Liberal do-gooders are holding a press conference today to demand that the legislature begin fixing the state's flawed death penalty system. They want lawmakers to adopt the recommendations of a legislative study committee that wrangled over the issue for more than a year. Those recommendations, arguably, would speed up executions by streamlining appeals and making it more likely that condemned prisoners are actually guilty.
They would require police to videotape all interrogations. That would avert claims of coerced confessions and eliminate grounds for some court appeals. Also, they want to create an independent authority that would appoint, train and monitor lawyers representing indigents accused of murder. That commission would cost roughly $5 million a year, a definite drawback, but it's one of the key American Bar Association recommendations to improve the state's system because so many cases are hung up in the courts over mistakes made by overworked or poorly trained defense lawyers.
That commission, the most important proposal, has little chance of passage, not only because of its cost, but because prosecutors oppose it. One committee member, former prosecutor Al Schmutzer, says it'll just "create more bureaucracy and delay. They want to make it so expensive and so time-consuming that at some point everybody will just throw up their hands and say we can't do this because nobody can afford it."
The committee's bills need the strong support of Tennessee's district attorneys to make it through the legislature. In a state that overwhelmingly favors capital punishment, even lawmakers who recognize the need for reform are afraid to act unless prosecutors provide political cover.
"During my service on this committee, I have heard no evidence supporting the fairness or accuracy of the current death penalty system in Tennessee," says Charles Strobel, one liberal member of the committee. "If the death penalty was on trial, it would be found guilty of being grossly unfair and risking the execution of an innocent person. Our findings demand further scrutiny."
