CLINTON GRANTS EXECUTION STAY TO STUDY RACE GAP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton on Thursday granted a
six-month reprieve to murderer Juan Raul Garza, a Hispanic who was
scheduled next week to be the first person executed under federal law
since 1963.

Clinton said in a written statement he was granting the reprieve to
give the Justice Department time to further study racial and
geographic disparities in the federal death penalty system that were
documented in an earlier department report.

``In this area there is no room for error,'' Clinton said in his
statement.

Death penalty opponents said Clinton's action was a welcome step, but
that it fell short of the formal moratorium on federal executions they
were seeking and failed to ensure an adequate study of the bias issue
would be undertaken.

Garza's attorney, Greg Wiercioch, said of his client, ``He's relieved,
but I think also a little disappointed that the president didn't
commute his sentence.'' He said there were sufficient doubts over bias
in the case to warrant a commutation.

Garza, 44, is awaiting execution in a federal prison in Terre Haute,
Indiana. He was convicted in 1993 of ordering three murders to further
control over a marijuana-smuggling organization based in Texas.

Leaving The Decision To A Successor

Clinton's action leaves the decision over Garza's fate to his
successor, either Republican George W. Bush of Texas or Vice President
Al Gore.

Democrat Gore and Bush, like Clinton, both say they support the death
penalty. As Texas governor, Bush this year has presided over 39
executions, a record for any single state since U.S. authorities began
keeping records in 1930.

Clinton in August had delayed Garza's execution until Dec. 12 pending
new Justice Department clemency guidelines.

``Supporters of capital punishment bear a special responsibility to
ensure the fairness of this irreversible punishment,'' Clinton said on
Thursday.

Richard Burr, a Texas attorney who advises defense attorneys in
federal capital cases, said the Justice Department will undergo a
``huge upheaval'' in the next administration and that Clinton's
decision on Thursday failed to specify sufficiently how the department
must conduct its study.

``I think he has done a little better than punting, but he has done
very little to ensure that the proper kind of examination that must be
done should be done,'' Burr said.

Garza's attorneys in the clemency appeal argued that his sentence
should be reduced to life in prison, saying the execution has more to
do with race and geography than the seriousness of his crimes.

They cited a Justice Department study in September that found racial
and geographical disparities in federal death penalty cases.

The study found that racial minorities were overrepresented in the
federal death penalty system and all of the capital cases were
concentrated in 49 of the 94 federal districts.

Garza is among the 19 inmates awaiting execution in the special unit
of the Indiana prison. Another inmate is there, but his death sentence
has been set aside, a Justice Department spokesman said.

The inmates comprise 14 blacks, four whites, one Asian and Garza, the
sole Hispanic.

Clinton said in his statement it remained unclear whether the
disparities reflected bias in the justice system.

``I am not satisfied that, given the uncertainty that exists, it is
appropriate to go forward with an execution in a case that may
implicate the very issues at the center of that uncertainty,'' Clinton
said.

The last federal execution occurred in 1963.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 struck down state death penalty laws, a
ruling that also brought federal executions to a halt. In 1976 the
high court reinstated the death penalty after the adoption of new procedures.

It was not until 1988 that Congress adopted a new federal death
penalty law, which was expanded in 1994.

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, has sponsored
legislation seeking a moratorium on federal executions.

Feingold welcomed Clinton's action but said ``a stay for only one
inmate, of course, does not completely address the systemic flaws in
the federal system. A moratorium on all federal executions is the only
full and fair response to a system that appears to be plagued with
possible racial and regional disparities.''