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Evidence the Pa. death penalty is punishment existing in name only

By Dr. Michael Blankenship

Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of murdering a police officer 26 years ago, has had his sentenced stayed by an appellate court. The reason was due to juror confusion over comprehension of sentencing instructions.Read more...The author laments that no evidence was presented to substantiate the claim that the original jury was confused, but the appellate court looked at the record and the forms and concluded that a substantial risk of confusion existed.Mr. Smerconish, the author of this article, is apparently unaware (or is ignoring) the body of literature that has measured juror confusion over sentencing instructions. The results of these studies show that jurors are confused over the sentencing instructions, or choose not to follow them.Mr. Smerconish calls for abolition of the death penalty in Pennsylvania out of frustration at the inability to carry out executions...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Justice Gambit on April 06, 2008 (boomark / email).