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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, ERICKSON, PIPPY, D. WHITE AND LEACH, JANUARY 12, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, JANUARY 12, 2011 |
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| A 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. |
5 | WHEREAS, In 1972, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared |
6 | Pennsylvania's capital sentencing procedure unconstitutional |
7 | based on the United States Supreme Court's Furman v. Georgia |
8 | decision; and |
9 | WHEREAS, In 1978, the Pennsylvania General Assembly responded |
10 | by reinstating capital punishment in compliance with United |
11 | States and Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings; and |
12 | WHEREAS, Since 1978, 352 people have been sentenced to death |
13 | in Pennsylvania but only three people have been executed; and |
14 | WHEREAS, Each of the three people executed waived the right |
15 | to appeal; and |
16 | WHEREAS, There are more than 220 existing capital sentences; |
17 | and |
18 | WHEREAS, Questions are frequently raised regarding the costs, |
19 | deterrent effect and appropriateness of capital punishment; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, The American Bar Association has identified several |
2 | areas in which Pennsylvania's death penalty system falters in |
3 | guaranteeing each capital defendant fairness and accuracy in all |
4 | proceedings; and |
5 | WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial |
6 | and Gender Bias in the Justice System has determined that |
7 | racial, ethnic and gender biases exist and that those biases |
8 | significantly affect the way parties, witnesses, litigants, |
9 | lawyers, court employees and potential jurors are treated; and |
10 | WHEREAS, Postconviction DNA testing has shown that there are |
11 | wrongful convictions, even in capital cases; therefore be it |
12 | RESOLVED, That the Senate direct the Joint State Government |
13 | Commission to establish a bipartisan task force of four members |
14 | of the Senate to conduct a study of capital punishment in this |
15 | Commonwealth; and be it further |
16 | RESOLVED, That the President pro tempore of the Senate |
17 | appoint two members of the task force and the Minority Leader of |
18 | the Senate appoint two members of the task force; and be it |
19 | further |
20 | RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission oversee |
21 | the creation of an advisory committee to assist the task force |
22 | in conducting the study and making recommendations; the advisory |
23 | committee to have approximately 30 members and be comprised of |
24 | representatives from those groups most likely to make useful and |
25 | insightful contributions, such as representatives of the |
26 | judiciary, prosecution, defense, law enforcement, corrections, |
27 | victim assistance organizations and also representatives of |
28 | academia, the faith community, private and public organizations |
29 | involved in criminal justice issues and other criminal justice |
30 | experts; and be it further |
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1 | RESOLVED, That the task force, with the assistance of the |
2 | advisory committee, conduct a study of the following subjects |
3 | including: |
4 | (1) Cost: Whether there is a significant difference |
5 | between the cost of the death penalty from indictment to |
6 | execution and the cost of life in prison without parole; in |
7 | considering the overall cost of the death penalty in |
8 | Pennsylvania, the cost of all the capital trials that result |
9 | in life sentences as well as death sentences that are |
10 | reversed on appeal must be factored into the equation; |
11 | (2) Bias and unfairness: Whether the selection of |
12 | defendants for capital trials in Pennsylvania is arbitrary, |
13 | unfair or discriminatory in any way and whether there is |
14 | unfair, arbitrary or discriminatory variability at any stage |
15 | in the process including in the sentencing phase; |
16 | (3) Proportionality: Whether there is a significant |
17 | difference in the crimes of those selected for the punishment |
18 | of death as opposed to those who receive life in prison and |
19 | whether there is an adequate process for determining when |
20 | death sentences are excessive or out of line with sentences |
21 | imposed in other cases where a sentence other than death was |
22 | imposed; |
23 | (4) Impact on and services for family members: The |
24 | impact of the death penalty on family members and loved ones |
25 | of murder victims and the availability and cost of services |
26 | currently being provided in Pennsylvania for family members |
27 | and loved ones of murder victims and whether these services |
28 | are sufficient to meet the needs of surviving families; |
29 | (5) Mental retardation: Whether, in light of the Supreme |
30 | Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, there are adequate |
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1 | procedural protections in place to assure that people with |
2 | mental retardation are not in fact being sentenced to death |
3 | and executed; |
4 | (6) Mental illness: Whether persons suffering from |
5 | mental illness constitute a disproportionate number of those |
6 | on death row, what criteria should be used in judging the |
7 | level of mental illness involved and whether people with |
8 | mental illness who are convicted of murder should be |
9 | executed; |
10 | (7) Juries: The impact on the reliability and fairness |
11 | of capital trials of death qualifying jurors and the impact |
12 | of this practice on the ability of women, people of color and |
13 | people of faith to serve on capital juries; whether there are |
14 | adequate procedural protections and remedies in place to make |
15 | sure that women and African Americans are not excluded from |
16 | serving as jurors in capital cases; and whether there are |
17 | adequate procedural protections in place to assure that |
18 | jurors are able to understand and apply instructions in |
19 | determining guilt or innocence and the appropriate punishment |
20 | in a capital case; |
21 | (8) State appeals and postconviction: Whether there are |
22 | adequate procedures in place to assure that serious error in |
23 | capital cases is identified and corrected and to what extent |
24 | procedural doctrines, such as waiver or forfeiture, operate |
25 | to prevent judicial review of serious constitutional claims |
26 | on the merits; |
27 | (9) Clemency: Whether the current clemency process has |
28 | procedures in place to assure that it functions as a safety |
29 | net to assure that factual and procedural errors that |
30 | directly undermine the reliability and fairness of a capital |
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1 | sentence are remedied; |
2 | (10) Penological intent: Whether the death penalty |
3 | rationally serves a legitimate penological intent such as |
4 | public safety or deterrence; |
5 | (11) Innocence: Whether there is a risk of execution of |
6 | an innocent person and whether there are adequate procedural |
7 | protections in place to prevent an innocent person from being |
8 | sentenced to death and executed; |
9 | (12) Alternatives: Whether alternatives to the death |
10 | penalty exist that would sufficiently ensure public safety |
11 | and address other legitimate social and penological |
12 | interests; |
13 | (13) Counsel: The quality of counsel provided to |
14 | indigent capital defendants and whether such counsel and the |
15 | process for providing counsel assures the reliability and |
16 | fairness of capital trials; |
17 | (14) Secondary trauma: The impact of the death penalty |
18 | process on law enforcement, prosecutors, defense counsel, |
19 | judges, jurors, correctional officers, family members and |
20 | loved ones of victims and family members of the accused; |
21 | (15) Length and conditions of confinement on death row: |
22 | Whether the conditions comply with the requirements of the |
23 | United States Constitution, the Constitution of the |
24 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and standards of international |
25 | law and the impact of those conditions on correctional |
26 | officers; |
27 | (16) Lethal injection: Whether there are adequate |
28 | procedures and protocols in place to assure that the death |
29 | sentence is administered in accordance with requirements of |
30 | the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the |
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1 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and |
2 | (17) Public opinion: The opinions of Pennsylvania |
3 | residents regarding capital punishment, including whether it |
4 | is a just and appropriate punishment and, if so, under what |
5 | circumstances should it be imposed; |
6 | and be it further |
7 | RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee hold |
8 | public hearings as necessary to receive testimony about any of |
9 | the subjects of study enumerated in this resolution; and be it |
10 | further |
11 | RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee report |
12 | their findings and recommendations to the Senate no later than |
13 | two years after the date this resolution is adopted. |
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