Lawyers for Robert Bowers argued in court papers filed this
week that capital punishment violates the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause
and the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
They also said the practice of carrying out federal
executions in state prisons violates a Tenth Amendment protection that says
states can’t be made to enforce federal laws, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
reported Friday.
Defense lawyer Judy Clarke has made similar arguments in
other high-profile capital cases. Her clients have included Boston Marathon
bomber Dzhokhar Tasarnaev, who is appealing his 2015 death sentence, and
“Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, who entered a plea agreement that spared him the
death penalty.
In court filings, Clarke said that she has tried to
negotiate a life sentence for Bowers but that prosecutors have rebuffed her.
Bowers is charged with killing 11 congregants during a
Shabbat service at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, and injuring
six others, including four police officers.
He has pleaded not guilty to 63 federal counts, 22 of which
carry the death penalty. His defense team also includes public defenders
Michael Novara and Elisa Long.
No trial date has been set.
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