The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation recent­ly peti­tioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to ensure that lawyers appoint­ed in death penal­ty cas­es in Philadelphia have ade­quate resources to defend their clients. The peti­tion, filed on behalf of three indi­vid­u­als charged with first-degree mur­der and fac­ing the death penal­ty, argued that Philadelphia’s cur­rent com­pen­sa­tion sys­tem for court-appoint­ed cap­i­tal defense lawyers is so inad­e­quate that it vio­lates the defen­dants’ con­sti­tu­tion­al rights to effec­tive coun­sel. Philadelphia uses a flat fee sys­tem in death penal­ty cas­es that is the low­est among Pennsylvania’s 67 coun­ties. A lawyer receives $2,000 for tri­al prepa­ra­tion. After the first day of tri­al, the lawyer then receives a dai­ly fee of $200 for less than three hours or $400 for more than three hours. JoAnne Epps, Dean of Temple University’s law school, not­ed, ​“Our com­mit­ment to jus­tice requires that cap­i­tal cas­es, the most seri­ous in our crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem, be con­duct­ed with fair­ness and ade­quate resources — on both sides.”

Marc Bookman, Executive Director of the Atlantic Center, said, ​“We are hope­ful that our Supreme Court will view this peti­tion as an oppor­tu­ni­ty to ensure that poor peo­ple are ade­quate­ly rep­re­sent­ed in death-penalty cases.” 

(J. Slobodzian, ​“Pennsylvania Supreme Court urged to con­sid­er how Philadelphia pays death penal­ty lawyers,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 2011). See Costs and Representation.

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