Ashcroft May Pull Rank on Death Penalty
Wisconsin banned the death penalty 150 years ago. That doesn't mean anything to Attorney General John Ashcroft, who is considering directing his minions to file federal death penalty charges in a Wisconsin kidnapping-murder case, whether they want to or not.
That's because the case is being prosecuted in federal court, where U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft makes the final decisions on whether to seek capital punishment. Since Ashcroft took office in 2001, he has overturned local U.S. attorneys' decisions not to seek the death penalty 31 times - often in places like Wisconsin, where the maximum punishment in state court is life in prison.
"It appears that the attorney general is trying to impose his personal beliefs on areas of the country that are less enthusiastic about the death penalty than he is," said Kentucky attorney Kevin McNally, who helps run the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project.
Every time U.S. attorneys prosecute an offense for which the federal death penalty is an option, they must report to the attorney general whether they wish to seek the death penalty and why. A federal committee reviews each case and may consult with the U.S. attorney and defense counsel before making its own recommendation. Ashcroft has the final say and may disagree with the U.S. attorney, the committee, or both.
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