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Lawyer Group Wants Executions Frozen
A three-year study finds unfairness and glitches, the American Bar Assn. says in calling for a national moratorium.
CHICAGO - The American Bar Assn., concluding a three-year study of capital punishment systems, found so many inequities and shortfalls that it is calling for a national freeze on executions.
In a report to be released today, the organization, which has more than 400,000 members, said that death penalty systems in Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Alabama and Tennessee had so many problems that those states should immediately halt executions for further study.
They were among eight states examined by the association that provided the basis for its call to stop executions nationwide.
"After carefully studying the way states across the spectrum handle executions, it has become crystal clear that the process is deeply flawed," said Stephen Hanlon, chairman of the ABA's Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project.
The study also focused on death penalty systems in Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania, but it did not find their conditions as serious. The group says it does not take a position for or against the death penalty.
The study found "significant racial disparities" in the imposition of the death penalty, inadequate indigent defense programs, failures in crime laboratories, and a lack of uniformity in implementing nationally recognized best practices in eyewitness identification procedures as well as the recording of interrogations of suspects.
"The death penalty system is rife with irregularity -- supporting the need for a moratorium until states can ensure fairness and accuracy," Hanlon said.
Prosecutors and supporters of death penalty have said the eight-state study was flawed because the ABA teams mainly consisted of opponents of capital punishment.
Joshua Marquis, district attorney in Clatsop County, Ore., and a vice president of the National District Attorneys Assn., said: "I think the ABA should drop its pretense of being neutral on the death penalty. . . . They are being disingenuous by simply declaring that they want a moratorium. The powers that be in the ABA want the death penalty abolished."
Marquis, who supports the death penalty, said: "There is no doubt that you could always improve on the system. . . . There were innocent people on death row. There's no doubt about it. But this idea that the ABA is promoting -- that the system is riddled with errors -- is just plain wrong."
In 2000, then-Gov. George H. Ryan of Illinois imposed a moratorium on execution, citing the release of several defendants from death row and newspaper reports about problems in the state's death penalty system.
Three years later, the Republican emptied death row, commuting the death sentences of 156 prisoners to life terms, after the Legislature took no action on recommendations for the system. Some of those measures, including videotaping of interrogations in murder cases, have since been passed.
But some states, the ABA study said, have not required prosecutors' offices to establish policies on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, or to evaluate cases based on evidence that is less reliable, such as testimony by jailhouse informants or eyewitness identification.
"Most states have cases in which courts have found serious misconduct by prosecutors in capital cases, yet the prosecutors are not disciplined by the state disciplinary organization," according to the report.
Most states "do not require preservation of the evidence -- particularly DNA evidence -- through the entire legal process until the accused is either released from prison or executed," the report said.
Further, the report said, many states fail to provide a statewide indigent capital defense system, and where attorneys are appointed to defend capital cases, the compensation "is often woefully inadequate, dipping to well under $50 per hour in some cases."
"When a life is at stake, there is no room for error or injustice," the report said. "Ultimately, serious problems were found in every state death penalty system."
The ABA did not study lethal injection procedures, which will be reviewed by the Supreme Court next year.
This report includes information from the Associated Press.
© 2007 The Chicago Tribune
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Show AllGreat news. More power to the ABA! The time for war, the time for executions, and all other forms of barbarism has past. It's time to build a new world based upon the principles of sharing, justice, brotherhood and love. Most of the highly paid "civil servants" in Washington are rotten to the core. Their hands are dripping with the blood of innocent people. They do not represent the American people. They are menaces to the whole world.
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"Man must change or die.
There is no other course."
The World Teacher
http://www.Share-International.org
This is a nonsense wedge issue. Let's not be distracted and fall for this again.
Torture, domestic spying/harassment, civil liberties and the constitution, executive power, impending war with Iran, Iraq... the ABA has better things it could be talking about and discussing.
I'm not saying this issue isn't also important, however, we as a people have other more important priorities.
Just one "innocent" on death row is more than enough to abolish the death penalty. This Marquis person talks like he's dealing in merchandise, not peoples' lives, "no doubt there have been some innocents on death row." Really.
Violent crimes have not gone up in countries that have abolished the death penalty so the only explanation is some kind of peculiar American bloodthirstiness that feeds on itself instead of an affirmation that life is so sacred even the worst criminal cannot be put to death other than by the hand of God. Life in prison is surely just as awful, some would say worse, but that should be the punishment.
It's an easy leap from the death penalty to these so-called "preventive wars" that may soon cost the lives of thousands of innocent Iranians. The US should stop killing so much!!!!
When supporting the death penalty, a lot of people think that they are supporting the execution of terrible criminals, aka other people, but fail to see that the existence of the death penalty means giving the state the permission to kill us, you and me, even if in mistake.
Some people don't like the government in their affairs, but cede this incredible power to the government. Some people are passionate about small government, but this is HUGE, gargantuan government that wields the power of life and death.
It's weird: libertarian with regard to your money (taxes), but totalitarian with regard to your life.
mastershake,
The government's killing its own citizens is not a "wedge issue." It is, in fact, the most outrageous, abusive thing our state and federal governments do, on par with their killing of people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Put simply, there should be nothing that trumps the government's willful killing of people--regardless of where it occurs--as a priority.
