|
|
 |
 |
 |
[Link to NACDL's main information page on the Innocence Protection Act]
The Innocence Protection Act of 2001
“If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed. Perhaps it’s time to look at minimum standards for appointed counsel in death cases and adequate compensation for appointed counsel when they are used.”
— Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
Statistics indicate that, since reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, 102 people sentenced to death in the United States were exonerated after their trials. Many others have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment because of serious doubts about their guilt. During the same time, 796 people have been executed — in some cases, despite serious questions concerning their innocence. One inescapable inference from these numbers is that innocent people have been executed — another is that the true perpetrators have remained at large, free to commit more violent crimes.
The Act The Innocence Protection Act (IPA), introduced in the Senate (S. 486) and the House of Representatives (H.R. 912), represents a bi-partisan effort to reduce the risk of wrongful convictions and the ultimate injustice: wrongful execution. The dual purposes of the IPA are expanded access to post-conviction DNA testing and higher professional standards for counsel in capital cases. The IPA takes no position on the death penalty itself and is supported by those who also support capital punishment — including Sen. Smith (R-OR), Sen. Lieberman (D-CT), Sen. Warner (R-VA), Rep. LaHood (R-IL), Rep. Crane (R-IL), and Rep. Portman (R-OH). While the House and Senate versions differ in some respects, both would make DNA testing available to federal and state prisoners in capital and non-capital cases, and both would encourage states to improve the quality of appointed defense counsel in capital cases.
Broad Support As of September 2002, the House bill (H.R. 912) had 246 cosponsors, including 178 Democrats, 67 Republicans, and 1 Independent. The Senate bill (S. 486) had 30 cosponsors, including 24 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 1 Independent. The IPA has also been endorsed by former and current prosecutors, victims and victim advocates, national civic organizations, faith-based groups and newspapers across the country.
DNA DNA, first used in the United States in the 1980's, has cleared 110 prisoners held for a variety of offenses; 12 of these prisoners were on death row! Based on these figures, many experts believe there are hundreds of innocent prisoners still behind bars. The exonerated persons identified in the 1996 government study, Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science, had served an average of 7 years in prison; Eddie Joe Lloyd, the latest person exonerated, served 17 years for a murder he did not commit.
Aside from alleviating unjust incarcerations and averting wrongful executions, these post-conviction DNA exonerations have served another important public purpose. In at least 19 of these cases, DNA testing has led to the real perpetrator.
The Innocence Protection Act would provide federal inmates, in capital and non-capital cases, with access to post-conviction DNA testing and the right to seek post-conviction relief based on favorable DNA results, notwithstanding any procedural bar. An applicant would be required to show that the proposed DNA testing has the scientific potential to produce new, non-cumulative evidence material to the claim of innocence (the Senate IPA states additional criteria). The federal government would also be required to provide 180-day notice before destroying biological evidence, thereby providing prisoners one final opportunity to request testing.
It is difficult to obtain post-conviction DNA testing under the current law in some states. Therefore, as a condition of receiving certain federal funding, the states would be required to adopt adequate procedures for preserving biological evidence and making DNA testing available to inmates. States would also be required to allow applications for post-conviction relief based on favorable DNA results.
Competent Counsel While DNA testing is a valuable tool for correcting injustices, it only helps correct conviction of the innocent in a narrow class of cases; most homicides, for example, do not involve biological evidence that can be determinative of guilt or innocence. According to a recent study, “the more often officials use the death penalty, the wider the range of crimes to which it is applied, and the more it is imposed for offenses that are not highly aggravated, the greater the risk that capital convictions and sentences will be seriously flawed.” (See A Broken System, Part II: Why There is So Much Error in Capital Cases, and What Can Be Done About It). In order to minimize the risk of wrongful convictions and bring greater guarantees of fairness to our criminal justice system, we must address the glaring systemic problems: mistaken eyewitness identification, coerced confessions, unreliable forensic laboratory work, and law enforcement misconduct.
Competent defense counsel is the principle bulwark against these problems — and, thus, wrongful convictions — and is the heart of the Innocence Protection Act. Two out of three death sentences are overturned on appeal or after post-conviction review because of errors in the trial — the most common cause being incompetent counsel. (See A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, in which researchers at Columbia University Law School examined all capital appeals from 1973 - 1995). Problems of incompetent counsel can range from failure to investigate the case thoroughly to sleeping through major portions of the trial.
The Innocence Protection Act would encourage higher standards for appointed counsel in capital cases by means of grants and other mechanisms. The Senate IPA establishes a grant program for states to improve the systems by which they appoint and compensate lawyers in capital cases. The House IPA would establish national standards for capital defense systems, and non-complying states would lose some federal prison grant funding and forfeit certain procedural advantages in federal habeas corpus proceedings.
Additional Safeguards:
•Meaningful compensation for the wrongfully convicted. The Act would increase the amount of compensation authorized to be paid to exonerated federal prisoners and encourage states to do the same.
•Student loan repayment for public attorneys. The Senate IPA would authorize student loan forgiveness to encourage qualified individuals to enter and continue employment as prosecutors and public defenders.
|
|
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 872-8600 • Fax (202) 872-8690 •
assist@nacdl.org
|
|