Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 26, 2006 16:22:15 GMT -5
Fixing death row----Glaring flaws in Florida's death penalty system call
for major reform
T he U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant a stay of execution to Florida
death-row inmate Clarence Hill last week, and he was finally put to death
by lethal injection.
By all accounts, it was a punishment that fit the crime.
Hill gunned down a Pensacola police officer in 1982, but had dodged
execution after filing appeals that claimed Florida's lethal injection
procedure was unconstitutionally cruel and inhumane because it causes
excruciating pain.
Lethal injection has been challenged in several states, and the issue of
its suitability remains unresolved.
But the method of execution is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes
to what's questionable -- or dead wrong -- about the death penalty process
in Florida.
A new study by a team of leading state prosecutors, defense attorneys and
judges for the American Bar Association details the system's glaring flaws
and calls for needed reforms.
Here's some of what they found:
- Some 22 Florida death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973,
including 1 who died of cancer while behind bars, more than any other
state.
That sorry statistic may be connected to the fact Florida is the only
state in the nation that doesn't require unanimous jury verdicts to impose
the death penalty.
Both the panel and the state Supreme Court say that should change, but the
Legislature this year voted to keep the policy intact.
- Compensation for death penalty lawyers in Florida is so low many
experienced attorneys won't take the work.
Requirements for private appeals lawyers to get on a statewide registry to
represent inmates, however, are laughably minimal, and the state provides
little or no oversight of those appeals.
That's a set-up for incompetent representation and injustice, including
execution of the innocent.
- Racial inequities plague Florida's system.
Those convicted of killing a white victim are more likely to get the death
penalty and be executed than those who kill non-whites.
What's more, the death penalty has often been imposed on persons with
severe mental disabilities.
Any one of these problems would justify the major reforms the panel
recommends, starting with commissions to propose methods to cut down on
wrongful convictions.
The ABA also says the state needs better compensation and tougher
requirements for death penalty lawyers, and new standards to determine on
what crimes it should be imposed.
We've said before that the death penalty has a place in the judicial
process, but should be used sparingly for very narrowly defined crimes,
such as police killings, serial killings, child slayings or other
extremely heinous murders.
That limitation in itself would go far to right some of the wrongs in
Florida's death penalty system, reducing margins for error.
But the study confirms it's so broken, a moratorium on executions until
the system can be overhauled and reformed is the only solution.
(source: Editorial, Florida Today)
for major reform
T he U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant a stay of execution to Florida
death-row inmate Clarence Hill last week, and he was finally put to death
by lethal injection.
By all accounts, it was a punishment that fit the crime.
Hill gunned down a Pensacola police officer in 1982, but had dodged
execution after filing appeals that claimed Florida's lethal injection
procedure was unconstitutionally cruel and inhumane because it causes
excruciating pain.
Lethal injection has been challenged in several states, and the issue of
its suitability remains unresolved.
But the method of execution is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes
to what's questionable -- or dead wrong -- about the death penalty process
in Florida.
A new study by a team of leading state prosecutors, defense attorneys and
judges for the American Bar Association details the system's glaring flaws
and calls for needed reforms.
Here's some of what they found:
- Some 22 Florida death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973,
including 1 who died of cancer while behind bars, more than any other
state.
That sorry statistic may be connected to the fact Florida is the only
state in the nation that doesn't require unanimous jury verdicts to impose
the death penalty.
Both the panel and the state Supreme Court say that should change, but the
Legislature this year voted to keep the policy intact.
- Compensation for death penalty lawyers in Florida is so low many
experienced attorneys won't take the work.
Requirements for private appeals lawyers to get on a statewide registry to
represent inmates, however, are laughably minimal, and the state provides
little or no oversight of those appeals.
That's a set-up for incompetent representation and injustice, including
execution of the innocent.
- Racial inequities plague Florida's system.
Those convicted of killing a white victim are more likely to get the death
penalty and be executed than those who kill non-whites.
What's more, the death penalty has often been imposed on persons with
severe mental disabilities.
Any one of these problems would justify the major reforms the panel
recommends, starting with commissions to propose methods to cut down on
wrongful convictions.
The ABA also says the state needs better compensation and tougher
requirements for death penalty lawyers, and new standards to determine on
what crimes it should be imposed.
We've said before that the death penalty has a place in the judicial
process, but should be used sparingly for very narrowly defined crimes,
such as police killings, serial killings, child slayings or other
extremely heinous murders.
That limitation in itself would go far to right some of the wrongs in
Florida's death penalty system, reducing margins for error.
But the study confirms it's so broken, a moratorium on executions until
the system can be overhauled and reformed is the only solution.
(source: Editorial, Florida Today)