New York’s dormant death penalty law fails to meet the minimum standards recommended to ensure accuracy and fairness, according to a new report issued by the Committee on Capital Punishment of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Based on a comparison of New York’s existing statute to standards established by expert committees in Illinois and Massachusetts, the Committee urged New York lawmakers to thoroughly analyze the state’s statute in light of emerging information about the high potential for wrongful conviction and unfairness in death penalty cases. The report particularly focuses on issues of guilt and innocence, eligibility for the death penalty, and jury selection, but notes that additional problems exist and should be addressed if lawmakers decide to attempt a fix to the state’s capital punishment law. “In the years since 1995, when New York reinstated the death penalty, it has become apparent that the death penalty does not function properly,” the report states. Among the procedures examined in the report are informant testimony rules, videotaping of interrogations, independent review of scientific evidence, a heightened burden of proof, and the discretion of judges to overturn death sentences they believe are unwarranted. (Empire State Injustice: Based Upon a Decade of New Information, A Preliminary Evaluation of How New York’s Death Penalty System Fails to Meet Standards for Accuracy and Fairness, The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, January 2005). Read the Report (PDF Format). See also, Resources.