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The real story of the death penalty in Kansas and Pennsylvania

By Douglas A. Berman

I always appreciate reporting and analysis of the death penalty that moves beyond the usual (boring) rhetoric and looks at the reality of how the system gets applied in particular states.  And, helpfully, two new newspapers articles from Kansas and Pennsylvania fit this model. From places in the heartland comes this piece, headlined "Ruling may void sentences," which includes these notable real-world details of what's the matter with Kansas: A Kansas Supreme Court ruling that took the death penalty off the table for a Wichita man convicted of two murders could void the death sentences of three other Kansans, lawyers familiar with the law say.... Defense lawyers said the ruling demonstrates how the state's death penalty law remains largely unsettled...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on April 20, 2009 (boomark / email).