Effect of the New Death Penalty Rulings
On the legislative front, Colorado Governor Owens is calling for a special legislative session to rewrite the states' death penalty law.
Elsewhere, opinions are rolling in about the Supreme Court's rulings the past two weeks rejecting the death penalty for the mentally retarded and requring that juries, not judges, impose the penalty. Will they bring about any kind of sea change in the death penalty itself? What will they mean for those on death row?
Check out Newsweek's Debra Rosenberg's interview with Chris Adams, Death Penalty Counsel for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, on MSNBC's website and the Washington Post article with reaction from Stephen Bright of the Southern Center for Human Rights and others.
Bottom line: While the rulings are encouraging, much is left in the air particularly retroactivity issues. Death penalty opponents say they've just begun to fignt.
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