October 1997
RESOLUTION REQUESTING A MORATORIUM
ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA
WHEREAS, there are legitimate and substantial reasons for concern that the death penalty is being imposed in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections statistics raise a serious concern that people of color and men are sentenced to death at a rate which substantially exceeds the rate at which Caucasians and women are sentenced to death; and
WHEREAS, there are also serious concerns about inflicting the ultimate punishment on people with mental impairments and people under the age of 18; and
WHEREAS, on February 3, 1997, the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association approved a Resolution and Report (a copy of which is attached and incorporated by reference) calling on each jurisdiction that imposes capital punishment to stop carrying out the death penalty until it implements policies and procedures which 1) ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process and, 2) minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed; and
WHEREAS, according to Pennsylvania Department of Corrections statistics, as of July 29, 1997 there were two hundred ten (210) people in Pennsylvania who were sentenced to death by our state courts and who were awaiting execution; and
WHEREAS, habeas corpus and other avenues of review have been substantially curtailed by state and federal legislation which restricts appellate review of death penalty cases; and
WHEREAS, on June 25, 1997, Governor Ridge signed Act 28 of 1997 which effectively denies judicial review of proportionality in the imposition of the death penalty; and
WHEREAS, several recent U.S. Supreme Court Justices, including Justices Brennan, Marshall, Powell and Blackmun have expressed serious doubts about whether the death penalty can be imposed in a fair and just way, with Justice Powell declaring that his greatest regret was that he had voted to uphold the constitutionality of the death penalty in McClesky v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987), and Justice Blackmun expressing similar concerns in his dissents in McFarland v. Scott, 114 S.Ct. 2785, 2790 (1994) and Callins v. Collins, 127 L.Ed.2d 435, 436 (1994), all of which are discussed more fully in the attached ABA Resolution and Report; and
WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Bar Association has consistently supported measures which guarantee every Pennsylvania resident a fair and impartial system of civil and criminal justice; and
WHEREAS, based upon all the above, the Pennsylvania Bar Association has serious doubts about whether, under current law and practice, the death penalty can be imposed in the courts of this Commonwealth in a manner which is fair and impartial, and not arbitrary and discriminatory.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Pennsylvania Bar Association hereby calls for the immediate cessation of any executions in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania until such time as the fair and impartial administration of the death penalty can be ensured.
Adopted by the PBA House of Delegates on October 31, 1997
