NCJ Number
171325
Date Published
1996
Length
35 pages
Annotation
The political promotion of capital punishment by those responsible for interpreting and implementing the law (judges and prosecutors) interferes with the right to a fair hearing and increases the likelihood that innocent defendants will be executed.
Abstract
In 32 of the 38 States with the death penalty, judges are subject to election. Some of those elected judges have abandoned the independence of their office by such actions as throwing a noose over a tree outside the courthouse, coming into court displaying brass knuckles and a gun, revealing their death verdicts before the defendant even comes to trial, boasting about being a "hanging judge," and issuing election press releases that prejudice a capital defendant during trial. Even when judges do not go to such extremes, they sometimes campaign as law-and-order candidates in the midst of death penalty trials, overturn jury recommendations of life sentences, and replace them with death sentences. On the other hand, judges who have the courage to follow the Bill of Rights, which mandates that a particular death sentence be overturned, are often removed from office in the next election solely because of a single opinion. Prosecutors, who are trusted with the unreviewable decision about whether to seek the death penalty, run for office pledging to have even more offenders executed. In such a climate, it is difficult for a defendant, who may well be innocent, to obtain a fair hearing. The outcomes in individual cases can be affected as judges feel the pressure to uphold death sentences, and even innocent defendants can find themselves facing execution if the judge might lose his/her job in the next election for faithfully interpreting the law. 118 references