Bravo ABA - this is an important issue! The American system of "Justice" has no justice. The worst criminals go around in Washington surrounded by body guards.
When someone is killed, their spirit joins other spirits of a similar vibration. If they're not very evolved and of a vile and low vibration, twisted and taking pleasure in causing others to suffer, they may wander the earth with like minded beings, seeking and finding suitable outlets (other people with physical bodies) for their vulgar/demonic activities.
It's far better to give those who've been convicted of crimes clean cells, counseling, and respect in hopes that it will help them evolve enough to see the need for law and order.
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"As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change. " Bhagavad-Gita 2-13
Wherever we have state-sponsored violence -- as in capital punishment -- it is an important issue.
Thank you ABA!!
"I'm not saying this issue isn't also important, however, we as a people have other more important priorities."
I completely disagree. Not only is there room for working on a number of issues, one of the frequent mistakes of the activist left in the US is focusing on international issues to the exclusion of national ones. Besides, you mentioned civil liberties - if you think this is not a human rights issue, try being black, male and unjustly accused of murder sometime.
Any group who undertook a study of the death penalty would find exactly the same thing (that it is so flawed and unfairly administered that it should be halted immediately). In fact, most rational people can see, without an official study, that the process of sentencing someone to death in such a racist and classist society as the United States could never be fair and impartial.
The only people who should even be behind bars are those who've taken another's life (let's get the non-violent drug offenders out and into rehabilitation). I'm sure we'll see many of the "pro-life" crowd (a group of people who should be more aptly called "pro-birth") railing against the ABA's study as some sinister, left-wing plot to undermine "Freedom" and "Liberty"...
I believe that the death penalty only reinforces the US as violent, barbaric place
Innocence or guilt are irrelevant. The death penalty is barbaric, a savage and sadistic resort to vengeance which any civilised country would have left behind long ago. Let's hear demands for this debasing and brutalising practice to be outlawed, not mealy mouthed maundering about flaws in its practice. It's an evil in itself.
"It's an evil in itself."
Agreed; in fact, prisons themselves are socially bankrupt, which is why we all should push for abolition. Here is an article from Critical Resistance, describing what abolution of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) is about.
http://criticalresist.live.radicaldesigns.org/article.php?list=type&type=17
Let's join the rest of the civilized world and eliminate the death penalty. As noted above, it is evil and barbaric.
this finding, is downright unchristian.
The killing of prisoners gives us a window onto the worth placed on a human life by society. China, with the US trailing behind, race to show the world that they believe that their citizens (and citizens of other nations) are "fungible". "Fungible" is a word I learned from America's Donald Rumsfeld.
Furthermore, capital punishment establishes that the state can do as it pleases with its prisoners. If killing someone is not "cruel and unusual punishment" then what is? Before the Abu Ghraib story broke, more than one American had the thought that, while the US killed prisoners, at least it didn't torture them. Now of course even that comfort is denied Americans of conscience.
Commondreamers are surely familiar with all the utilitarian and moral arguments against capital punishment. What I must express here, nevertheless, is one observer's disappointment with the reinstatement of the death penalty in the US. You cannot kill your way out of crime. Compare the US rate with that of liberal democracies.
Far from being a marginal issue, I think the return electrocution, hanging, etc. in the seventies was perhaps a harbinger of the morass we see today writ large in America's adventures abroad. It's a kind of desperate brutality reminiscent of a drowning man resorting even to pushing someone else under so that he may stay afloat a moment longer. We begin as we intend to go on. With torture and killing flourishing in the US prison system, how will America's occupation forces in Iraq be expected to do better?
What about Rumsfeld's execution? Should that be frozen too?
It is quotes like this that make the problem clear.
"Prosecutors and supporters of death penalty have said the eight-state study was flawed because the ABA teams mainly consisted of opponents of capital punishment."
Prosecutors and supporters of death penalty spend how much time making sure the system is fair and the defendants get the possible defense.
I am sure "prosecutors and supporters of death penalty" work tirelessly making sure defendants have all the necessary resources and that the system is fair.
What the statement makes clear is that persons such as Joshua Marquis are neither honest or intelligent (any idiot should know the dishonesty of their position would be spotted).
Allot of the pro-death penalty people in my home state of Texas publicly pride theirselfs on being "Christians"
I've asked some about it, and they speak gibberish in reply with things like: "the bible says an eye for an eye".
The poor ignorant folks are neanderthals. Many of them are victims of terribly confused hate based religious and radio talk show hosts and people like Bush & Cheney.
The death penalty is used primarily to keep the populace fearful. Not fearful of death by injection or electrocution, but of the terrible citizens out there who cannot be controlled. The citizens that we need the government to protect us from. Studies show that capital punishment is not a deterrent.
