Publications & Testimony

Michigan Lawmakers Reaffirm State’s Longstanding Ban on Capital Punishment In a vote upholding the state’s longstanding abolition of the death penalty, Michigan lawmakers refused to support a measure that would have put capital punishment before state voters in a referendum. The vote fell 18 short of the 2/3 required for passage. During a lengthy House debate regarding the bill, Representative Jack Minor (D‑Flint) told his colleagues that studies show crime rates are lower in states without the…

Massachusetts Again Votes Overwhelmingly Against Reinstating Death Penalty After over an hour of debate, the Massachusetts House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to reinstate the death penalty. Prior to the 110 – 46 vote, Governor Deval Patrick had vowed to veto the bill if it were approved. The bill was similar to one submitted by former Governor Mitt Romney as a “gold standard” for capital punishment. State Representatives cited high costs and the possibility for human…

NEW VOICES: Law Enforcement Officials Gather in Maryland to Oppose Death Penalty Corrections officials, prosecutors and police chiefs recently gathered in Annapolis, Maryland, to voice support for a legislative measure that would repeal the state’s death penalty. “It is a human system, and because it is fallible and because it is human, it makes mistakes. Executions make those mistakes irreversible,” said Matthew Campbell, a former deputy state’s attorney for Montgomery and Howard counties.

Victims and Law Enforcement Support Kentucky Death Penalty Review Legislation to establish a commission to examine Kentucky’s death penalty and report its findings to the General Assembly has gained support from former law enforcement officials and victims’ family members. The bill, proposed by Rep. Tom Burch, would require the task force to review whether capital punishment deters crime, is applied fairly, and is still acceptable to the public. It would mark the first time in four decades that…

All Death Sentences Overturned in Kansas — The Kansas Supreme Court found that the state’s death penalty law is flawed and the sentences of the state’s four death row inmates will have to be decided again. Kansas’s law allowed a death sentence if the aggravating factors presented by the prosecutor were equal to the mitigating factors presented by the defense. “Fundamental fairness” requires that a tie go to the defendant when it is a matter of life and death, said the court. (NY Times, 12/30/01)

Indiana Bars Execution of Juvenile Offenders — Indiana became the 16^th state to forbid the death penalty for those who were under 18 years-of-age at the time of their crime. Gov. Frank O’Bannon signed SB 426 on March 26. The law also requires judges to follow juries’ unanimous sentencing recommendations. (Associated Press, 3/ 26/02.) Federal death penalty law similarly excludes juvenile offenders. An additional 5 states restrict the death penalty to those who are at least 17 at the time of…

Wrongful Convictions Prompt More Jurisdictions to Videotape Interrogations The wrongful conviction of Eddie Joe Lloyd, a mentally ill man who was exonerated in 2002 after serving 17 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit, has prompted Detroit to join a growing list of jurisdictions that now require videotaped interrogations of suspects. A decade ago, only Minnesota and Alaska required police to videotape interrogations, but today, at least 450 police departments across the…

Passed a bill in March 2003, exempting the mentally retarded from the death penalty in which retardation, described as “significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning,” will be determined before the trial. For more information regarding this legislation, Click Here. Idaho Governor Signs Bill to Allow for Jury Sentencing In February 2003, Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne signed to provide for jury sentencing in capital cases. The new law, which shifts the responsibility of imposing the…

New Study Reveals Deficiencies in Eyewitness Identification Procedures; Legislative Review Set As Georgia lawmakers convene to review eyewitness identification procedures in the state, a new study by the Georgia Innocence Project has revealed that 83% of Georgia police agencies have no written rules on handling eyewitness identifications. Six men have been exonerated in Georgia after DNA evidence proved their innocence and “every single one of those original convictions was based on faulty…

State Legislators Advance Bills to Ban Juvenile Death Penalty Just weeks after legislators in Wyoming and South Dakota passed legislation to ban the execution of juvenile offenders, lawmakers in Florida are on a similar course that may send a bill that eliminates the death penalty for those under the age of 18 to Governor Jeb Bush for signature into law. Members of the Florida Senate passed the juvenile death penalty ban by a vote of 26 – 12, and the House is expected to take up the measure later…