A second federal judge has ruled the federal death penalty unconstitutional.

Judge William Sessions of Vermont found the federal death penalty statute a threat toward due process as well as the Sixth Amendment's guaranteed right to a fair trial.

Because of jurisdictional issues, today's ruling by U.S. District Judge William Sessions does not strike down the federal death penalty, nor does it challenge individual state statutes. The opinion in USA v. Fell and is accessible here

In a press release today, Stephen Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said:

"Today's ruling should come as a warning and an admonishment to Attorney General John Ashcroft and his aggressive pursuit of the federal death penalty across the country, even in non-death penalty states such as Vermont . Wrongful convictions matter - they stain our judicial system and dishonor our unshakeable commitment to due process."

In his ruling, Judge Sessions wrote, "If the death penalty is to be part of our system of justice, due process of law and the fair trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment require that standards and safeguards governing the kinds of evidence juries may consider must be rigorous, and constitutional rights and liberties scrupulously protected."

In July, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York became the first federal judge in modern history to declare the 1994 Death Penalty Act unconstitutional. He cited the number of innocent people who have been sent to death row and later exonerated due to actual innocence.