With cases mounting in the United States of innocent...

With cases mounting in the United States of innocent people sentenced to death, a group of U.S. lawmakers reintroduced a bill to try to avoid wrongful executions in death penalty cases. The bill, which was sponsored by 133 Republican and Democratic lawmakers, was introduced in the Senate for the second time in a year after it become bogged down in committee in the House of Representatives and the Senate last year. A Columbia University Law School study released last year examined every capital appeal from 1973-1995 and found that more than 2 out of every 3 capital judgements reviewed by the courts was seriously flawed. The most common problem was incompetent counsel, including extreme cases where lawyers slept through portions of the trial or were high on drugs or drunk. The bill provides incentives for states to reform their justice systems. It does not call for a moratorium on executions. Since the Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate capital punishment in 1976, 95 people have been released from death rows after their convictions were overturned. In the same period, 699 people have been executed. Five years ago, Congress restricted the appeals process for capital cases.Under the legislation in Congress, federal defendants would be guaranteed access to DNA testing if they can show it has the potential to be material to their case.