THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY FERLO, FONTANA, KITCHEN, HUGHES, WASHINGTON, FARNESE AND MELLOW, SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2009  

AN ACT

Providing for the establishment of a select commission to study

all aspects of capital punishment in this Commonwealth; and

providing for a moratorium on the imposition of the death

penalty until completion and review of the commission's

findings.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Commission establishment.

There is hereby established a select commission to study all

aspects of capital punishment within this Commonwealth.

Section 2.  Organization and operation of commission.

(a)  Membership.--The commission shall be composed of 15

members who should reflect the diversity of the population of

this Commonwealth. Members will be appointed as follows:

(1)  Nine members appointed by the Governor as follows:

(i)  One member who represents victims from a list of

six victims submitted by the Office of Victim Advocate.

(ii)  One member who represents victims from a list

of six victims submitted by Murder Victims' Families for

Human Rights.

(iii)  Two members from the religious, academic and

ethical communities.

(iv)  One representative of the general public.

(v)  One member from a list of three members

submitted by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

(vi)  One member from a list of three members

submitted by the Pennsylvania District Attorneys

Association.

(vii)  One member from a list of three members

submitted by the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal

Defense Lawyers or from a list of three members submitted

by the Federal Community Defender Office.

(viii)  One member from a list of six members

submitted by a civil rights organization.

(2)  One member appointed by the President pro tempore of

the Senate.

(3)  One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the

Senate.

(4)  One member appointed by the Majority Leader of the

House of Representatives.

(5)  One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the

House of Representatives.

(6)  The Attorney General or a designee of the Attorney

General.

(7)  One member of the judiciary appointed by the Chief

Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

All appointments shall be made within 90 days of the effective

date of this subsection.

(b)  Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the membership shall be

filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(c)  Chairperson.--The commission shall choose a chairperson

from among its members.

(d)  Compensation and expenses.--The members of the

commission shall serve without compensation but may be

reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of

their duties within the limits of funds appropriated or

otherwise made available to the commission for its purposes.

(e)  Staff.--The Joint State Government Commission shall

provide staffing for the work of the commission.

(f)  Cooperation.--The commission is entitled to the

assistance and service of the employees of any State, county or

municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency, as it

may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, and

to employ stenographic and clerical assistance and to incur

traveling or other miscellaneous expenses as may be necessary in

order to perform its duties within the limits of funds

appropriated or otherwise made available to it for its purposes.

(g)  Hearings.--The commission shall meet and hold public

hearings at the places it designates during the sessions or

recesses of the General Assembly.

(h)  Reports.--The commission shall report its findings and

recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly no

later than 24 months from the date that this act takes effect.

The Governor and the General Assembly shall review the report

within 90 days and consider any recommendations made by the

commission.

Section 3.  Powers and duties of commission.

(a)  General power and duty.--The commission is charged to

study capital punishment in this Commonwealth and to determine

what policy recommendations, if any, would guarantee that, in

its application and administration, capital punishment in this

Commonwealth is free from bias and error. To that end, the

commission shall, among other things, review:

(1)  The June 2001 protocols of the American Bar

Association's Section of Individual Rights and

Responsibilities.

(2)  Recommendations made by government commissions

studying capital punishment in Illinois (2003), Massachusetts

(2004) and New Jersey (2007).

(3)  Mandatory Justice: Eighteen Reforms to the Death

Penalty, a report of the Constitution Project's bipartisan,

blue-ribbon commission of capital punishment supporters and

opponents.

(4)  The October 9, 2007, American Bar Association report

entitled Evaluating Fairness and Accuracy in State Death

Penalty Systems: The Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment

Report.

(5)  The Final Report of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System.

(b)  Review of capital punishment process.--The commission

shall review every stage of the capital process, including

pretrial procedures, jury selection, defense, prosecution, trial

procedures, postconviction appeals and clemency procedures, and

shall make findings and public policy recommendations in each of

the following areas, including, but not limited to:

(1)  The risk of innocent people's being sentenced to

death or executed. Where cases of wrongful conviction in

capital cases or cases that resulted in long or life

sentences exist in this Commonwealth, the commission shall

also look at the factors and characteristics of these cases

and determine additional areas of study or policy change

necessary.

(2)  Whether the selection of defendants for capital

trials is arbitrary, unfair or discriminatory in any way,

looking specifically at race, geography and socioeconomic

background and any other relevant characteristics of both

defendants and victims. Whether there is unfair, arbitrary or

discriminatory variability in the sentencing phase or at any

stage of the process, in determining the presence of unfair

biases, the commission shall look not only at death penalty

cases, but also death-eligible cases where the death penalty

was not sought.

(3)  Whether there is a significant difference in the

crimes of those selected for the punishment of death as

opposed to those who receive life in prison.

(4)  What services exist in this Commonwealth for close

family members and loved ones of murder victims, whether

these services are sufficient, whether additional services

are provided in other states, whether additional services

should be provided in this Commonwealth and whether victims

rights and services are provided on an equal basis to all

surviving family members regardless of their support for,

opposition to or neutrality on the death penalty. In

addition, the commission shall also examine the availability

of services for family members who differ in their views on

capital punishment.

(5)  The cost of the death penalty system, taking into

account all expenses from indictment to execution, as

compared to the cost of life in prison. In considering the

overall cost of the death penalty, the cost of all the

capital trials that result in life sentences, as well as the

death sentences that are reversed on appeal, must be factored

into the equation.

(6)  What changes to the death penalty, if any, would

ensure a system that is fairly administered and consistently

applied, free from impermissible racial, ethnic or geographic

bias and would prevent the innocent from being sentenced to

death and execution.

(7)  Whether the law provides adequate protections for

specific vulnerable populations such as persons with mental

retardation in accordance with the United States Supreme

Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct.

2242, and persons with mental illness.

(8)  Whether the death penalty rationally serves a

legitimate penological interest, such as deterrence.

(c)  Proposed legislation.--The commission may propose new

legislation, if necessary and appropriate.

Section 4.  Moratorium on executions.

During the study by the commission, the Commonwealth shall

not carry out any executions. An individual who has been

sentenced to death may not be executed prior to November 30,

2010, and the Governor may not issue a warrant of execution

prior to November 30, 2010. During the moratorium, the

Commonwealth may continue to seek the imposition of the death

penalty and prosecute capital cases.

Section 5.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.