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| PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 131 | PRINTER'S NO. 1833 |
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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, LEACH, FERLO, WASHINGTON, WILLIAMS AND WOZNIAK, JANUARY 12, 2011 |
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| SENATOR GREENLEAF, JUDICIARY, AS AMENDED, DECEMBER 6, 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, The Justice Center for Research at The Pennsylvania | <-- |
11 | State University, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania |
12 | Interbranch Commission on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, is |
13 | conducting a study of the administration of the death penalty in |
14 | Pennsylvania and has expressed interest in collaborating with |
15 | the task force and advisory committee established by this |
16 | resolution; and |
17 | WHEREAS, Postconviction DNA testing has shown that there are |
18 | wrongful convictions, even in capital cases; therefore be it |
19 | RESOLVED, That the Senate direct the Joint State Government |
20 | Commission to establish a bipartisan task force of four members |
21 | of the Senate to conduct a study of capital punishment in this |
22 | Commonwealth; and be it further |
23 | RESOLVED, That the President pro tempore of the Senate |
24 | appoint two members of the task force and the Minority Leader of |
25 | the Senate appoint two members of the task force; and be it |
26 | further |
27 | RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission oversee |
28 | the creation of an advisory committee to assist the task force |
29 | in conducting the study and making recommendations; the advisory |
30 | committee to have approximately 30 members and be comprised of |
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1 | representatives from those groups most likely to make useful and |
2 | insightful contributions, such as representatives of the |
3 | judiciary, prosecution, defense, law enforcement, corrections, |
4 | victim assistance organizations and also representatives of |
5 | academia, the faith community, private and public organizations |
6 | involved in criminal justice issues and other criminal justice |
7 | experts; and be it further |
8 | RESOLVED, That the task force, with the assistance of the |
9 | advisory committee, conduct a study of the following subjects |
10 | including: |
11 | (1) Cost: Whether there is a significant difference |
12 | between the cost of the death penalty from indictment to |
13 | execution and the cost of life in prison without parole; in |
14 | considering the overall cost of the death penalty in |
15 | Pennsylvania, the cost of all the capital trials that result |
16 | in life sentences as well as death sentences that are |
17 | reversed on appeal must be factored into the equation; |
18 | (2) Bias and unfairness: Whether the selection of |
19 | defendants for capital trials in Pennsylvania is arbitrary, |
20 | unfair or discriminatory in any way and whether there is |
21 | unfair, arbitrary or discriminatory variability at any stage |
22 | in the process including in the sentencing phase; |
23 | (3) Proportionality: Whether there is a significant |
24 | difference in the crimes of those selected for the punishment |
25 | of death as opposed to those who receive life in prison and |
26 | whether there is an adequate process for determining when |
27 | death sentences are excessive or out of line with sentences |
28 | imposed in other cases where a sentence other than death was |
29 | imposed; |
30 | (4) Impact on and services for family members: The |
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1 | impact of the death penalty on family members and loved ones |
2 | of murder victims and the availability and cost of services |
3 | currently being provided in Pennsylvania for family members |
4 | and loved ones of murder victims and whether these services |
5 | are sufficient to meet the needs of surviving families; |
6 | (5) Mental retardation: Whether, in light of the Supreme |
7 | Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, there are adequate |
8 | procedural protections in place to assure that people with |
9 | mental retardation are not in fact being sentenced to death |
10 | and executed; |
11 | (6) Mental illness: Whether persons suffering from |
12 | mental illness constitute a disproportionate number of those |
13 | on death row, what criteria should be used in judging the |
14 | level of mental illness involved and whether people with |
15 | mental illness who are convicted of murder should be |
16 | executed; |
17 | (7) Juries: The impact on the reliability and fairness |
18 | of capital trials of death qualifying jurors and the impact |
19 | of this practice on the ability of women, people of color and |
20 | people of faith to serve on capital juries; whether there are |
21 | adequate procedural protections and remedies in place to make |
22 | sure that women and African Americans are not excluded from |
23 | serving as jurors in capital cases; and whether there are |
24 | adequate procedural protections in place to assure that |
25 | jurors are able to understand and apply instructions in |
26 | determining guilt or innocence and the appropriate punishment |
27 | in a capital case; |
28 | (8) State appeals and postconviction: Whether there are |
29 | adequate procedures in place to assure that serious error in |
30 | capital cases is identified and corrected and to what extent |
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1 | procedural doctrines, such as waiver or forfeiture, operate |
2 | to prevent judicial review of serious constitutional claims |
3 | on the merits; |
4 | (9) Clemency: Whether the current clemency process has |
5 | procedures in place to assure that it functions as a safety |
6 | net to assure that factual and procedural errors that |
7 | directly undermine the reliability and fairness of a capital |
8 | sentence are remedied; |
9 | (10) Penological intent: Whether the death penalty |
10 | rationally serves a legitimate penological intent such as |
11 | public safety or deterrence; |
12 | (11) Innocence: Whether there is a risk of execution of |
13 | an innocent person and whether there are adequate procedural |
14 | protections in place to prevent an innocent person from being |
15 | sentenced to death and executed; |
16 | (12) Alternatives: Whether alternatives to the death |
17 | penalty exist that would sufficiently ensure public safety |
18 | and address other legitimate social and penological |
19 | interests; |
20 | (13) Counsel: The quality of counsel provided to |
21 | indigent capital defendants and whether such counsel and the |
22 | process for providing counsel assures the reliability and |
23 | fairness of capital trials; |
24 | (14) Secondary trauma: The impact of the death penalty |
25 | process on law enforcement, prosecutors, defense counsel, |
26 | judges, jurors, correctional officers, family members and |
27 | loved ones of victims and family members of the accused; |
28 | (15) Length and conditions of confinement on death row: |
29 | Whether the conditions comply with the requirements of the |
30 | United States Constitution, the Constitution of the |
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1 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and standards of international |
2 | law and the impact of those conditions on correctional |
3 | officers; |
4 | (16) Lethal injection: Whether there are adequate |
5 | procedures and protocols in place to assure that the death |
6 | sentence is administered in accordance with requirements of |
7 | the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the |
8 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and |
9 | (17) Public opinion: The opinions of Pennsylvania |
10 | residents regarding capital punishment, including whether it |
11 | is a just and appropriate punishment and, if so, under what |
12 | circumstances should it be imposed; |
13 | and be it further |
14 | RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee | <-- |
15 | collaborate with the Justice Center for Research at The |
16 | Pennsylvania State University in conducting a study of the |
17 | administration of the death penalty in this Commonwealth; and be |
18 | it further |
19 | RESOLVED, That the collaboration between the task force and |
20 | advisory committee and the Justice Center be formalized through |
21 | a memorandum of understanding specifying what each organization |
22 | will provide to the other in conducting this study; and be it |
23 | further |
24 | RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee hold |
25 | public hearings as necessary to receive testimony about any of |
26 | the subjects of study enumerated in this resolution; and be it |
27 | further |
28 | RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee report |
29 | their findings and recommendations to the Senate no later than |
30 | two years after the date this resolution is adopted. |
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