nighthawk_75253
05-10-2002, 06:42 PM
From: Melissa Sanders-Rivera <justiceseaker@y...>
Date: Wed May 8, 2002 5:01 pm
Subject: ensure the innocent aren't put to death
ADVERTISEMENT
> Bill to ensure the innocent aren't put to death
> waiting for a vote after two
> years
>
> DENNIS CONRAD, Associated Press Writer
>
> Wednesday, May 8, 2002
>
>
>
> (05-08) 11:35 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of
> lawmakers are backing
> proposals aimed at ensuring innocent people aren't
> put to death, but that
> support hasn't been enough to get the idea past the
> talking stage on Capitol
> Hill. Bills were introduced with much fanfare two
> years ago after Illinois
> Gov. George Ryan placed a moratorium on executions
> in his state. His decision
> followed the release of several death row inmates
> because of new evidence or
> legal flaws in their convictions. Hearings have been
> held on Capitol Hill,
> but no votes have been taken. Supporters continue
> signing up lawmakers and
> say they're getting closer to forcing a vote. The
> House bill sponsored by
> Reps. William Delahunt, D-Mass., and Ray LaHood,
> R-Ill., is backed by at
> least 220 members, supporters say. And 24 senators,
> including several
> Republicans, are behind a similar bill sponsored by
> Senate Judiciary
> Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The proposed
> legislation would
> provide federal defendants with wider access to DNA
> testing and ensure that
> they are represented by qualified attorneys in
> capital cases. The sponsors
> see the issue of adequate counsel as perhaps most
> important, since only about
> 20 percent of cases involve the type of biological
> evidence needed for DNA
> testing. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said
> President Bush has not taken
> a position on the bill. Texas led the nation in
> executions while Bush was
> governor and continues to top all other states.
> Since the Supreme Court
> allowed states to reinstate capital punishment 26
> years ago, 101 people have
> been released from death rows after their
> convictions were overturned,
> according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
> In the same period, 773
> people have been executed. "When we have these
> people exonerated, the real
> killers are out there," said Wayne Smith, executive
> director of the Justice
> Project, a group lobbying for the bill. "In the
> final analysis, our
> confidence in the justice system is shaken." The
> Supreme Court has taken four
> death penalty cases recently, including two
> involving the issue of adequate
> counsel. Last year, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said
> it may be time to impose
> minimum standards for lawyers who handle death
> penalty cases. Justice Ruth
> Bader Ginsburg said that in all the eleventh-hour
> requests for Supreme Court
> reprieves, she had not seen one in which the inmate
> had been well-represented
> at trial. The proposed legislation would establish a
> commission to determine
> what constitutes adequate legal assistance in
> capital cases. States then
> could tap into a $50 million grant program to
> establish those standards.
> States that do not adopt the standards would be
> denied federal
> prison-building money. Also under the bill, federal
> inmates could apply for
> DNA testing to support a claim that they did not
> commit any federal crime for
> which they were convicted or any other offense used
> in determining their
> sentences. States would be prohibited from denying
> death row inmates a chance
> to prove their innocence through DNA tests. The
> National District Attorneys
> Association has been critical of elements of the
> proposal, arguing it would
> encourage inmates to have meaningless DNA tests done
> and that it would
> unfairly punish states for not adhering to a
> national standard for defense
> attorneys. Leahy believes progress is being made in
> discussions on his bill
> and competing measures offered by Sens. Dianne
> Feinstein, D-Calif., and Arlen
> Specter, R-Pa. "All of us are trying to do the same
> thing," Leahy said.
> "We're trying to make sure an innocent person isn't
> sentenced to death or
> life imprisonment." House Judiciary Committee
> Chairman James Sensenbrenner,
> R-Wis., still shows no sign of allowing a vote on
> his panel, which includes
> many Republicans opposed to the measure.
> Sensenbrenner spokesman Jeff Lungren
> said the lawmaker has not taken a position on the
> bill and he does not know
> whether it will get a vote this year. LaHood said if
> Sensenbrenner won't
> budge, he'll turn to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a
> fellow Illinois
> Republican. Hastert spokesman Brad Hahn said the
> speaker hasn't decided
> whether to support the measure and won't lobby
> Sensenbrenner.
