Publications & Testimony

The Constitution Project has released a comprehensive report on the U.S. system of representation for indigent defendants, “Justice Denied: America’s Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel.” The report finds deep flaws in the country’s public defense system and makes 22 recommendations for state and federal officials for reforming the system. Among the problems that this study identifies are excessive caseloads for indigent defense systems, inadequate funding, ethical…

On April 20, Colorado’s House voted 33 – 32 to repeal the death penalty. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, would shift funds used to prosecute cases and maintain the death penalty to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for closing unsolved murder cases. Proponents of the bill believe the state would save close to $4 million by repealing the death penalty, and dozens of family members with unsolved murder cases testified that those funds could be better used solving cold cases. While there…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied habeas corpus relief to a Georgia death row inmate who claims he is innocent and who has received international support. In a 2 – 1 decision, the court held that Troy Davis could have presented most of his new evidence earlier and that the evidence did not offer clear and convincing proof of his innocence. Hence, the court did not consider his free-standing claim of innocence on its merits, but concluded it was barred because of the delay…

Judge Boyce Martin, Chief Justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, recently concurred in a capital case and stated his conclusion that the death penalty system is now broken beyond repair. Writing in Wiles v. Bagley on April 14, Judge Martin said that the death penalty is “so fundamentally flawed at its very core that it is beyond repair.” He continued, “Now in my thirtieth year as a judge on this Court, I have had an inside view of our system of capital punishment almost…

The Justice Project has released a new report entitled “Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: A Policy Review.” The report details some of the causes of prosecutorial misconduct and makes recommendations for reform. With a particular focus on preventing prosecutorial errors that lead to wrongful convictions, the study explores how a lack of transparency and accountability has allowed prosecutorial misconduct to persist nationwide. The report states that its recommendations would improve…

The Virginia Senate upheld Gov. Tim Kaine’s vetoes of proposals to expand capital punishment on April 8. The Senate vote fell short of the two-thirds needed to override Gov. Kaine’s vetoes of the bills that would have extended capital punishment to murder accomplices who were not the actual killer and to those who kill on-duty fire marshals and auxiliary police officers. This marks the third consecutive year that Gov. Kaine has vetoed bills to expand capital punishment to accomplices.