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Proportionality Review in Georgia

By Steve Hall

"Proposal said to make Georgia death statute vulnerable to attack," is the title of Bill Rankin's report in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Legislation moving through the General Assembly that would strip a key safeguard from Georgia?s death-penalty law could make the statute vulnerable to constitutional attack.Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to remove the so-called ?proportionality review? from state law. The review, conducted by the Georgia Supreme Court in every death-penalty appeal, is intended to guard against the possibility of a capital sentence being arbitrarily imposed.If the Legislature removes the review from Georgia law, there will be multiple challenges that seek to declare the state?s capital punishment law unconstitutional, predicted Jerry Word, interim head of the state's capital defender office...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on April 20, 2010 (boomark / email).