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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, FERLO, O'PAKE, ALLOWAY, WILLIAMS, PIPPY, ERICKSON, STOUT, WASHINGTON, LEACH, WOZNIAK AND D. WHITE, MAY 7, 2010 |
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| REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, MAY 7, 2010 |
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| A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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1 | Directing the Joint State Government Commission to establish a |
2 | bipartisan task force and an advisory committee to conduct a |
3 | study of capital punishment in this Commonwealth and to |
4 | report their findings and recommendations to the General |
5 | Assembly. |
6 | WHEREAS, In 1972, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared |
7 | Pennsylvania's capital sentencing procedure unconstitutional |
8 | based on the United States Supreme Court's Furman v. Georgia |
9 | decision; and |
10 | WHEREAS, In 1978, the Pennsylvania General Assembly responded |
11 | by reinstating capital punishment in compliance with United |
12 | States and Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings; and |
13 | WHEREAS, Since 1978, 352 people have been sentenced to death |
14 | in Pennsylvania but only three people have been executed; and |
15 | WHEREAS, Each of the three people executed waived the right |
16 | to appeal; and |
17 | WHEREAS, There are more than 220 existing capital sentences; |
18 | and |
19 | WHEREAS, Questions are frequently raised regarding the costs, |
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1 | deterrent effect and appropriateness of capital punishment; and |
2 | WHEREAS, The American Bar Association has identified several |
3 | areas in which Pennsylvania's death penalty system falters in |
4 | guaranteeing each capital defendant fairness and accuracy in all |
5 | proceedings; and |
6 | WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial |
7 | and Gender Bias in the Justice System has determined that |
8 | racial, ethnic and gender biases exist and that those biases |
9 | significantly affect the way parties, witnesses, litigants, |
10 | lawyers, court employees and potential jurors are treated; and |
11 | WHEREAS, Postconviction DNA testing has shown that there are |
12 | wrongful convictions, even in capital cases; therefore be it |
13 | RESOLVED (the House of Representatives concurring), That the |
14 | General Assembly direct the Joint State Government Commission to |
15 | establish a bipartisan task force of four members of the Senate |
16 | and four members of the House of Representatives to conduct a |
17 | study of capital punishment in this Commonwealth; and be it |
18 | further |
19 | RESOLVED, That the President pro tempore of the Senate and |
20 | the Speaker of the House of Representatives each appoint two |
21 | members of the task force and the Minority Leader of the Senate |
22 | and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives each |
23 | appoint two members of the task force; and be it further |
24 | RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission oversee |
25 | the creation of an advisory committee to assist the task force |
26 | in conducting the study and making recommendations; the advisory |
27 | committee to have approximately 30 members and be comprised of |
28 | representatives from those groups most likely to make useful and |
29 | insightful contributions, such as representatives of the |
30 | judiciary, prosecution, defense, law enforcement, corrections, |
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1 | victim assistance organizations and also representatives of |
2 | academia, the faith community, private and public organizations |
3 | involved in criminal justice issues and other criminal justice |
4 | experts; and be it further |
5 | RESOLVED, That the task force, with the assistance of the |
6 | advisory committee, conduct a study of the following subjects |
7 | including: |
8 | (1) Cost: Whether there is a significant difference |
9 | between the cost of the death penalty from indictment to |
10 | execution and the cost of life in prison without parole; in |
11 | considering the overall cost of the death penalty in |
12 | Pennsylvania, the cost of all the capital trials that result |
13 | in life sentences as well as death sentences that are |
14 | reversed on appeal must be factored into the equation; |
15 | (2) Bias and unfairness: Whether the selection of |
16 | defendants for capital trials in Pennsylvania is arbitrary, |
17 | unfair or discriminatory in any way and whether there is |
18 | unfair, arbitrary or discriminatory variability at any stage |
19 | in the process including in the sentencing phase; |
20 | (3) Proportionality: Whether there is a significant |
21 | difference in the crimes of those selected for the punishment |
22 | of death as opposed to those who receive life in prison and |
23 | whether there is an adequate process for determining when |
24 | death sentences are excessive or out of line with sentences |