I don't think we have the right to murder someone even if guilty of a crime. But surely we have the responsibility of getting our facts straight before we pull the proverbial trigger. I guess the word surely is a little strong to use when discussing things like life or death in Bush's country, but well, it always felt like we should be very thoughtful about life and death back when we had laws or morals. Does it take a brilliant person to understand that DNA and any other evidence needs to be maintained during formal proceedings? Does it take a Rhodes Scholar to realize that those ten years spent rotting on death row, awaiting execution, are in fact legal proceedings? Can we assume that the rules pertaining to evidence are written to create an easy out for erroneous judges and prosecutors? Or worse yet, for those personal vendettas against dissenters?It's clear that the justice system is in disarray in this country as the average deathrow stay is over a decade, while the authorities cross their T's and dot their I's (and spend a reported $50,000 per inmate per year). So in short, we are too stupid to accurately and justly administer the death penalty, even if you support it, according to the ABA. I agree, if there is any doubt whatsoever, in regards to the facts of the case, we should not use capital punishment. I also suggest that there is always some doubt. But alas, will the right relinquish one of it's oldest and easiest fear tactics? Not on your life.
From what I've read, you can count on about 11% of those on death row to be actually innocent of the crime. So looking at that statistic, when W was Governor of Texas, he put to geath approximately 17 innocent people. For such a blood thirsty dirt bag, that is just a day at the beach. And for him to brag that he never spent more than a half an hour "deciding" to kill someone, and never turned down the opportunity, just tells you how pcychopathic this giggling murderer is.
The death penalty is nothing but murder, it is not "punishment" or "justice", it is just murder. And to know that we are in such great company as The Sudan, Iran, North Korea, and such places, does not make us better than anyone. In fact, we are the ONLY industrialized country that does such barbaric things to it's citizens. But then, we are the only country that locks up it's children for life, too, so what can you expect?
We have slid so far down the tubes in my own lifetime (I'm 49) that I no longer recognize this as my own country. The cruelty that we exhibit is just amazing. Why anyone would want to move here is beyond me. When my parents die, I may leave myself. I know that is not the patriotic thing to do, but I no longer recognize this as a place that any sane person would want to live. And our insistence on revenge instead of justice is just one big reason why.
It's time to permanently shut down the military industrial complex. The millions of people that they've killed in the past decades (for corporate amerika) have ALL been innocent.
"What about Rumsfeld's execution? Should that be frozen too?"
Naah, air drop him in Baghdad with a stack of MREs and one of those poorly-shielded Humvees that he seems to love so much. If he survives the first five years, he can be promoted to hand-binding Qu'rans in Fallujah.
The time when man's inhumanity to man had some foundation in survival needs is gone. The levels of suffering we impose upon each other needlessly in so many ways can come to be more consciously visible as we peel away the stupidity of believing that retributive murder is justified in any situation.
I look forward to the time when the US faces the many larger issues that remain. We are killing the human spirit in a multitude of ways through antiquated and flawed interpretations of human nature. It's nice to see the ABA saying something sensible. I wonder if they have the pull to see their recommendations brought to life as changed laws.
"The study found "significant racial disparities" in the imposition of the death penalty..."
Would abolishing the death penalty eliminate the racial bias or would it simply re-manifest itself in other sentencing such as maximum/life terms?
My guess is the current sentencing system is inherently biased already, and needs tackling post-haste.
We are still an uncivilized nation of ignorant barbarians.
While we no longer have picnics and tailgate parties at public hangings the country still overwhelmingly clamors for the death penalty.
George Bush epitomizes what is wrong with the values of America.
As governor of Texas he presided over the execution of 152 people in 6 years including the first woman to be executed in that state in over 100 years.
Capital punishment has been a key factor in so many elections and advocates for this barbaric ritual usually have an advantage over their rivals who oppose state sanctioned murder.
Capital punishment helped propel Bill Clinton to the white house.
As governor of Arkansas he stopped campaigning in New Hampshire the week before the primaries in 1992 and publicly announced that was returning to his state to standby during an execution in case he was needed for a stay.
But of course the execution of what some called a retarded man went forward and Bill Clinton came in second in the NH primaries and his campaign took off, I think because of his willingness to execute people.
Conversely Mario Cuomo was able to avoid executing anyone in NY during his 12 years as governor. He said that even if there were a death penalty case before him he would commute the sentence to life in prison, since he did not believe the state has the right to take a life.
But his moralistic position finally caught up with him when Pataki ran against him with a strong emphasis on his pro capital punishment stance.
It is a sad commentary about the values of "Christian" America that the pro death candidate seems to have a significant advantage over the anti capital punishment candidate.
It is not surprising therefore that this country would support and almost elect a callous "born again" hanging governor.
The Christian fundamentalist fools actually bought into his pro death anti abortion contradictory position because this is also how they think. Foolhardy hypocrites to the core.
Basically this is why I am afraid Dennis Kucinich will never get elected he is not merciless, cruel and bloodthirsty enough for the Warmongers of America.
While it is noble that a few lawyers from the Bar Association have finally come up with a recommendation to stop Capital punishment it will in no way change the mentality of the American people and our desire to kill, kill, kill and destroy fellow human beings.
Have a pleasant day.
"More important issues"? As in whether or not the state can kill you or me? Cheney also had "more important issues" than Viet Nam, as in being a draft dodger, during that era. Jen Bush finds it a "practical" problem for her to defend her country. Strange values.