After listening to Marc Bookman speak during class, I have concluded that the only way to "fix" the death penalty is through proper funding of qualified counsel. Marc expressed that one of the biggest problems in capital punishment cases is poor representation. This is due to a multitude of factors including but not limited to substance abuse, lack of passion, case overload, lack of narrative, and general burnout. Therefore, it is important to ensure that counsel representing capital punishment cases are properly funded, and are working on ONE CASE at a time. Divided attention between cases while working on a death penalty case is negligent, as it can influence performance in a negative way. Defendants facing capital punishment require lawyers who can create a proper and effective narrative, are knowledgeable on the subject, passionate about what they do, and are not working on any other cases. To achieve this, the state not only needs to further fund capital punishment counsel, but also the counsel working below them and around them (public defenders) to increase stamina and motivation to successfully represent any and all clients. With hard working and properly funded lawyers, it will be less likely for death penalty cases to be wrongly ruled and innocent people will rarely be executed. Obviously, this will not "fix" the death penalty completely, as there are several problems with it; however, I believe it is a step in the right direction if we truly want to "fix" it instead of outlawing it all together.
A method we could use to fix the death penalty could be by investing a significant sum of money into the program. As we discussed yesterday with Marc Bookman investing a large amount of money into the death penalty would result in less death penalty cases and eventually not having any cases for death row at all. Another solution would be investing into better resources for lawyers that represent the public defendants office and give more time and better effort towards more cases. This would be better at getting more time for a wide variety of cases.
Assuming that the death penalty is broken, something that could be done to fix it is to allocate more money toward public defender's offices and to state appointed attorneys. Marc Bookman mentioned yesterday that most defendants in capital cases are sentenced to death because of "bad" lawyering. Meaning that individuals with similar cases can receive different outcomes depending on how good their attorney is. If the state governments adequately funded the attorney's office that were representing individuals that were charged with first degree murder, attorneys would have better resources and be able to do better at representing their clients. Better representation would, like Bookman mentioned, result in almost no one getting sentenced to death (like the situation in Virginia).
Although there are arguably a multitude of aspects that need to be corrected regarding the death penalty, I believe that one of the most prevalent hardship areas is the defense representation. It happens in every area of defense, but it is especially important in death penalty cases that defendants are adequately represented (their life is on the line, after all). Whether it be from underfunding of the agency the defense lawyer is working for, the overload of cases that lawyer has, or even as simple as not having the resources to thoroughly investigate/interview their client to provide the best defense, it is obvious that some defense attorneys are not adequately and efficiently representing their clients in court. In order to rid the defense lawyers of one, all, or more problems other than the ones that were previously listed as examples, the first step would be to have the state appropriately fund capital punishment counsel. This would not only ensure better access to investigative tactics to assist their clients, but also could encourage other lawyers in the field to move to defense counsel, potentially lightening the load of the current defense attorneys. These potential outcomes could reduce the number of innocent people convicted of capital crimes and sentenced to capital punishment, which is one of the biggest hang-ups regarding the death penalty. While sufficient funding of defense counsel will not "fix" the death penalty in its entirety, I believe that it would be a productive first step in a marathon.
As mentioned in Furman v. Virginia (1972), it was the arbitrary manner of the death penalty that deemed it unconstitutional. In my opinion (and many others, like Marc Bookman), the death penalty is still being carried out in an arbitrary and random manner. As mentioned by one of the inmates in our book, others killed dozens more people than he did, yet he "only" killed one, but was being executed. Some people have been exonerated based on things like intellectual disability, but others who have shown similar signs have not. This is all subjective and dependent on a jury, lawyer, judge, etc.-- which should not affect one's trial. In order to help this area, I believe more funding should be provided for representation, allowing people to have the proper resources to prepare for trial. The other way to fix the death penalty is educationally based and unfortunately even more unrealistic than the last solution; this one holds that educating people on the problems with the death penalty, from the arbitrariness to the execution of innocent people, will convince people that there needs to be implemented policies. Down to the method, each state should have a routinized system, more than they already do! Though this may vary from state to state (even though it shouldn't), each prisoner being executed the same way. There is may logistical way to have this, since states like Utah have religious ideals behind their methodologies or would not want to force their inmates into a decision (outside of choosing life)
#16 Hearing Marc Bookman speak was very informative in terms of what is wrong with Death Penalty proceedings in America. I believe in order to fix this there has to be a total and complete tear down and reconstruct the majority of the criminal justice system. While this is extreme I feel as though this is the only way to fix the justice system because it is systemically broken. The only way to fix it is to break it down. First, a constitutional evaluation of the death penalty. Is it really constitutional to murder someone for a crime, is the that in violation of the 8th amendment. How viable is it to take someone's life while they are being killed for killing someone. Does that really cancel out? Does an eye for an eye really fix anything or make anyone feel better. Also, all judges, lawyers, doctors on execution teams, inmates, and any one else who touches death penalty cases should be well versed on the subject and fulling able to understand and lawfully carry out the trials, and executions. The method of killing the individual should be made as harmless and painless as possible. The team working on the execution should be able to swiftly and quickly get the job done, again the 8t amendment should be in mind at all time. If there are malfunctions or malpractice found or suspected it should be fully investigated. Wrong doings not only to do with the death penalty, but the Criminal justice system as a whole. Select members of this system are never held accountable for their wrong doings which is a large reason things do not change. While this all should be done like Marc Bookman said, this cost money, and a lot of it. To know if things will change is in the hands of government officalas who don't want to be seen as weak on crime.
