Report Regarding Implementation of the American Bar Association's Recommendations and Resolutions Concerning the Death Penalty and Calling for a Moratorium on Executions

Randall Coyne and Lyn Entzeroth

Randall Coyne is Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma Law School. Lyn Entzeroth is a Law Clerk for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Professor Coyne and Ms. Entzeroth are co-authors of Capital Punishment and the Judicial Process, Carolina Academic Press, 1994 .

The American Bar Association has an interest in assuring that all cases are adjudicated fairly, including death penalty cases. Although the ABA does not take a position on the constitutionality or morality of the death penalty per se, it does advocate the implementation of policies that address issues peculiar to capital punishment cases and regulate the manner in which the death penalty is imposed. The purpose of the ABA recommendations is to avoid unjust sentences and ambiguous standards of review. Unfortunately, these recommendations are often ignored. Most capital cases are tried without adherence to the ABA's guidelines, and both the Supreme Court and Congress have contributed to the substandard treatment of capital cases.

Historically, death penalty jurisprudence has been steeped in unjust litigation practices. Among the greatest deficits has been the "crisis of counsel," which is demonstrated by a lack of attorneys to defend indigent clients and inadequate representation when they do. This problem exists both at the trial level and post-conviction reviews. At a systemic level, the judicial system has not adequately safeguarded against the imposition of the death penalty on innocents and the amount of racial bias in sentencing. Finally, jurisprudence has not resolved the compelling issues that surround the execution of mentally retarded defendants and juveniles.

In order to avoid future injustice, each jurisdiction should refrain from imposing the death penalty until it has implemented the ABA recommendations. Once adopted, these guidelines will ensure fair and impartial treatment of death penalty cases, and it will minimize the incarceration and ultimate execution of innocent people.

Vol. IV, No. 1 p. 3 (1996)

 

Revised July 17, 2003 (MD)