LETHAL INJECTIONS:
News & Developments

Mandatory Justice:
The Death Penalty Revisited

Constitution Project Issues
Updated Capital Punishment Reform Recommendations

The Constitution Project’s blue-ribbon Death Penalty Initiative has released an updated set of guiding principles for death penalty reform. “Mandatory Justice: The Death Penalty Revisited” identifies specific improvements to address problems such as arbitrariness, race, ineffectiveness of counsel, wrongful convictions, and crime lab mistakes.

Among the group’s 32 recommendations are the following:
  • Each state should create an independent appointment authority to “recruit, select, train, monitor, support and assist” attorneys who represent capital defendants.
  • Each jurisdiction should provide competent and adequately compensated counsel at all stages of capital litigation and provide adequate funding for expert and investigative services.
  • Felony murder should be excluded as the basis for death penalty eligibility.
  • Persons with severe mental disorders should be excluded from death penalty eligibility.
  • Every jurisdiction should ensure the availability of a life sentence without parole.
  • Post-conviction review of cases with credible claims of innocence should be available.
  • Jurisdictions should review exonerations in capital cases in order to identify the causes of the error to correct systemic flaws.
  • Interrogations of homicide suspects should be videotaped or digitally recorded when practicable.
  • Judges should be prohibited from overriding a jury’s recommendation of a life sentence to impose a sentence of death.
  • Jurisdictions should require a mandatory review of prosecutorial charging decisions in death eligible cases.
The Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Initiative was established in 2000. The group, which issued its first set of recommendations in 2001, includes current and former law enforcement officials, state attorneys general, religious leaders, victims of crime, academics, legal experts, and community leaders. Among those serving on the panel are former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, former FBI Director Bill Sessions, Oklahoma City bombing case prosecutor Beth Wilkinson, former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge Charles Baird, and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

Read a summary of the report.

Read the full report.

Read more about The Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Initiative.

See also, DPIC’s Web pages on Representation and Innocence.