Publications & Testimony

Citing the costs of seeking the death penalty, Louisiana prosecutors are “cutting way back,” according to State Attorney General Buddy Caldwell. A former district attorney, Caldwell compared trying a capital case to “playing on a $100-a-roll table instead of a nickel or dime table.” He explained that he could try a second-degree murder case for $15,000 to $20,000 instead of $250,000 to put a death-penalty defendant on trial. Caldwell said the cost of expert witnesses and investigators was one…

In a recent opinion poll conducted by Elon University in North Carolina, less than half of those polled believe that the the death penalty is the “most appropriate punishment for first degree murder.” When the same question was asked in 2005, 61% chose the death penalty as the appropriate sentence. In 2009, that number had dropped to 48%, the same percentage recorded in the University’s 2007 poll. “I would imagine the difference in opinion on our surveys is somewhat attributable to a…

Senator Carolyn McGinn of Kansas (pictured) recently published an op-ed calling for an end to the death penalty because it is too costly and does not benefit the people. Sen. McGinn, a Republican from Sedgwick, is the sponsor of a bill that would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. She explained that in light of the state’s budget deficit, Kansas is looking at ways to reduce government spending. “One policy change being considered is whether the death penalty is…

On March 4, the Maryland Senate reached a compromise on a death penalty repeal bill by amending the bill so as to restrict capital prosecutions. The proposed revision to the state’s death penalty statute would preclude murder cases where the only evidence is eyewitness testimony and, in turn, require DNA evidence, videotaped evidence, or a voluntary videotaped confession. Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Montgomery County Democrat and proponent of death penalty repeal, said his support of the Senate…

Former President Jimmy Carter wrote New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson to encourage him to support a bill repealing the death penalty and replacing it with life in prison without parole. “We encourage your support for this comprehensive and visionary approach,” Carter wrote. In addition to pointing out how the extra money spent on capital punishment could be better used elsewhere, Carter wrote, “As you know, the United States is one of the few countries, along with nations such as Saudi…

In a recent military death penalty case, the prosecutors rejected a plea agreement that would have resulted in a sentence of life in prison instead of the death penalty. The defendant, Sergeant Alberto Martinez, was then found not guilty on December 4, 2008, of murdering two fellow soldiers and walked free. Two years before the trial, Sgt. Martinez signed an offer to plead guilty to the murder charges and to describe “the essential facts and circumstances of the offenses to which I am pleading…

A Tennessee legislative study committee has ended its 16-month analysis of the state’s capital punishment process and has made recommendations for achieving a more fair and accurate system: . Require defense attorneys in capital cases to be highly qualified; . Mandate that defense attorneys have uniform access to evidence against their clients; . Require police officers to record all interrogations related to a homicide case; The committee also recommended that the state set timetables for…