Publications & Testimony

New Jersey Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, Jr. (pic­tured) has announced that on December 13 mem­bers of the Assembly will vote on whether to reduce the state’s most severe pun­ish­ment to life in prison with­out parole. A spokes­woman for Senate President Richard J. Codey said the Senate is like­ly to take sim­i­lar action before the leg­isla­tive ses­sion ends on January 8, though a date has not been set for the vote. If approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jon Corzine, who oppos­es the death…

In a forth­com­ing arti­cle in the American Journal of Criminal Law, John H. Blume of Cornell Law School explores recent Supreme Court deci­sions that affect the guide­lines for effec­tive coun­sel for cap­i­tal defen­dants. Blume notes in ​“It’s Like Déjà Vu All Over Again: Williams V. Taylor, Wiggins V. Smith, Rompilla V. Beard and a (Partial) Return to the Guidelines Approach to the Effective Assistance of Counsel” that despite the recog­ni­tion by researchers, lit­i­ga­tors, and judges of the problem of…

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which it will decide how appel­late courts are to eval­u­ate claims of inef­fec­tive assis­tance of coun­sel in plea nego­ti­a­tions. The case, Arave v. Hoffman (07 – 110), is the lat­est effort by the Justices to decide whether mis­takes made by a defense lawyer war­rant over­turn­ing a crim­i­nal’s con­vic­tion or sen­tence. The appeal stems from a Idaho 1987 mur­der com­mit­ted by Max Hoffman and two oth­er men. Five weeks before his tri­al, prosecutors offered…

With recent U.S. Supreme Court deci­sions under­scor­ing the impor­tance of defense coun­sel per­for­mance dur­ing cap­i­tal tri­als, judges across the nation are strug­gling to bal­ance the high costs of cap­i­tal cas­es with the need for ade­quate rep­re­sen­ta­tion. In Georgia, Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr. has delayed the tri­al of Brian Nichols because the state pub­lic defend­er sys­tem has no mon­ey to pay for his attor­neys and oth­er expens­es asso­ci­at­ed with his defense. Fuller said that it is point­less to proceed…

Superior Court Judge Lynn O’Malley Taylor held that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation failed to fol­low prop­er pro­ce­dure for insti­tut­ing new reg­u­la­tions when it issued new lethal injec­tion pro­to­cols in May. Under state law, an agency that adopts new reg­u­la­tions must first pub­lish the text, invite pub­lic com­ments, hold a hear­ing if a mem­ber of the pub­lic requests one, and sub­mit the final draft to the Office of Administrative Law, which decides whether the proposed…

As the U.S. Supreme Court pre­pares to con­sid­er the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of Kentucky’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures, pros­e­cu­tors in three Texas coun­ties have decid­ed to await the Justices’ rul­ing rather than ask judges to set exe­cu­tion dates and press for­ward through the courts. ​“It seems the com­mon-sense thing to do at this point,” said Roe Wilson, who han­dles death penal­ty appeals for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston. Harris County sends more inmates to…

The most recent edi­tion of The Angolite, the nation’s largest prison news mag­a­zine, con­tains an arti­cle detail­ing nation­al death penal­ty trends and devel­op­ments. The piece also high­lights the impact of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment on fam­i­ly mem­bers and close friends of those fac­ing exe­cu­tion. It notes, ​“Lost in the shad­ows of these cen­tral argu­ments is some­thing that defines us human beings: Taking care of our own. Unseen, unheard fam­i­ly mem­bers and close friends of those on death row have committed no…

New York’s Capital Defender Office is prepar­ing to close its doors in the wake of a N.Y. Court of Appeals rul­ing that dis­posed of the final appeal of a death sen­tence under the cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment law declared uncon­sti­tu­tion­al in 2004. ​“It is … my inten­tion to close the office as soon as prac­ti­cal­ly pos­si­ble,” said Kevin M. Doyle, who has served as Executive Director of the defend­er office estab­lished in 1995. Doyle said there is no point in keep­ing the office open giv­en the sta­tus of the…

The American Bar Association (ABA) renewed its call for a nation­wide halt to exe­cu­tions fol­low­ing a series of state stud­ies that found seri­ous prob­lems in their death penal­ty systems.“After care­ful­ly study­ing the way states across the spec­trum han­dle exe­cu­tions, it has become crys­tal clear that the process is deeply flawed. The death penal­ty sys­tem is rife with irreg­u­lar­i­ty,” said Stephen F. Hanlon (pic­tured), chair­man of the ABA Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. During the…