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"Statewide Capital Punishment: The Case for Eliminating Counties' Role in the Death Penalty "

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the headline of this new articleappearing on SSRN from Professor Adam Gershowitz.  Here is the abstract: In almost every state that authorizes capital punishment, local county prosecutors are responsible for deciding when to seek the death penalty and for handling capital trials.  This approach has proven to be arbitrary and inefficient. Because death penalty cases are extremely expensive and complicated, counties with large budgets and experienced prosecutors are able to seek the death penalty often.  By contrast, smaller counties with limited budgets often lack the funds and institutional knowledge to seek the death penalty in truly heinous cases. The result is geographic arbitrariness.  The difference between life and death may depend on the side of the county line where the offense was committed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 25, 2009 (boomark / email).