The Times Poll : Bird Hurt by Her Image as a Foe of Death Penalty

With the campaign already under way to defeat California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird in the 1986 election, she is a clear underdog, according to the latest Los Angeles Times Poll. And a major reason is a perception that Bird stands in the way of implementing the death penalty.

Although the poll found that the majority of respondents would vote today to retain the four other justices who will be on the ballot, it also suggests that the other justices could be affected by adverse opinion of Bird and a generally tepid regard for the court as a whole.

If the election were held today, Bird would be rejected by 38% of Californians and approved by 28%, the poll found, with 34% saying they did not know how they would vote.

About two-thirds of those who disapprove of Bird say she is an opponent of the death penalty.

Bird, who was appointed chief justice in 1977 by then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., has never voted to uphold a death sentence. Since 1977, when capital punishment was reinstated in California, the state Supreme Court has decided 36 death penalty cases, reversing all but three. The last California execution took place April 12, 1967.

The death penalty apparently is not the only issue hurting Bird. The poll found that 58% of those who disapprove of her say she is more sympathetic to the rights of criminals than to those of victims; 55% say she does not have the experience or temperament to be chief justice, and 54% think she should be more responsive to the wishes of voters.

These findings suggest that there is a receptive audience for the anti-Bird campaign’s emphasis on charging that Bird is a death penalty foe who is soft on criminals.

The poll found that Bird fares worse among registered voters: 44% would reject her if the election were held today, while 27% would retain her and 29% do not know what they would do.

Most Likely to Vote

Those who disapprove of Bird fall into the category of people most likely to vote--whites who are over the age of 45 and have higher incomes. Her strongest support is among people who are usually less likely to turn out--blacks, Latinos, people 18 to 29 years of age and unmarried people.

There was no significant difference between men and women on whether Bird should be retained: 40% of the men and 36% of the women said no; 28% of the men and 28% of the women said yes.

Another finding could also prove troublesome for Bird. The poll shows that 19% of those who support Bird also support the death penalty. These are mostly young, single people who tend not to be as informed on the issues or to participate in politics.

More than the other respondents, these people tend to respect the high court, to believe that Bird is more moderate than liberal and to believe that Bird does not favor criminals.

A campaign against Bird that paints her as a liberal who is opposed to capital punishment could force this group to choose between their preference for Bird and their preference for the death penalty.

Strong Death Penalty Support

There is strong across-the-board support for the death penalty, with 75% favoring capital punishment for people convicted of murder. Only 16% opposed the death penalty, and 9% did not venture an opinion.

The Times Poll began June 8, two days after the state Supreme Court announced that it was overturning four death sentences. Among the defendants was child murderer Theodore F. Frank, convicted in 1978 of murdering a 2-year-old Camarillo girl he kidnaped, raped and tortured.

The poll, supervised by Times Poll Director I. A. Lewis, interviewed 1,568 Californians. The margin of error for such a sample is three percentage points in either direction.

Californians have a mixed view of the state Supreme Court, according to the poll, with 39% viewing it favorably, 37% unfavorably and 24% not sure.

This suggests that a sustained campaign against Bird as head of the court could further lower the court’s image and spell trouble for all the justices.

Bird’s rulings on the death penalty and charges that she cares more about the rights of criminals than about victims have galvanized the campaign to remove her from the bench.

Although the election is more than 16 months away, several groups of Bird detractors, including conservative Republicans and the California District Attorneys Assn., already have begun campaigns to defeat her.

Bird, who was appointed to the court to fill an unexpired term, will get a full 12-year term if she is retained in 1986. Thus, her opponents view the election as their last chance for a long time to remove her.

Under the California Constitution, state Supreme Court justices periodically go on the ballot for a yes or no vote. If they get less than 50% of the vote, the governor appoints a replacement.

No state Supreme Court justice has ever been rejected at the polls, but Bird came close in 1978 when she was approved with 51.7% of the vote.

The four justices who will be on the ballot with Bird in November, 1986, are Cruz Reynoso and Joseph R. Grodin, who were also appointed by Brown; Stanley Mosk, appointed by Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr., and J. Malcolm Lucas, who was appointed by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian.

In addition to asking how people would vote if the election were held today, the Times Poll also sought people’s impressions of Bird and other prominent California officeholders and former officeholders.

Of those with an opinion, 35% said they held an unfavorable impression of Bird and 25% said their impression was favorable.

Although 40% of the voters said they did not know how they feel about Bird, the favorable rating among those who did have an opinion is much lower than the favorable ratings for other major California officeholders expected to be on the ballot in 1986.

PUBLIC IMPRESSIONS

The Los Angeles Times Poll asked 1568 California adults their impressions of these people and institutions in the news. In the case of elected officials, these results reflect the public’s view of the individual but are not necessarily indicative of how that individual would do in an election contest against others with lower or higher image ratings. Telephone interviews were conducted June 8-11.

VOTING FOR JUDGES

The Los Angeles Times Poll asked 1568 California adults how they would vote today on whether to retain five Supreme Court justices. Telephone interviews were conducted June 8-11.

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