Bill Text: PA HR413 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: A Concurrent Resolution directing the Joint State Government Commission to establish a bipartisan legislative task force and an advisory committee to conduct a study of capital punishment in Pennsylvania and to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-09-28 - Referred to JUDICIARY [HR413 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-HR413-Introduced.html

---

PRINTER'S NO. 2431
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 413 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY WATERS, V. BROWN, CALTAGIRONE, MURT, JOSEPHS, FABRIZIO, GIBBONS, JOHNSON, M. O'BRIEN, PAYTON AND YOUNGBLOOD, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Directing the Joint State Government Commission to establish a
bipartisan legislative task force and an advisory committee
to conduct a study of capital punishment in Pennsylvania and
to report its findings and recommendations to the General
Assembly.
WHEREAS, From 1915 to 1962, 350 people were executed by
electrocution in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, In 1990, the method of execution was changed to
lethal injection; and
WHEREAS, The first execution by lethal injection occurred in
1995; and
WHEREAS, Since 1995, three individuals have been executed;
and
WHEREAS, The total number of people executed in Pennsylvania
to date is 353; and
WHEREAS, As of June 1, 2011, 213 people are sentenced to
death in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Family members of a murder victim struggle to cope
with the loss of their loved one and need services from the
- 1 -
Commonwealth in order to manage that loss; and
WHEREAS, The financial costs of attempting to implement the
death penalty during a national economic crisis may place a
burden on the Commonwealth that is not proportionate to what the
citizens of Pennsylvania are receiving in return; and
WHEREAS, The American Bar Association has identified several
areas in which Pennsylvania's death penalty system falters in
guaranteeing each capital defendant fairness and accuracy in all
proceedings; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial
and Gender Bias in the Justice System has determined that racial
biases exist and that those biases significantly affect the way
parties, witnesses, litigants, lawyers, court employees and
potential jurors are treated; and
WHEREAS, The public is increasingly concerned about
individuals who are wrongly convicted of murder across the
nation and in this Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Postconviction DNA testing has shown that there are
wrongful convictions in Pennsylvania, even in capital cases;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
direct the Joint State Government Commission to establish a
bipartisan legislative task force of four members of the Senate
and four members of the House of Representatives to conduct a
study of capital punishment in Pennsylvania; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the President pro tempore of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives each appoint two
members of the task force and the Minority Leader of the Senate
and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives each
appoint two members of the task force; and be it further
- 2 -
RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission oversee
the creation of an advisory committee to assist the task force
in its study and recommendations; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the advisory committee consist of the
following members who shall be likely to make useful and
insightful contributions, including:
(1) Two members of the religious, academic or ethical
communities, one appointed by the President pro tempore of
the Senate and one appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
(2) One member or former member of the judiciary,
appointed by the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court.
(3) The Attorney General or his designee.
(4) One prosecutor, appointed by the Pennsylvania
District Attorneys Association.
(5) One criminal defense attorney who has handled death
penalty cases, appointed by the Pennsylvania Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers.
(6) One member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association,
appointed by the President of the Pennsylvania Bar
Association.
(7) The Secretary of Corrections or his designee.
(8) Two family members of murder victims, one appointed
by the Office of Victim Advocate and one appointed by Murder
Victims' Families for Reconciliation.
(9) The President of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project
or his designee.
(10) One criminologist, appointed by the President of
The Pennsylvania State University.
- 3 -
(11) One member appointed by a civil rights
organization.
(12) One member appointed by each member of the
legislative task force, for a total of eight legislative
appointees;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the task force, with the assistance of the
advisory committee:
(1) Review recent studies of the death penalty from
around the country.
(2) Review recent studies pertaining to the death
penalty system or its subsystems in Pennsylvania.
(3) Undertake a comprehensive analysis of the
Commonwealth's death penalty system to determine what policy
recommendations, if any, would guarantee that, in its
application and administration, capital punishment in this
Commonwealth is free from bias and error;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the task force, with the assistance of the
advisory committee, review every stage of the capital process,
including pretrial procedures, jury selection, defense,
prosecution, trial procedures, postconviction appeals and
clemency procedures, and make findings and public policy
recommendations in each of the following areas, including, but
not limited to:
(1) The risk of innocent people being sentenced to death
or executed. Where a wrongful conviction occurred in a
capital case or case that resulted in a long or life sentence
in this Commonwealth, the task force shall also look at the
factors and characteristics of these cases and determine
- 4 -
additional areas of study or policy change necessary.
(2) Whether the selection of defendants for capital
trials is arbitrary, unfair or discriminatory in any way,
looking specifically at race, geography and socioeconomic
background and any other relevant characteristics of both the
defendants and victims.
(3) Whether there is unfair, arbitrary or discriminatory
variability in the sentencing phase or at any stage of the
process. In determining the presence of unfair bias, the task
force shall review not only death penalty cases, but also
death-eligible cases where the death penalty was not sought.
(4) Whether there is a significant difference in the
crimes selected for the death penalty as opposed to life in
prison.
(5) The services that exist in this Commonwealth for
family members and loved ones of murder victims, whether
these services are sufficient, whether additional services
are provided in other states, whether additional services
should be provided in this Commonwealth and whether victims'
rights and services are provided on an equal basis to all
surviving family members regardless of their support for,
opposition to or neutrality on the death penalty.
(6) The cost of the death penalty system, taking into
account all expenses from indictment to execution, as
compared to the cost of life in prison. In considering the
overall cost of the death penalty, the cost of capital trials
that result in life sentences, as well as the death sentences
that are reversed on appeal, shall be factored into the
equation.
(7) Changes to the death penalty, if any, that would
- 5 -
ensure a system that is fairly administered and consistently
applied, free from impermissible racial, ethnic or geographic
bias and that would prevent the innocent from being sentenced
to death and execution.
(8) Whether the law provides adequate protections for
specific vulnerable populations, such as persons with mental
retardation in accordance with the United States Supreme
Court ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct.
2242, and persons with mental illness.
(9) Whether the death penalty rationally serves a
legitimate penological interest, such as deterrence;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the task force propose new legislation, if
necessary and appropriate; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the task force be convened by the legislative
member with the most years of continuous service in the General
Assembly and, at its organizational meeting, shall elect from
among its legislative membership a chairperson, vice chairperson
and other officers the task force may deem necessary; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the advisory committee choose a chairperson
from among its members; and be it further
RESOLVED, That members of the task force and advisory
committee serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for
necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties,
within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made
available to the task force and advisory committee for their
purposes. All members of the task force or advisory committee
who are duly elected members of the General Assembly shall
remain members of the task force or advisory committee until
- 6 -
they report their findings and recommendations to the General
Assembly; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee hold
public hearings and may meet in closed executive session to make
their final deliberations; and be it further
RESOLVED, That all State, county and municipal agencies,
departments, boards, bureaus and commissions cooperate fully
with the task force and advisory committee; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the task force and advisory committee report
their findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no
later than two years after the date this resolution is adopted
in both houses.
- 7 -