Student #10 After talking with Marc Bookman we discovered that the system surrounding the death penalty is broken. One of the easier ways we can fix it is directing more funding towards public defenders. In his conversation with the class, Bookman said that the most cases on death row are a result of “bad lawyering”. Individuals who had committed a lesser crime than those who have done worse based upon how good their lawyer is. More funding towards public defenders can be the difference between life and death for future inmates. Public defenders should also be well versed in the subject and have a clear and concise understanding of how their work could affect someone’s life. They should be required to take some sort of class to receive a basic understanding on just how important their counsel is during this time. More funding could allow this to happen.
The first step would be to define exactly who can be charged with the death penalty during a sentencing. Each state has its own definition of what is considered to be mentally ill. Which means one state might be giving a life sentence with no parole and other the death penalty for the same crime. There is not a true definition that is universal about mental illness like not being allowed to execute anyone under the age of 18. This being said, the best way to fix something that is broke would be to tear it apart brick by brick and start all over from scratch. The only problem is the cost to start from scratch and reconsider anything they ever thought. Marc Bookman explained that nothing is perfect in society and if you have the money to fund it, why not. This problem can not be fixed in a day but over years with time and money if the government truly wants to make the justice system fair in every state in the United States, then they will. No one wants to spend the money on fixing it because there are more important things then money according to the government. A lot of states do not believe in giving the death penalty anymore, so why not stop it as a whole again? If the death penalty goes away, the money set aside for it could be used to improve the justice system as a whole.
Student #6 If we were to say the death penalty process is broken, but it must stay instated, what would I do to fix it? First, I would focus on the people who are already on death row, see how long they have been there, why, and if they have an execution date. I want to know why people are on death row so long. There should be a limited amount of time spent on death row as well as how many appeals you are allowed to request. Anyone on death row who has reached an elderly age or is disabled will be moved to life without parole, because in my opinion they are not fit for execution. Anyone else who has been on death row in a state that is actively executing people, will have their trials reviewed to make sure it was fair, if so, they will be given a date of execution. The reviewing of the cases will rule out bias of the judge or jury, as well as make sure their attorney was competent. Second, I would ban execution by electrocution and gas chamber, allowing firing squad and lethal injection. Third, I would make sure that all upcoming and future death penalty cases are given a fair and speedy trial, as well as a fairly speedy execution. I would not allow for someone to sit on death row for more than 10 years. Finally I would make sure the guidelines for execution are the same across all courtrooms, in all states. An example of these guidelines would be levels of mental incapacitation, intellectual disabilities, as well as aggravating and mitigating factors, etc.
I think that what we learned from last class with Marc Bookman is that there needs to be funding to be able to fix something like this. And I think that sometimes what also makes it "broken" is law believing people that had no interaction with the problem and people becoming wrongfully accused and not getting the full information and going about their greater judgement I think that has a big role in why it "broken", and I think the first couple of steps is to start from scratch and find ways to improve and be able to have funding like Marc Bookman said.
Marc Bookman gave some very insightful information and opinions based on this assumption. Some of the ways this could be fixed would be due to more funding which could eventually fix most of the problems we see with the death penalty. One of which still being some arbitrariness in some of the cases. In the case of Michael James Perry for example, in this case he was convicted of murdering one individual and received the death penalty. Whereas, Burkett who was with him, was convicted of having involvement in all three murders and was only sentenced to life with parole after forty years. How does this make sense in the court systems? This sense of them being arbitrary is not limited to only this case but is seen in countless cases.