25 | imposed in other cases where a sentence other than death was |
26 | imposed; |
27 | (4) Impact on and services for family members: The |
28 | impact of the death penalty on family members and loved ones |
29 | of murder victims and the availability and cost of services |
30 | currently being provided in Pennsylvania for family members |
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1 | and loved ones of murder victims and whether these services |
2 | are sufficient to meet the needs of surviving families; |
3 | (5) Mental retardation: Whether, in light of the Supreme |
4 | Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, there are adequate |
5 | procedural protections in place to assure that people with |
6 | mental retardation are not in fact being sentenced to death |
7 | and executed; |
8 | (6) Mental illness: Whether persons suffering from |
9 | mental illness constitute a disproportionate number of those |
10 | on death row, what criteria should be used in judging the |
11 | level of mental illness involved and whether people with |
12 | mental illness who are convicted of murder should be |
13 | executed; |
14 | (7) Juries: The impact on the reliability and fairness |
15 | of capital trials of death qualifying jurors and the impact |
16 | of this practice on the ability of women, people of color and |
17 | people of faith to serve on capital juries; whether there are |
18 | adequate procedural protections and remedies in place to make |
19 | sure that women and African Americans are not excluded from |
20 | serving as jurors in capital cases; and whether there are |
21 | adequate procedural protections in place to assure that |
22 | jurors are able to understand and apply instructions in |
23 | determining guilt or innocence and the appropriate punishment |
24 | in a capital case; |
25 | (8) State appeals and postconviction: Whether there are |
26 | adequate procedures in place to assure that serious error in |
27 | capital cases is identified and corrected and to what extent |
28 | procedural doctrines, such as waiver or forfeiture, operate |
29 | to prevent judicial review of serious constitutional claims |
30 | on the merits; |
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1 | (9) Clemency: Whether the current clemency process has |
2 | procedures in place to assure that it functions as a safety |
3 | net to assure that factual and procedural errors that |
4 | directly undermine the reliability and fairness of a capital |
5 | sentence are remedied; |
6 | (10) Penological intent: Whether the death penalty |
7 | rationally serves a legitimate penological intent such as |
8 | public safety or deterrence; |
9 | (11) Innocence: Whether there is a risk of execution of |
10 | an innocent person and whether there are adequate procedural |
11 | protections in place to prevent an innocent person from being |
12 | sentenced to death and executed; |
13 | (12) Alternatives: Whether alternatives to the death |
14 | penalty exist that would sufficiently ensure public safety |
15 | and address other legitimate social and penological |
16 | interests; |
17 | (13) Counsel: The quality of counsel provided to |
18 | indigent capital defendants and whether such counsel and the |
19 | process for providing counsel assures the reliability and |
20 | fairness of capital trials; |
21 | (14) Secondary trauma: The impact of the death penalty |
22 | process on law enforcement, prosecutors, defense counsel, |
23 | judges, jurors, correctional officers, family members and |
24 | loved ones of victims and family members of the accused; |
25 | (15) Length and conditions of confinement on death row: |
26 | Whether the conditions comply with the requirements of the |
27 | United States Constitution, the Constitution of the |
28 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and standards of international |
29 | law and the impact of those conditions on correctional |
30 | officers; |
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1 | (16) Lethal injection: Whether there are adequate |
2 | procedures and protocols in place to assure that the death |
3 | sentence is administered in accordance with requirements of |
4 | the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the |
5 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and |
6 | (17) Public opinion: The opinions of Pennsylvania |
7 | residents regarding capital punishment, including whether it |
8 | is a just and appropriate punishment and, if so, under what |
9 | circumstances should it be imposed; |
10 | and be it further |
11 | RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee hold |
12 | public hearings as necessary to receive testimony about any of |
13 | the subjects of study enumerated in this resolution; and be it |
14 | further |
15 | RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee report |
16 | their findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no |
17 | later than two years after the date this resolution is adopted |
18 | in both houses. |
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