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Conflict Highlights

The pro/con statements below indicate the great depth of disparity in the Rose Bird debate, and to our core question, "Should Chief Justice Rose Bird be Reconfirmed (in the 11/4/96 California Election)?"
  Pro Rose Bird Con Rose Bird
1.

Chief Justice Bird voted with the majority of the court 94.8% of the time in reversing 55 of 58 death penalty cases.

-- West's California Reporter
Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court - March 1997

Chief Justice Bird has voted to reverse 100% of the 58 death penalty cases reviewed by the California Supreme Court.

-- -- West's California Reporter
Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court - March 1997
2.

The California Supreme Court has upheld convictions in more than 90% of all criminal appeals since Chief Justice Bird joined the court.

-- Los Angeles Daily Journal,
"Rhetoric Over the Bird Court,"
by Robert Myers, 3/16/85

Between 1977 and 1982 Chief Justice Bird handed down verdicts that favored the defendant in about 75% of the cases reviewed by the court.

-- Los Angeles Daily Journal
"Fat in the Fire," 9/17/82
3.

Chief Justice Bird is a thoughtful, thorough jurist.

-- Anthony Murray,
Committee to Conserve the Courts

Chief Justice Bird's decisions are too often based on personal bias.

-- Crime Victims for Court Reform
"Fact Sheet on Chief Justice Rose Bird"

4.

Chief Justice Bird has been widely praised for her administrative competence.

-- Los Angeles Times 4/20/86
"Bird Praised for Improved
Administration of Courts"

Chief Justice Bird's administration of the court has been poor.

-- Campaign literature -
Californians to Defeat Rose Bird

5.

Six of 15 U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justices, including the highly regarded Earl Warren, had no prior judicial experience.

-- Who's Who in American Law, 1985

Prior to her appointment to the California Supreme Court, Chief Justice Bird had no judicial experience.

-- Campaign literature -
Republican Associates of So. California
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