TN: Death Penalty Study Bill Passed
Nashville, Tennessee (June 22, 2007) - Thanks to the efforts of The Tennessee Justice Project and allies, the Tennessee Legislature recently passed a bill creating a special committee for the study of the state’s death penalty system.
In recognizing the impact new methods and technologies have on the determination of guilt or innocence and causes of wrongful convictions, the committee will perform a comprehensive review and generate recommendations on all facets of the Tennessee’s death penalty, including the risk of innocent people being executed.
Specifically, the committee will review the state’s indigent defense system to ensure the state is providing “effective defense counsel in all stages of litigation in capital cases” using ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Capital Cases (pdf) as a benchmark. Providing adequate indigent defense is a serious issue in Tennessee. Later this month, The Spangenberg Group — one of the country’s leading experts in state criminal justice systems — will release the first comprehensive analysis of indigent defense and prosecution resources in Tennessee. The report, Resources of the Prosecution and Indigent Defense Functions in Tennessee, examines funding for indigent cases ranging from misdemeanors to death penalty cases and uncovers new evidence that financial and other resources for the indigent defense and prosecution functions are significantly and unfairly imbalanced.
The 16 members of the Committee to Study the Administration of the Death Penalty include government leaders, attorneys, and criminal justice advocates from organizations including The Tennessee Justice Project. The committee would have one year to perform the study and report the results to the governor and the General Assembly.
House Bill 2162 was approved by a vote of 79-14, with two abstaining, on June 7. SB 1911, the Senate version of the bill, was passed unanimously on May 24. The bill now awaits signature from Governor Phil Bredesen.