Assuming the Death Penalty is broken, one of the first things to do would be to relocate more funds to defense attorney's and the system that was one main thing that Marc Bookman made very clear in last weeks class. This would solve a lot of problems and potentially change how fast the system works. Another issue I would try and fix is why people sit on death row for so long. I believe people should only be able to sit on death row for so long if they sentenced to be executed.
Student#1 After our class with Marc Bookman I agree that the system is broken and that the funds for defense attorneys should be more than what they are. Not to mention we need to be near 100 percent certain that the individual is actually guilty because there is no room for error. After the person is killed you cannot bring them back.
I do think the the death penalty is broken. It has been controversial from the very start. Our country noticed that it was arbitrary in the way that it was enacted so we got rid of it. In my opinion, it is still arbitrary. Marc Bookman discussed how this system is not only broken, but costly to fix as well. Because of these factors, I think the best way to "fix" the Death Penalty is to rid our system of it all together. It is in constant debate, who gets it, how they should receive it, if it was given to them fairly, its costliness, and many other concerns. We could get rid of all these concerns at once by simply getting rid of it. No one would be able to argue about it being unfair or anything else if we don't have it. Sometimes the best way to fix something is to completely get rid of it, and that's the best way to fix this problem in my opinion.
If we assume that the death penalty is broken, then the first thing that must be done is to identify the root problem. The root problem of the death penalty is the system surrounding it, but the system is complex, and it would probably need fixing at all levels. To start with fixing just the death penalty though would be to allocate more funds towards the training and reeducation of defense attorneys specifically. For defense attorneys to truly represent their clients to the best ability they must be retrained/re-educated to combat the death penalty and the issues that arise with it.
Assuming the death penalty is broken, I think that a possible way to fix it is having federal funding for the program. Funding would result in less executions as stated by Mark Bookman. Furthermore, funding into the criminal justice system including counselors and updated facilities might aid in the broken system. Also, I think by destroying the stigma about the prison system might deter people from committing crimes which would later lead to getting rid of the death penalty.
An analysis of crime and punishment from the perspective of a former prosecutor and current criminal justice practitioner.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or postions of any county, state or federal agency.
16 comments:
Student #13:
After listening to Marc Bookman speak during class, I have concluded that the only way to "fix" the death penalty is through proper funding of qualified counsel. Marc expressed that one of the biggest problems in capital punishment cases is poor representation. This is due to a multitude of factors including but not limited to substance abuse, lack of passion, case overload, lack of narrative, and general burnout. Therefore, it is important to ensure that counsel representing capital punishment cases are properly funded, and are working on ONE CASE at a time. Divided attention between cases while working on a death penalty case is negligent, as it can influence performance in a negative way. Defendants facing capital punishment require lawyers who can create a proper and effective narrative, are knowledgeable on the subject, passionate about what they do, and are not working on any other cases. To achieve this, the state not only needs to further fund capital punishment counsel, but also the counsel working below them and around them (public defenders) to increase stamina and motivation to successfully represent any and all clients. With hard working and properly funded lawyers, it will be less likely for death penalty cases to be wrongly ruled and innocent people will rarely be executed. Obviously, this will not "fix" the death penalty completely, as there are several problems with it; however, I believe it is a step in the right direction if we truly want to "fix" it instead of outlawing it all together.
#8
A method we could use to fix the death penalty could be by investing a significant sum of money into the program. As we discussed yesterday with Marc Bookman investing a large amount of money into the death penalty would result in less death penalty cases and eventually not having any cases for death row at all. Another solution would be investing into better resources for lawyers that represent the public defendants office and give more time and better effort towards more cases. This would be better at getting more time for a wide variety of cases.
Assuming that the death penalty is broken, something that could be done to fix it is to allocate more money toward public defender's offices and to state appointed attorneys. Marc Bookman mentioned yesterday that most defendants in capital cases are sentenced to death because of "bad" lawyering. Meaning that individuals with similar cases can receive different outcomes depending on how good their attorney is. If the state governments adequately funded the attorney's office that were representing individuals that were charged with first degree murder, attorneys would have better resources and be able to do better at representing their clients. Better representation would, like Bookman mentioned, result in almost no one getting sentenced to death (like the situation in Virginia).
Student #15 said...