>
> On the Net: Death Penalty Information Center: <A
>
HREF="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/">www.deathpenaltyinfo.org</A>
>
Date: Wed May 8, 2002 5:01 pm
Subject: ensure the innocent aren't put to death
ADVERTISEMENT
> Bill to ensure the innocent aren't put to death
> waiting for a vote after two
> years
>
> DENNIS CONRAD, Associated Press Writer
>
> Wednesday, May 8, 2002
>
>
>
> (05-08) 11:35 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of
> lawmakers are backing
> proposals aimed at ensuring innocent people aren't
> put to death, but that
> support hasn't been enough to get the idea past the
> talking stage on Capitol
> Hill. Bills were introduced with much fanfare two
> years ago after Illinois
> Gov. George Ryan placed a moratorium on executions
> in his state. His decision
> followed the release of several death row inmates
> because of new evidence or
> legal flaws in their convictions. Hearings have been
> held on Capitol Hill,
> but no votes have been taken. Supporters continue
> signing up lawmakers and
> say they're getting closer to forcing a vote. The
> House bill sponsored by
> Reps. William Delahunt, D-Mass., and Ray LaHood,
> R-Ill., is backed by at
> least 220 members, supporters say. And 24 senators,
> including several
> Republicans, are behind a similar bill sponsored by
> Senate Judiciary
> Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The proposed
> legislation would
> provide federal defendants with wider access to DNA
> testing and ensure that
> they are represented by qualified attorneys in
> capital cases. The sponsors
> see the issue of adequate counsel as perhaps most
> important, since only about
> 20 percent of cases involve the type of biological
> evidence needed for DNA
> testing. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said
> President Bush has not taken
> a position on the bill. Texas led the nation in
> executions while Bush was
> governor and continues to top all other states.
> Since the Supreme Court
> allowed states to reinstate capital punishment 26
> years ago, 101 people have
> been released from death rows after their
> convictions were overturned,
> according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
> In the same period, 773
> people have been executed. "When we have these
> people exonerated, the real
> killers are out there," said Wayne Smith, executive
> director of the Justice
> Project, a group lobbying for the bill. "In the
> final analysis, our
> confidence in the justice system is shaken." The
> Supreme Court has taken four
> death penalty cases recently, including two
> involving the issue of adequate
> counsel. Last year, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said
> it may be time to impose
> minimum standards for lawyers who handle death
> penalty cases. Justice Ruth
> Bader Ginsburg said that in all the eleventh-hour
> requests for Supreme Court
> reprieves, she had not seen one in which the inmate
> had been well-represented
> at trial. The proposed legislation would establish a
> commission to determine
> what constitutes adequate legal assistance in
> capital cases. States then
> could tap into a $50 million grant program to
> establish those standards.
> States that do not adopt the standards would be
> denied federal
> prison-building money. Also under the bill, federal
> inmates could apply for
> DNA testing to support a claim that they did not
> commit any federal crime for
> which they were convicted or any other offense used
> in determining their
> sentences. States would be prohibited from denying
> death row inmates a chance
> to prove their innocence through DNA tests. The
> National District Attorneys
> Association has been critical of elements of the
> proposal, arguing it would
> encourage inmates to have meaningless DNA tests done
> and that it would
> unfairly punish states for not adhering to a
> national standard for defense
> attorneys. Leahy believes progress is being made in
> discussions on his bill
> and competing measures offered by Sens. Dianne
> Feinstein, D-Calif., and Arlen
> Specter, R-Pa. "All of us are trying to do the same
> thing," Leahy said.
> "We're trying to make sure an innocent person isn't
> sentenced to death or
> life imprisonment." House Judiciary Committee
> Chairman James Sensenbrenner,
> R-Wis., still shows no sign of allowing a vote on
> his panel, which includes
> many Republicans opposed to the measure.
> Sensenbrenner spokesman Jeff Lungren
> said the lawmaker has not taken a position on the
> bill and he does not know
> whether it will get a vote this year. LaHood said if
> Sensenbrenner won't
> budge, he'll turn to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a
> fellow Illinois
> Republican. Hastert spokesman Brad Hahn said the
> speaker hasn't decided
> whether to support the measure and won't lobby
> Sensenbrenner.
>
> On the Net: Death Penalty Information Center: <A
>
HREF="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/">www.deathpenaltyinfo.org</A>
>