Actor Farrell to Lead Debate on Issue of Capital Punishment

Convicted murderers motivate actor Mike Farrell. Men and women who have strangled, stabbed and shot others to death strengthen the former “M*A*S*H” star’s commitment to help abolish capital punishment.

Not that he condones their actions. But Farrell said the basic human rights of those eligible for execution--some of whom suffer from mental illnesses, poverty, prior physical and mental abuse and false accusations--cannot be ignored.

“The death penalty is uncivilized,” said Farrell, 61, of Studio City, who plays the veterinarian father in the NBC series “Providence.” “It’s the ultimate act of the powerful using their power in an inappropriate manner.”

An estimated 400 people are expected to discuss and debate the death penalty with Farrell--president of Death Penalty Focus, a San Francisco-based abolitionist group, and co-chairman of Human Rights Watch in California--tonight at a lecture at Valley Beth Shalom, 15739 Ventura Blvd., in Encino. The 7:30 p.m. event, which is open to the public, is the first of five free discussions on ethical issues--from education to aging--that the conservative synagogue will host through the end of February, said the synagogue’s Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis.

“Mike Farrell has a great deal of knowledge and a considerable amount of passion about the death penalty,” Schulweis said. “This is also becoming an issue that is requiring more scrutiny.”

Although surveys have shown that a majority of Americans favor the death penalty, several national and statewide polls indicate that support for capital punishment has declined in the last decade, in part because of widespread publicity about false convictions in several states.

In Illinois last year, Republican Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on the death penalty after a newspaper report found that serious errors mar the state’s penal system.

Farrell and other death-penalty foes have called on Gov. Gray Davis to impose a moratorium on executions in California, which has the nation’s largest death row. Hilary McLean, Davis’ spokeswoman, said the governor has no plans for a moratorium because “There is not a question of guilt or innocence in California.”

“Humans are fallible,” Farrell said. “Mistakes within the system are inevitable. The system has to be foolproof when dealing with life.”

Farrell’s strong opinions have drawn criticism from death penalty advocates. “Most of [Farrell’s] arguments are emotional,” said Dudley Sharp, director of Justice For All, a Texas-based nonprofit which supports the death penalty. “I can dispute his arguments with facts.”

Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury has debated Farrell on television. “On occasion, he can get a little emotional,” Bradbury said. “But this is his passion. He is deeply and morally committed to this cause.”

Bradbury’s biggest issue of contention with Farrell involves the most heinous cases committed by serial killers. “Some crimes are so horrific,” he said, “the people who commit them deserve to die.”

Farrell called it immoral to execute criminals with severe pathologies. “They should be punished and separated from society,” he said. “But they are very sick people. Should we be killing very sick people?”

An Irish Catholic and Los Angeles native, Farrell became involved in opposing the death penalty while playing B.J. Hunnicutt on the CBS sitcom “M*A*S*H” during the late 1970s, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the reinstatement of capital punishment.

A minister familiar with Farrell’s civil rights activism helped introduce him to inmates on death row. Farrell said he was disturbed by the high number of mentally ill prisoners, juveniles and minorities, factors he said point to flaws in the justice system.

“The people I met solidified my views,” said Farrell, who is married to actress Shelley Fabares, the national spokeswoman for the Alzheimer’s Assn. “I was offended by what I saw as a violation of human rights.”