LETHAL INJECTIONS:
News & Developments

Mandatory Justice:
The Death Penalty Revisited

Constitution Project Issues
Updated Capital Punishment Reform Recommendations

The Constitution Project’s blue-rib­bon Death Penalty Initiative has released an updat­ed set of guid­ing prin­ci­ples for death penal­ty reform. ​“Mandatory Justice: The Death Penalty Revisited” iden­ti­fies spe­cif­ic improve­ments to address prob­lems such as arbi­trari­ness, race, inef­fec­tive­ness of coun­sel, wrong­ful con­vic­tions, and crime lab mis­takes.

Among the group’s 32 rec­om­men­da­tions are the following:
  • Each state should cre­ate an inde­pen­dent appoint­ment author­i­ty to ​“recruit, select, train, mon­i­tor, sup­port and assist” attor­neys who rep­re­sent capital defendants.
  • Each juris­dic­tion should pro­vide com­pe­tent and ade­quate­ly com­pen­sat­ed coun­sel at all stages of cap­i­tal lit­i­ga­tion and pro­vide ade­quate fund­ing for expert and investigative services. 
  • Felony mur­der should be exclud­ed as the basis for death penalty eligibility. 
  • Persons with severe men­tal dis­or­ders should be exclud­ed from death penalty eligibility. 
  • Every juris­dic­tion should ensure the avail­abil­i­ty of a life sen­tence without parole. 
  • Post-con­vic­tion review of cas­es with cred­i­ble claims of inno­cence should be available.
  • Jurisdictions should review exon­er­a­tions in cap­i­tal cas­es in order to iden­ti­fy the caus­es of the error to cor­rect systemic flaws.
  • Interrogations of homi­cide sus­pects should be video­taped or dig­i­tal­ly record­ed when practicable.
  • Judges should be pro­hib­it­ed from over­rid­ing a jury’s rec­om­men­da­tion of a life sen­tence to impose a sen­tence of death.
  • Jurisdictions should require a manda­to­ry review of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al charg­ing deci­sions in death eligible cases.
The Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Initiative was estab­lished in 2000. The group, which issued its first set of rec­om­men­da­tions in 2001, includes cur­rent and for­mer law enforce­ment offi­cials, state attor­neys gen­er­al, reli­gious lead­ers, vic­tims of crime, aca­d­e­mics, legal experts, and com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers. Among those serv­ing on the pan­el are for­mer First Lady Rosalynn Carter, for­mer FBI Director Bill Sessions, Oklahoma City bomb­ing case pros­e­cu­tor Beth Wilkinson, for­mer Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge Charles Baird, and for­mer New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

Read a sum­ma­ry of the report.

Read the full report.

Read more about The Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Initiative.

See also, DPIC’s Web pages on Representation and Innocence.


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