Death+Penalty

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CURRENT NEWS ABOUT YOUR TOPIC
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Click here for ASK AN EXPERT page
• PRO/CON - website with information about both sides of the death penalty debate - http://deathpenalty.procon.org/ • Article about cost of the death penalty: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/27/just-cost-death-penalty-killer-state-budgets/ • Death penalty and deterrence: http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/the-death-penalty-and-deterrence/page.do?id=1101085
 * HELPFUL RESOURCES**

INTEREST GROUPS
[|American CIvil Liberties Union] [|Justice For All] and related website [|Pro-deathpenalty] [|Amnesty International USA] [|The Innocence Project]
 * You are welcome to look for other groups - this list may help you get started. **

STATISTICS/OPINION POLLS
• Here is a link to a recent Gallup poll on the death penalty, and how support has changed over time in the US: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1606/death-penalty.aspx • The [|Pew Forum website] includes many resources on the death penalty, including important cases, graphics, timeline, etc. • [|Check it out!] • [|World map of countries] with/without the death penalty • This fact sheet from the Death Penalty Information center has lots of stats related to all aspects of the death penalty. The last section has a bit about public opinion:

JUDICIAL BRANCH
Suggested cases for you to review include (choose **one**): //Roper v. Simmons (highly recommend this case)// //Atkins v. Virginia// //Stanford v. Kentucky// //Gregg v. Georgia// //Furman v. Georgia//

Here is [|one helpful resource link] (type in case name in search box). The library has a number of **excellent** resources. You may use other online sources as well (with the exception of wikipedia).

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Brief summaries on **state and federal laws** can be found at the [|Death Penalty Information Center.] This [|page] is particularly helpful because it focuses on recent legislative activity.
 * Relevant laws - Recommended that you focus on the New Hampshire data (below)**

[|Federal crimes] punished by the Death Penalty Information Center. [|Summary of legislation] - Death Penalty Information Center. [|Innocence Protection Act] - Sen. Patrick Leahy's office and [|Explanation of Law] and 2010 UPDATE - http://leahy.senate.gov/press/press_releases/release/?id=a550d868-fe4d-4e76-a3d0-e920bd6ba6a3
 * Federal Death Penalty Act** - legal [|text] and [|summary] and [|another resource]. [|History of Federal Death Penalty].

The **New York Times** provides background information [|here].

[|Criminal Justice Legal Foundation] - position paper

Graph on the deterrence effect of the death penalty and an [|article] that refutes that this kind of statistical analysis is valid.

Data on costs of execution vs. life in prison - [|Duke University Study]

[|World map of countries] with/without the death penalty

[|Maryland's compromise law] - Washington law

[|American Bar Association's position] on moratorium on the death penalty - The death penalty is typically an issue that is left up to states to decide. There is, also, a federal death penalty. See the American Bar Association's (ABA) recommendation here: //"Even if the systems in the states have problems, doesn’t everyone agree that the federal capital punishment system is fair?// No. Serious questions also have been raised about the fairness of the administration of the federal capital punishment system. On September, 12, 2000, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a study of the federal death penalty that suggests the system is plagued by geographic disparities and ethnic bias. Fourteen of the 21 prisoners on federal death row at that time were from just three states – Texas, Virginia, and Missouri. The study also shows that prosecutors seek the death penalty much more often for Hispanic and African-American defendants. As of January 2002, 20 of the 24 prisoners on federal death row were African-American, Latino/a, or Asian. The ABA’s 1997 moratorium resolution applies to the federal government. Indeed, ABA Presidents have called upon the President of the United States to impose a moratorium on executions." Source: http://www.abanet.org/moratorium/faq.html#a7

EXECUTIVE BRANCH
At the **federal** level, click on [|this link] to see the organization chart for the Justice Department, responsible for federal capital cases (death penalty cases). The Justice Department also collects data about the death penalty carried out by the federal government and by the states. Click [|here for data through 2007].

At a **state** level, click [|here] to learn more about New Hampshire's death penalty cases and the [|Attorney General's job].

Note that The Innocence Protection Act must be reauthorized in 2009, so perhaps that would be one angle to consider for a policy recommendation (= urge reauthorization).
 * INFORMATION ON THE INNOCENCE PROTECTION ACT (Part of the JUSTICE FOR ALL ACT 2004)** - [|Link1] [|Link2]