putting Joe to death. I see no useful purpose at All. 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