| Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project |
| Working to Obtain a Nationwide Moratorium on Executions |
Recent Project Activities and Upcoming Events
July 30 - Aug. 2: ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL
March 7: Moratorium Project speaks to capital defense litigators and mitigation specialists at National Legal Aid and Defender Association’s annual conference "Life in the Balance."
Feb. 11 - 17: ABA Midyear Meeting, Boston, Mass.
Jan. 30: Moratorium Project speaks at Western Regional Black Law Students Association Convention in Portland, OR.
Dec. 15: ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. expresses dismay over flaws in Alabama capital punishment system
About the ABA's Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project
"A system that will take life must first give justice."
- Former ABA President John J. Curtin, Jr.
The Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project, led by director Sarah Turberville, was launched by the American Bar Association (ABA) in September 2001 as the "next step" towards a temporary halt on executions in the United States. The ABA created the Project to encourage other bar associations to press for moratoriums in their jurisdictions and to encourage state government leaders to establish moratoriums and undertake detailed examinations of capital punishment laws and processes in their jurisdictions. Click here to read why the ABA supports a halt on executions.
Latest News
May 12 - Tennesseean: State drops all charges against Paul House, a former death row inmate whose original death sentence was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court after spending 22 years on death row. Click here to read the ABA Report on the Tennessee death penalty, which includes information on House’s inability to obtain relief at the state court.
May 11 - National Law Journal describes effect that new National Academy of Sciences report on several types of forensic evidence has on courtrooms and cases throughout the country.
May 8 - WaPo: Maryland Governor signs new death penalty bill, strictly limiting types of cases in which the State is permitted to seek the death penalty.
May 3 - Dallas Morning-News: Texas State District Judge finds that Charles Dean Hood should receive a new trial due to affair between trial judge and prosecutor prior to Hood’s capital murder trial. Decision available online .
May 2 - Charlotte N&O: North Carolina Supreme Court holds that physicians may participate in executions in the state, thereby removing one major hurdle to continuation of executions in the state. The ruling in N.C. Dept. of Corrections v. N.C. Medical Board is available online.
Moratorium Activity in the U.S.
State Death Penalty Assesment Reports
Learn about the Assessment Project, review the key findings and compliance chart, or view information for individual states below:
A Brief History of ABA Policy on the Death Penalty
Before Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), there were relatively few U.S. Supreme Court challenges to the constitutionality of capital punishment, and none that dealt squarely with whether the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Read more...
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