Although there are arguably a multitude of aspects that need to be corrected regarding the death penalty, I believe that one of the most prevalent hardship areas is the defense representation. It happens in every area of defense, but it is especially important in death penalty cases that defendants are adequately represented (their life is on the line, after all). Whether it be from underfunding of the agency the defense lawyer is working for, the overload of cases that lawyer has, or even as simple as not having the resources to thoroughly investigate/interview their client to provide the best defense, it is obvious that some defense attorneys are not adequately and efficiently representing their clients in court. In order to rid the defense lawyers of one, all, or more problems other than the ones that were previously listed as examples, the first step would be to have the state appropriately fund capital punishment counsel. This would not only ensure better access to investigative tactics to assist their clients, but also could encourage other lawyers in the field to move to defense counsel, potentially lightening the load of the current defense attorneys. These potential outcomes could reduce the number of innocent people convicted of capital crimes and sentenced to capital punishment, which is one of the biggest hang-ups regarding the death penalty. While sufficient funding of defense counsel will not "fix" the death penalty in its entirety, I believe that it would be a productive first step in a marathon.
Student #7
As mentioned in Furman v. Virginia (1972), it was the arbitrary manner of the death penalty that deemed it unconstitutional. In my opinion (and many others, like Marc Bookman), the death penalty is still being carried out in an arbitrary and random manner. As mentioned by one of the inmates in our book, others killed dozens more people than he did, yet he "only" killed one, but was being executed. Some people have been exonerated based on things like intellectual disability, but others who have shown similar signs have not. This is all subjective and dependent on a jury, lawyer, judge, etc.-- which should not affect one's trial. In order to help this area, I believe more funding should be provided for representation, allowing people to have the proper resources to prepare for trial. The other way to fix the death penalty is educationally based and unfortunately even more unrealistic than the last solution; this one holds that educating people on the problems with the death penalty, from the arbitrariness to the execution of innocent people, will convince people that there needs to be implemented policies. Down to the method, each state should have a routinized system, more than they already do! Though this may vary from state to state (even though it shouldn't), each prisoner being executed the same way. There is may logistical way to have this, since states like Utah have religious ideals behind their methodologies or would not want to force their inmates into a decision (outside of choosing life)
#16
Hearing Marc Bookman speak was very informative in terms of what is wrong with Death Penalty proceedings in America. I believe in order to fix this there has to be a total and complete tear down and reconstruct the majority of the criminal justice system. While this is extreme I feel as though this is the only way to fix the justice system because it is systemically broken. The only way to fix it is to break it down. First, a constitutional evaluation of the death penalty. Is it really constitutional to murder someone for a crime, is the that in violation of the 8th amendment. How viable is it to take someone's life while they are being killed for killing someone. Does that really cancel out? Does an eye for an eye really fix anything or make anyone feel better. Also, all judges, lawyers, doctors on execution teams, inmates, and any one else who touches death penalty cases should be well versed on the subject and fulling able to understand and lawfully carry out the trials, and executions. The method of killing the individual should be made as harmless and painless as possible. The team working on the execution should be able to swiftly and quickly get the job done, again the 8t amendment should be in mind at all time. If there are malfunctions or malpractice found or suspected it should be fully investigated. Wrong doings not only to do with the death penalty, but the Criminal justice system as a whole. Select members of this system are never held accountable for their wrong doings which is a large reason things do not change. While this all should be done like Marc Bookman said, this cost money, and a lot of it. To know if things will change is in the hands of government officalas who don't want to be seen as weak on crime.
Student #10
After talking with Marc Bookman we discovered that the system surrounding the death penalty is broken. One of the easier ways we can fix it is directing more funding towards public defenders. In his conversation with the class, Bookman said that the most cases on death row are a result of “bad lawyering”. Individuals who had committed a lesser crime than those who have done worse based upon how good their lawyer is. More funding towards public defenders can be the difference between life and death for future inmates. Public defenders should also be well versed in the subject and have a clear and concise understanding of how their work could affect someone’s life. They should be required to take some sort of class to receive a basic understanding on just how important their counsel is during this time. More funding could allow this to happen.
Student #17
The first step would be to define exactly who can be charged with the death penalty during a sentencing. Each state has its own definition of what is considered to be mentally ill. Which means one state might be giving a life sentence with no parole and other the death penalty for the same crime. There is not a true definition that is universal about mental illness like not being allowed to execute anyone under the age of 18. This being said, the best way to fix something that is broke would be to tear it apart brick by brick and start all over from scratch. The only problem is the cost to start from scratch and reconsider anything they ever thought. Marc Bookman explained that nothing is perfect in society and if you have the money to fund it, why not. This problem can not be fixed in a day but over years with time and money if the government truly wants to make the justice system fair in every state in the United States, then they will. No one wants to spend the money on fixing it because there are more important things then money according to the government. A lot of states do not believe in giving the death penalty anymore, so why not stop it as a whole again? If the death penalty goes away, the money set aside for it could be used to improve the justice system as a whole.
