Steering Committee Member, ABA's Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project
Attorney and member of the Steering Committee of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project
PROFILE
Ronald Tabak
Guest
FROM Ronald Tabak
To the Point
Time for a Change in the Death Penalty? Because death is the ultimate penalty—the one that cannot be revoked--the administration of capital punishment is always under review. The US Supreme Court has created a de facto moratorium for the next few months in most states by taking up the constitutionality of states' standards of lethal injection. The American Bar Association says this is the time to review other problems with capital punishment, ranging from investigation to trial and conviction. It's completed a three-year study of eight sample states and concluded that the death-penalty process is "deeply flawed" and "rife with irregularity." Are cops, prosecutors, judges and juries biased in favor of death? Is there racial discrimination? Do poor defendants get good lawyers? We look at the pros and cons.
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