American Civil Liberties Union : Death Penalty : Quality of Counsel

Death Penalty:
The death penalty is the ultimate denial of civil liberties. In the past 35 years, 132 inmates were found to be innocent and released from death row. The ACLU Capital Punishment Project is fighting for the end of the death penalty by supporting moratorium and repeal movements through public education and advocacy. We are engaged in systemic reform of the death penalty process, and case-specific litigation highlighting some of its fundamental flaws.

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The United States Supreme Court has indicated that the death penalty must be reserved for "the worst of the worst," i.e. "those offenders who commit a narrow category of the most serious crimes and whose extreme culpability makes them the most deserving of execution." Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 568 (2005) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Quality of counsel, however, is a far better predictor of who gets sentenced to death and ultimately executed. The death penalty is arbitrary and capricious, in part, because the "worst of the worst" most readily describes the quality of representation of those subject to it.

Incompetent Attorneys Still Permitted Capital Appointments in Texas
Recent articles in the Houston Chronicle document the continuing failure of some appointed counsel in Texas to undertake the most basic of tasks — filing a death-row client’s appeal on time. Echoing earlier findings by Austin-American Statesman more than two years ago, the paper’s look at capital representation has found that "[n]othing much happened to those lawyers. Usually they were paid for their lousy work and continued to receive more court appointments."The paper notes a potential legislative solution: "Senate Bill 1091 and its companion, House Bill 3580, would establish a statewide public defender office for capital appeals."

Lawrence v. Florida
The case addresses questions about deadlines that death row inmates must meet in filing an application for a federal writ of habeas corpus. The ACLU CPP's amicus brief demonstrates the abysmal representation received by Florida death row inmates. Read more >>

Newspaper in State Capital Decries Quality of Representation in Death Penalty Cases
According to a current The Austin American-Statesman series, incomplete, incomprehensible or improperly argued habeas corpus petitions and direct appeals in the Texas court system are routinely bungled as 273 people have been executed under this shoddy taxpayer paid system. The American-Statesman's review points to a failed court system that exercises little oversight into the quality of writs and attorneys who fall below professional standards. Read the series >> (Off-site Link)

Death Penalty : Quality of Counsel : Resources

Mitigation in Capital Cases - Hofstra Publication (08/07/2008)

Off-Site Resources for News and Information on Capital Punishment (01/25/2007)

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