The Constitution Project's Death Penalty Initiative,...

The Constitution Project's Death Penalty Initiative, a bipartisan committee of death penalty supporters and opponents, released a report calling for reforms in the death penalty system. The report, "Mandatory Justice: Eighteen Reforms to the Death Penalty," details specific recommendations that relate to various aspects of capital punishment. The recommendations include the need for adequate compensation, standards and training for defense attorneys; a halt to executing juveniles and the mentally retarded; the elimination of a judge's ability to sentence a defendant to death after a jury recommendation of life imprisonment; and a requirement that prosecutors open their files to defense counsel in capital cases. "Regardless of one's position on the death penalty, we all want to make sure the process is fair and that the right person is being punished," said committee member William Sessions, former federal judge and FBI director. Among those included on this blue ribbon committee are Beth Wilkinson, prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing trial; former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Kogan; and Charles Baird, a former judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Read the full report (http://www.constitutionproject.org/dpi/Recommendations%206-27-01.PDF)