The View from D.C.

There were some quotes from yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee; Subcommittee on the Constitution's hearing entitled “The Adequacy of Representation in Capital Cases”. While each state has its own set of issues, the broad strokes at the hearing certainly resonate with various issues here in Indiana.

From Senator Feingold:

Obviously, inadequate representation is not unique to capital cases. But the challenges presented in a death penalty case are unique, and the consequences of inadequate representation catastrophic. Capital cases tend to be the most complicated homicide trials, and the penalty phase of a capital case is like nothing else in the criminal justice system. To do these cases right, at the trial, penalty, appellate, and state post-conviction stages, requires vast resources and proper training – not only for the defense attorneys who need to put in hundreds of hours of work, but also investigators, forensic professionals, mitigation specialists and other experts.

Senator Leahy weighed in as well:

If we sanction the use of a penalty as final as capital punishment, we must be sure that the system is working properly. The catastrophe of executing an innocent person is not one that we can ever tolerate. Unfortunately, the number of innocent people freed from death row to date illustrates that this is not an idle concern.

The best way to ensure that justice is done is to have exceptional counsel on both sides of these cases. As a prosecutor, I always knew that it was better to have good opposing counsel. With properly trained attorneys and appropriate resources on all sides, we can have much more confidence in our system of justice. Unfortunately, our track record on representation of capital defendants has not been good.

While Indiana has taken steps to address the difficult nature of capital defense representation, we're still left with the fact that this is a costly, precarious process in which a life hangs in the balance.