NCJ Number
195295
Date Published
2002
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This report presents a roundtable discussion between 11 former U.S. district attorneys on the topic of consistency in applying the Federal death penalty laws across the United States.
Abstract
With the high proportion of minorities in the Federal death penalty system, 72 percent, the discussion focused on the source of the racial imbalance and a means to right the imbalance. The discussion would also look at whether the decision to use the death penalty should be based on whether the process can be administered fairly and consistently rather than on the seriousness of the crime committed. Because U.S. attorneys have primary responsibility for initiating and prosecuting death penalty cases throughout the United States, these participants addressed the issue of whether consistency in the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities was obtainable in the Federal death penalty system. The attorneys did not believe overt bias was responsible for the present racial imbalance but rather questioned whether the Justice Department had applied laws consistently across the country. The roundtable participants suggested that Federal involvement in the death penalty system would be more consistent and racially balanced if the death penalty was reserved by the U.S. attorneys for Federal areas of interest such as terrorism, treason, and espionage. That it may not be the seriousness of the crime being punished but, rather, the process of choosing who will die that should be the determining factor in deciding whether to have a Federal death penalty was addressed. Also considered was the idea that before the death penalty is sought, the decision to use it needs to be agreed upon by everyone involved in each case as it moves from the community up through the Federal system to ensure consistency and fair application of the laws.