Post by Anja on Jun 12, 2006 10:22:50 GMT -5
Panel urges time out on executions
The voices calling for a moratorium on executions in Alabama now include
most members of a death penalty assessment team formed by the American Bar
Association.
The assessment team, headed by University of Alabama law professor Daniel
Filler, found several problems with the way Alabama handles capital murder
cases, including inadequate legal representation and a lack of access to
DNA testing.
Alabama's top prosecutor, Republican Attorney General Troy King, said the
ABA is biased against the death penalty, and it put together an assessment
team that reflects that bias.
"The ABA is a liberal, activist organization with an agenda they
constantly push," King said Friday. "That's why I'm not a member of the
ABA."
King's Democratic opponent in the November election, Mobile County
District Attorney John Tyson Jr., said he hopes the assessment team's
report fosters public discussion.
"I believe the communication of information about the death penalty
process and public debate of components of this process is the only way to
assure that the death penalty is fair, accurate and timely and therefore
an effective deterrent to heinous acts," Tyson said in a statement.
Filler said the assessment team spent about 20 months studying the death
penalty in Alabama, and the team hopes its report will generate discussion
in this year's elections and in the Legislature when it meets next year.
But he conceded that getting the Legislature to address basic issues, such
as implementing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision against executing the
mentally retarded, has proved difficult.
"The answer plainly is legislators find the political costs of action too
high," he said.
Localities seek halt:
In Alabama, at least 37 local governments, largely in rural areas with
mostly black and poor residents, have called for a moratorium. They have
been joined by some religious organizations and newspaper editorial pages,
but the Legislature has declined for several years to address a moratorium
bill introduced by state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, who served on the
assessment team.
Filler said all 8 members of the death penalty assessment team are Alabama
lawyers, and they include prosecutors and defense lawyers. King said there
was only one prosecutor and no representative of crime victims.
Some of the problems cited by the assessment team:
Inadequate and inconsistent legal representation at trial and in appeals
for poor defendants who have court-appointed attorneys.
Lack of defense attorneys for appeals in state courts.
No state law to implement the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against executing
the mentally retarded.
No state law specifically providing for DNA testing after a conviction.
Inadequate review of whether individual death sentences are proportionate
to other sentences for like crimes.
All members of the assessment team, except Arthur Green Jr., district
attorney for the Bessemer division of Jefferson County, recommended
executions be put on hold until Alabama can assure the capital punishment
system is fair and accurate and that Alabama end the power of a judge to
sentence a defendant to death after a jury has recommended a sentence of
life in prison without parole.
All of the assessment team suggested that juries' recommendations for
death sentences should be unanimous, rather than requiring 10 out of 12.
King said the 10-vote requirement is high enough, and judges should have
the authority to override a jury's recommendation because judges have
training in the law.
"Nobody can point to an innocent person in Alabama who has been executed,"
King said.
Alabama is the 2nd state where the ABA's Death Penalty Moratorium
Implementation Project has had a team of lawyers review capital punishment
procedures. The ABA does not support or oppose the death penalty, but it
does support a moratorium on executions in each state until fairness and
due process are assured, the organization said in a statement.
(source: Associated Press)
The voices calling for a moratorium on executions in Alabama now include
most members of a death penalty assessment team formed by the American Bar
Association.
The assessment team, headed by University of Alabama law professor Daniel
Filler, found several problems with the way Alabama handles capital murder
cases, including inadequate legal representation and a lack of access to
DNA testing.
Alabama's top prosecutor, Republican Attorney General Troy King, said the
ABA is biased against the death penalty, and it put together an assessment
team that reflects that bias.
"The ABA is a liberal, activist organization with an agenda they
constantly push," King said Friday. "That's why I'm not a member of the
ABA."
King's Democratic opponent in the November election, Mobile County
District Attorney John Tyson Jr., said he hopes the assessment team's
report fosters public discussion.
"I believe the communication of information about the death penalty
process and public debate of components of this process is the only way to
assure that the death penalty is fair, accurate and timely and therefore
an effective deterrent to heinous acts," Tyson said in a statement.
Filler said the assessment team spent about 20 months studying the death
penalty in Alabama, and the team hopes its report will generate discussion
in this year's elections and in the Legislature when it meets next year.
But he conceded that getting the Legislature to address basic issues, such
as implementing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision against executing the
mentally retarded, has proved difficult.
"The answer plainly is legislators find the political costs of action too
high," he said.
Localities seek halt:
In Alabama, at least 37 local governments, largely in rural areas with
mostly black and poor residents, have called for a moratorium. They have
been joined by some religious organizations and newspaper editorial pages,
but the Legislature has declined for several years to address a moratorium
bill introduced by state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, who served on the
assessment team.
Filler said all 8 members of the death penalty assessment team are Alabama
lawyers, and they include prosecutors and defense lawyers. King said there
was only one prosecutor and no representative of crime victims.
Some of the problems cited by the assessment team:
Inadequate and inconsistent legal representation at trial and in appeals
for poor defendants who have court-appointed attorneys.
Lack of defense attorneys for appeals in state courts.
No state law to implement the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against executing
the mentally retarded.
No state law specifically providing for DNA testing after a conviction.
Inadequate review of whether individual death sentences are proportionate
to other sentences for like crimes.
All members of the assessment team, except Arthur Green Jr., district
attorney for the Bessemer division of Jefferson County, recommended
executions be put on hold until Alabama can assure the capital punishment
system is fair and accurate and that Alabama end the power of a judge to
sentence a defendant to death after a jury has recommended a sentence of
life in prison without parole.
All of the assessment team suggested that juries' recommendations for
death sentences should be unanimous, rather than requiring 10 out of 12.
King said the 10-vote requirement is high enough, and judges should have
the authority to override a jury's recommendation because judges have
training in the law.
"Nobody can point to an innocent person in Alabama who has been executed,"
King said.
Alabama is the 2nd state where the ABA's Death Penalty Moratorium
Implementation Project has had a team of lawyers review capital punishment
procedures. The ABA does not support or oppose the death penalty, but it
does support a moratorium on executions in each state until fairness and
due process are assured, the organization said in a statement.
(source: Associated Press)