Student #6
If we were to say the death penalty process is broken, but it must stay instated, what would I do to fix it?
First, I would focus on the people who are already on death row, see how long they have been there, why, and if they have an execution date. I want to know why people are on death row so long. There should be a limited amount of time spent on death row as well as how many appeals you are allowed to request. Anyone on death row who has reached an elderly age or is disabled will be moved to life without parole, because in my opinion they are not fit for execution. Anyone else who has been on death row in a state that is actively executing people, will have their trials reviewed to make sure it was fair, if so, they will be given a date of execution. The reviewing of the cases will rule out bias of the judge or jury, as well as make sure their attorney was competent. Second, I would ban execution by electrocution and gas chamber, allowing firing squad and lethal injection. Third, I would make sure that all upcoming and future death penalty cases are given a fair and speedy trial, as well as a fairly speedy execution. I would not allow for someone to sit on death row for more than 10 years. Finally I would make sure the guidelines for execution are the same across all courtrooms, in all states. An example of these guidelines would be levels of mental incapacitation, intellectual disabilities, as well as aggravating and mitigating factors, etc.
Student #18
I think that what we learned from last class with Marc Bookman is that there needs to be funding to be able to fix something like this. And I think that sometimes what also makes it "broken" is law believing people that had no interaction with the problem and people becoming wrongfully accused and not getting the full information and going about their greater judgement I think that has a big role in why it "broken", and I think the first couple of steps is to start from scratch and find ways to improve and be able to have funding like Marc Bookman said.
Student #5
Marc Bookman gave some very insightful information and opinions based on this assumption. Some of the ways this could be fixed would be due to more funding which could eventually fix most of the problems we see with the death penalty. One of which still being some arbitrariness in some of the cases. In the case of Michael James Perry for example, in this case he was convicted of murdering one individual and received the death penalty. Whereas, Burkett who was with him, was convicted of having involvement in all three murders and was only sentenced to life with parole after forty years. How does this make sense in the court systems? This sense of them being arbitrary is not limited to only this case but is seen in countless cases.
student 20,
Assuming the Death Penalty is broken, one of the first things to do would be to relocate more funds to defense attorney's and the system that was one main thing that Marc Bookman made very clear in last weeks class. This would solve a lot of problems and potentially change how fast the system works. Another issue I would try and fix is why people sit on death row for so long. I believe people should only be able to sit on death row for so long if they sentenced to be executed.
Student#1
After our class with Marc Bookman I agree that the system is broken and that the funds for defense attorneys should be more than what they are. Not to mention we need to be near 100 percent certain that the individual is actually guilty because there is no room for error. After the person is killed you cannot bring them back.
I do think the the death penalty is broken. It has been controversial from the very start. Our country noticed that it was arbitrary in the way that it was enacted so we got rid of it. In my opinion, it is still arbitrary. Marc Bookman discussed how this system is not only broken, but costly to fix as well. Because of these factors, I think the best way to "fix" the Death Penalty is to rid our system of it all together. It is in constant debate, who gets it, how they should receive it, if it was given to them fairly, its costliness, and many other concerns. We could get rid of all these concerns at once by simply getting rid of it. No one would be able to argue about it being unfair or anything else if we don't have it. Sometimes the best way to fix something is to completely get rid of it, and that's the best way to fix this problem in my opinion.
#2
If we assume that the death penalty is broken, then the first thing that must be done is to identify the root problem. The root problem of the death penalty is the system surrounding it, but the system is complex, and it would probably need fixing at all levels. To start with fixing just the death penalty though would be to allocate more funds towards the training and reeducation of defense attorneys specifically. For defense attorneys to truly represent their clients to the best ability they must be retrained/re-educated to combat the death penalty and the issues that arise with it.
Assuming the death penalty is broken, I think that a possible way to fix it is having federal funding for the program. Funding would result in less executions as stated by Mark Bookman. Furthermore, funding into the criminal justice system including counselors and updated facilities might aid in the broken system. Also, I think by destroying the stigma about the prison system might deter people from committing crimes which would later lead to getting rid of the death penalty.
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